The sound of leaves rustling in the breeze fills the darkness around me with a sense of utter peacefulness. I feel the cool air roll over my skin, similar to how the cool Autumn breeze would feel. I stretch slightly, feeling comfy on a soft patch of grass.
I open my eyes, seeing a massive tree towering above me, splotches of sunlight shining in between the leaves. I stare upwards for a second, watching the branches and leaves sway in the calm wind. I rub my eyes, slowly sitting up and looking around.
"I."
I pause confused.
"What am I doing out here?"
I think for a moment, but several more questions flood my mind.
"Wait, who am I? Why does this feel so familiar?"
I yawn slightly and rub my eyes once more. One thought seemingly echoes through my mind.
I need to find mother.
I stand up and look around.
"Which way do I go?"
Mumbling to myself, I look around. Several pathways are clearly leading into the forest around me, thick trees parted revealing narrow passages on shadowed ground. I start walking, taking in my environment and keeping an eye out for some reason. A strange sense of paranoia seemingly scratching at the back of my head.
A twig snaps next to me and I instantly freeze. I slowly look over, seeing a pair of eyes staring out at me. I feel my breathing speed up, becoming more and more fearful of an unknown creature. For several seconds, I watch it, and it watches me.
Suddenly the bush it's in shakes, and it emerges. A bunny, it tilts its head and wiggles its nose. I exhale deeply, feeling relief wash over me.
"You need to be careful."
I say, leaning down to the bunny and smiling.
"There's monsters out here."
I tilt my head in the same way the bunny is. It wiggles its nose some more then hops away. I smile and stand up, but as I take a step I hear a crunching sound and a slight squeak. I freeze, feeling my skin suddenly become cold as ice. I force my head sideways to look back, seeing a large claw impaling the bunny.
A slim, bone-like creature steps from behind the tree, looking the exact same color as the bark. It raises the bleeding corpse to its mouth and opens it, several rows of razor sharp teeth dulled with old blood. It quickly slams its teeth down on the dead bunny, blood trickling down its bark-like chin.
It chews for several seconds then looks to me and raises its fingers. The ends suddenly spiral into a sharp tip, then slams its fingers towards me. I barely fall back out of its reach, the creature stepping forward and reaching for me. I push myself away on the ground amd feel my heart almost pounding out of my chest.
I manage to roll to my feet and start running away, hearing a strange growl from behind me quickly catching up to me. I look back, the sharp tip narrowly missing my moving body. I quickly look forward.
"Please! Someone help me! Mom!"
I dash forward, calling out for help every few steps. I look back again, noticing the creature is even closer to me, but I suddenly trip and land on my face. I feel my vision spinning and twisting as I roll over, seeing a root in the middle of the path. The creature lunges towards me, but I instinctively roll to the opposite side.
My attempt at dodging doesn't matter, the sharp spiraling claw jams into my right shoulder, pinning me to the ground as blood pours out. I scream out in pain, feeling tears welling up behind my eyes. I claw at the ground, desperately trying to pull myself away. Breathing deeply between sobs, I pull as hard as I can.
The claw unravels slightly, forming a hook like hold on my shoulder. I scrape and claw, my fingernails bleeding and hands aching. I feel my body slowly lift off the ground, starting to claw and grab at the claw rammed through my shoulder. I feel myself slowly being pulled back, and out of desperation kick back while twisting my body forward.
A loud rip and snap causes pain that dwarfs anything I could've imagined. I land on the ground with a heavy thud, quickly looking back to see the creature toss my now ripped off arm into its mouth and chew it, crushing bone and muscle then swallowing it. I push forward, blood gushing from my massive injury. My entire body hurts and my head starts becoming light, but I force myself forward.
Tears stream down my face from pain, blocking most of my vision. Once again, I call out, begging and pleading for help. I suddenly feel a cut through the back of my calf and I trip, tumbling forward and rolling to a stop. My tears clear enough to see the golden, black, red, and white flowers at a clearing ahead.
"Mom!"
I claw forward, digging my nails into the ground and pulling myself forward as fast and desperately as I can. Once again, a piercing pain goes through my leg, this time it's my thigh and hamstring. I scream out, the pain causing me to freeze in place. My head starts pounding as my vision starts fading from blood loss.
"I'm so close, please! Save me!"
I see several people appearing in my vision, running towards me. They all stop at the edge of the clearing and point to me. The creature rolls my body over and bites down towards me. I feel my body become weightless as I suddenly float back, the beast pausing and glaring passed me. Someone with a scythe walks passed me and spins it around easily.
The beast lunges towards them, but the person suddenly appears behind it and swings. Hundreds, no, thousands of elaborate and elegant red lines appear over the creature's body. Almost like a dream, the monster turns to dust and gets blown away with another simple swing of the scythe.
The person quickly moves toward me, and as my vision clears momentarily, I see a woman with long red hair and sky blue eyes. She quickly holds her hands to my head and sighs.
"I keep telling you, you can't leave the garden! I won't always be there to protect you."
I feel my heart calm down, peace rolling over me once more. I smile as I feel my injuries heal.
"Thanks, mom."