Fear

Coward

As I my eyes opened again, I was falling. Dropping through the gray stormy sky. Deep blue waves bobbed back and forth below me, and an icy thought chilled me. I can't swim.

I dropped into the water. It was freezing and the waves were rising in big loops over my head, threatening to take me down with them. I let out a small cry when i was left underwater by a wave, kicking and thrashing to stay afloat. I had a fear that I would sink to the bottom and never come up. "Help me, please!" I yelled.

Suddenly a huge, overwhelming wave took me down underwater where I sank deeper and deeper into the dark ocean. I couldn't scream. Couldn't move. I tried swimming like the way I've seen people do it, which didn't make things any better. I flashed memories throughout my head as a burning pain took over my lungs. I felt like a balloon filling with air, getting ready to bust. I felt myself panicking like I never had before, my heart pounding against my chest, the screaming fear that drove me insane.

Then it was over.

I opened my eyes in an empty room. What happened? I pressed my hand against my chest, felt my steady pulse. How can I still be alive? I drowned in that ocean and nothing had ever scared me more. I still felt the pain and panic.

Right. The Test. Then I took a second glance at my surroundings. I was in an empty room with plain walls. No doors, windows. Okay.. What is so scary about this? Then the walls started moving in closer, making the room tighter. Claustrophobia. I wasn't very claustrophobic, but I had to make the best of my space. I got down on the floor with my head down and my arms hugging my knees.

The lady running the test picked up that this wasn't one of my fears, and moved me on to the next phobia.

Suddenly I was laying down in a glass case. There was one hole at the top, but not big enough for me to escape. Above the hole, I noticed a long tube reaching down from the ceiling.

As the first brown, hairy creature dropped from the tube, I felt queasy and sick to my stomach. Shivers ran down my body. "Oh no." I muttered. A big, fuzzy tarantula dropped down into the hole, landing on top of my gray sweatshirt. Then another. And another. My whole body tensed and I could feel their hairy legs crawl around my skin. I fought the urge to thrash around wildly. I wanted to scream, and shreik. But I couldn't.

I covered my hands with my face, closing my eyes. More spiders of different kinds dropped into this glass prison, covering my body. My heart pounded like a drum. I Don't. Like. Spiders!

I was suddenly transported to a different area. I let out a sigh of relief and danced around. "I can move!" I yelled happily. "But what do we have here?" It was a small yellow house, nothing else. It looked kind of familiar. I didn't want to go in, but if I wanted to get out of here, I had to do this.

With a sudden burst of courage, I swung open the door. "Hello!" I called out. I passed through the living room, studying the photo frames. I let out a gasp as I looked at them more closely. They were old pictures. Of my parents. I walked into a nearby bedroom. Thats when I saw them. Only it was like watching a play. No matter how much I called to them, they didn't even seem to notice I was there.

They both looked so perfect together it brought tears of joy to my eyes. I saw the date on the calendar. October 12. Their anniversary. I suddenly knew why I wasn't home. I was at a sleepover at my friends house but I came home early to find- No. They can't do this to me.

I feel a lump in my throat. Now they've done it. They've found my worst fear. The memory that will haunt me to the day I die. The reason why I have nightmares at night. My mother stood up. "Thank you for tonight, James. It was wonderful." She kissed him softly and walked to her bed. My father walked into the room to join her. But he was forgetting one thing.

I found myself screaming until my voice was hoarse, tears streamimg down my face. I knew what would happen next. The unsupervised candles flickering next to them caught onto the curtains, spreading to the bed sheets. "No! No! No, please no!" I screamed forcefully, slamming myself onto the floor.

As I knew would happen, I walked into the house with my suitcase, heading to my parents room. "Mom! Dad! Wake up! Please wake up!" Little me screamed. Mom woke up, but it was too late. "Winter, run! Save yourself! I love you." Mom shouted over the noise. I watched as the flickering flames ate my parents alive. My past screams were too much to handle. I screamed over and over again, sobbed so much I was shaking.

The flames spread over to me. I fell to the floor, not wanting to feel pain anymore. Then, everything went black and I came to my senses.