The Flee

The clip clop of hooves echoed in the streets as he calmly walked on the cobble stoned road between the old houses. She held the reins with her left hand as she slightly patted the cherry brown neck of her trustworthy steed with her right hand. She was wearing a purple dress, with yellow primroses. She felt like a princess on top of her mighty horse. Darkness of the evening fell and the street lights were lit. Several people walked by, but none of them had any time to pay attention to the girl and his horse stepping by. She closed her eyes for a second and imagined arriving at home - her mum putting a freshly baked apple pie on the table, her father putting his newspaper aside to smile and greet her, her little brother waving at her while playing with his toy cars. But it was a long road home, they might not arrive there before midnight.

She opened her eyes to an empty street. No people were to be seen. The houses seemed to be empty, as if they were deserted. She looked at her horse, who was still calmly walking, his head lowered, and saw the street lights that still showed her the way. They reassured her and she was pretty sure that it was late and people were in their beds, sleeping.

Suddenly, a street light just before them shut down. That scared her a bit and she grabbed the reins to bring her horse to a halt. She looked at the light slowly dissapearing from the bulb, until it shed no light. She looked around her, it was quiet, too quiet. A sense of uneasiness  went through her body and she felt as if somebody was watching her. She turned her head to look back at the road she just came from. It was completely dark behind her, all the lights had gone out. She felt her heart rate rise. She held the reins tight, making his horse feel tense and uneasy. She gently nudged to urge him to walk on. As they passed the next light, it suddenly went out too. She got really scared and urged her horse to trot. He felt her being uneasy and he held his head high, ears pricked, snorting. As they moved on, all the lights kept shutting down as they passed. She felt as if she had to follow the lights. She looked back once more, there was noone there, but the feeling of being followed only grew. She couldn't stand it and let her horse break into gallop.

And so they thundered across the street, following the dying lights. She was pretty sure she heard something from behind her, though there was nobody there. It was as if the lights would lead her to safety. The sound of the horse galloping and panting were the only sounds she heard. He accelerated and he was not listening to her commands to slow down. But she trusted her and when she grabbed his mane, she knew that he was taking him to saftey, fleeing from the enemy that came from behind.

He stopped at the town square. The lights circled the place and one-by-one they shut down around her. She was confused and didn't know where to go. All the lights shut off and she was in a nearly complete darkness. Her heart was beating faster that a racehorse could gallop and the sensation of danger being near was enormous. Then, there was a bark of an angry dog from the dark street she came from. She could tell that the dog was behind a gate, but something made him uneasy and bark angrily. She felt the enemy arriving on the square, she had to get out of there, now. She looked around and saw a street heading down to south with lights. Without hesitation, her horse took off in a full gallop towards the street, as if he had read her mind. And again the lights shut down as soon they passed. Suddenly, she heard running steps behind her and a screech of a monster. She didn't even dare to look back, she shouted at her horse to gallop faster. He went faster than she had expected. He was snorting loudly and his ears were pricked. She felt that she was fleeing alongside him, so strong was the force of the enemy. She heard the steps getting quieter and she knew that the monster was left behind. About time, her horse was getting tired. His neck and chest were white with sweaty foam and she dropped into a canter as he bent his head into an even contact. They cantered on quietly, but the lights kept turning off and the uneasy sensation hadn't gone nowhere. She turned her head to look back. It was dark and quiet. But it was not right.

Suddenly, the shadow of the monster jumped out of the night, screeching loudly. As soon as he heard it, her horse was off to a full gallop and they were again fleeing down the narrow street. He managed to keep up for several strides, but she felt the energy flow out of him. He was sweaty all over and his pace lost the spark. He was snorting and panting heavily. Not yet, my horse, not yet, we have to escape! She tried to urge him on as she heard yet another scream from the monster behind her. She looked forward, there was a bright light at the end of the street. This should be the way to safety! She heard the monster getting really close and it filled her with fright. No, she can't go on like this! She gathered the reins tightly and sat up in the saddle. She pushed her legs into his sides. Just a little more to go, flee, my horse, flee, we are soon safe! He shot up and accelerated. But being tired as he was, the gallop wasn't the fastest and the monster was right behind them. She could feel his evil breath at the back of her neck. The light was just twenty meters away. We can do it, we can do it! She felt the fright inside her turn into bravery. The monster was ready to attack. The light was just two strides away. The enemy made a leap at them. The horse made a leap at the light.

She opened her eyes and she saw cars roaming by. She was not on the back of a horse, she was standing. She looked down, she was not standing on a cobble stoned street, it was all asphalt. She was not wearing a dress, she had a brown coat and jeans. The cars signalled at each other and people rushed by, not paying attention to her. Rain was quietly falling from the dark sky. Street lights were shining. She saw her home over the highway. She crossed the road and as she walked by the lights, they didn't switch off, it seemed as if they were going brighter. As she walked by her neighbour's house she saw a dog behind the gate. Instead of barking, he waved his tail at her. Then the door of the house opened and the dog was called in. She watched as he trotted happily into the warmenss of the dry house. She walked into the yard of her house. When she opened the door and walked in, she saw her mum putting a freshly baked pie onto the table, her father putting the newspaper aside to smile and greet her, her little brother waving at her while playing with his toy cars. She smiled as the feeling of saftey took over. As she sat down behind the table, she knew that yet again, the good had won the fight over bad and light was shining brightly again. You can never tell the difference between a dream and real life.