Chimera

Part 4

As I raise my gaze to look ahead of me, I jump a little when I catch the end of a motion in which log-like pillars quickly reach from left to right; the booming sound resonates and fills the humid air making it somehow heavier than before. I curiously stare at the horizontal obstacles that appear to be randomly produced--taking up all spaces from floor to ceiling--for maybe 100 meters?-150 meters? It's difficult to tell but I know there is an end not too far ahead of me. I approach the first log which is about as thick around as my Ford's tires. I place my hands atop of it. It's surprisingly thick and sits at about the height of my hips. 

I know I have to move forward as the hallway is illuminated only ahead of me and not behind. This all seems manageable to navigate through, but my obstructed view of what lies beyond every few logs makes me nervous. With a quick survey of every few pillars, I began to form a mental pathway of where to duck under or climb over. I swing my left leg up and over the first log that my hands were already placed on. I lower my head so that I am nearly parallel to the wood as the next one was higher up and in the way of my top half. Going for these narrow gaps, I slowly move more confidently. Over, under, through empty spaces, I slink around the obstacles at a decent and careful pace. It's not so bad. It would certainly be better if I had a clearer view of what's ahead. 

My nervousness becomes validated when, out of the corner of my eye while ducking, I catch the motion of something from under another pillar. I freeze to take in my surroundings and hold my breath to try and hear any sound that's not coming from myself. Nothing. I turn my head to look back and I am reminded that the light only exists ahead of me. I must keep moving forward.

If I must, I will do so more quickly. The thought of any other thing or creature lying in wait beyond my view of trees is definitely off-putting, but the idea of being caught by or running into something among the thick of this horizontal forest of obstructions sounds much worse. I just need to hurry along to the end of this stretch so I can have room to breathe and think about what I can do next. 

I can see the end more clearly now. Only about 20 or 30 meters left. I have a nice rhythm going--dipping under and mounting over these logs as if I were flowing like water. Until I see it just like before. It's a brief and fleeting instant, but through the outskirts of my peripheral vision, I barely catch a movement from what I discern might be the shape of a person. Only this time, it's considerably closer. My eyes are rapidly drawn to search every shadow around me as I try and push on. Though I'm not sure it's possible, I try to move even faster. The end is getting closer. I succeed in traversing only slightly faster at the cost of being sloppy. With bumping elbows and knees hard enough to feel bruises already forming, things become more confusing and blurry. So close. With only a few obstacles left before I reach empty space, I accidentally ram the back of my head into the wood mocking me from above. There's a slight ringing in my ears. The shocking pain slowly pans out over the rest of my head and meets in the middle at my face. It feels like waves of an earthquake on the surface of my scalp down into my brain and the epicenter is the site of impact. I stumble as I try to clear the last couple logs with my eyes squeezed shut. 

Finally, I fall to the ground into open space as if the sideways trees spit me right out. With hands and knees on the floor, I let my head hang down and I attempt to slow my breathing to keep the water in my eyes from spilling. I can't forget that there is someone out there. I don't know how dangerous they are. Trying to be alert, I fight my neck that doesn't want to hold my head straight up and steady as I struggle to stand. Squinting my eyes from the discomfort, I do my best to see everything I can around me. I strain to see through my blurry gaze. Nothing out of the ordinary as far as this dream goes.

Then, in just as shocking of a manor, there is nothing at all.