Til The Very End

The sun barely hung onto its place in the sky.

Darkness slithering in to chase the light away.

My friends and I welcome the shadows.

Our place to be tonight is in a shallow forest nearby.

Running in and out of the trees hiding from each other.

Things changed quickly as darkness settled in.

I thought he was my friend

I never thought he’d turn into a mean backstabbing psycho.

But the moon changed him as it rose higher and higher.

His fingers were long and thin.

His face covered in the dark soil of the forest.

He smelled of animal feces.

His eyes were dark and sunk into their sockets.

Dark gray-streaked hair crowned his head.

His laugh and voice were menacing.

We all ran in different directions trying to escape his wrath.

Some fell victim to his chaos quickly.

The rest of us were determined to survive the evening.

I watched as he took my brother down near an old fallen tree.

As he fell he hit his head on a low branch and blood poured from his temple.

A deep yelp escaped my brother’s throat followed by laughter.

Running non-stop, my lungs ached and burned.

Wrenching over, my dinner plunged to the rich soil.

My head spun in circles and nausea gripped my throat.

It was harder to see now that the sun lost its footing above.

The moon…not as bright as the last few nights but still able to cast shadows.

Another scream and laughter, another friend falling to his chase.

I can’t hear any of my friends.

I’m tired, sweating, and completely out of breath.

I can’t see him but I know he’s close.

A twig snaps to my left.

Spinning around I see him and he’s smiling.

I begin to slowly walk backward then turn to run.

I can hear him catching up to me.

I scream, trip, and fall in the brush.

I hear his laughter one last time as he grabs my arm.

His final words to me, “Tag you’re it!”