#sciophobia

Why won't it stop smiling at me… The forest, lit blue by the midnight moon and its starry sky, but I stare at the ground.

It moves with me still, it's still shaped like me. But when I turn to keep walking, I feel it grow closer. And when I look back, it doesn't hide that fact as it slowly slinks back to form. My shadow is out to kill me, and it radiates impatience for its goal.

'What do I do, walk backwards home?' I think to myself as I remember the forest path to my house, a death trap watching where you're going.

Staring down at my captor, just trying to make sense of what I'm seeing. "This is crazy." I say under my breath, laughing to myself like a totally sane person. This makes no sense, absolute insanity, but I'm frozen… "I just have to turn around… right?"

But I stand there, hands in my hoodie's pockets, just staring at the ground… "just turn around, that's exactly what I'm going to do."

"Ṫ̷̡h̸͈̃e̸̮͛ń̸͉ ̸̠̓d̷̘͝o̴̦͌ ̵̦̽i̷̠͒t̸̥͋"

It's voice came from behind my ear… with icy breath and bitter aggravation.

So this is how absolute dread and insanity feels like. I laugh to myself as I realize the weight of this moment; Either I'm insane or dead and I don't know which.

I start carefully and slowly walking backwards, as the thing attached to my feet follows suit.

"Ẃ̴͙h̸͍͐a̴͈̋t̶̖̓ ̴̩̍á̷͈ȑ̵̠e̸̼͝ ̵̯́y̴͖͂o̷̱̎ū̶̘ ̸̟́s̶̯͋o̴͇̾ ̶̜̋a̵̦͝f̶̘͝r̷̙̃a̷̐͜ḯ̷̼d̷̮̆ ̶̠̅o̴͚̒f̶͇͐?̶̘͋" it's cold whisper, a heavy contrast to the warm breeze.

I press on, refusing… or unable to open my mouth to answer it's twisted question. As I walk under the forest canopy, I watch that thing melt into the shadows.

But instead of feelings of relief, overwhelming dread consumes me before I turn around and book it towards the street light. I just know if I make it there I'll be fine!

I feel the shadows around me gnaw and claw at my legs as I run. Laughter from all around me, maniacal and taunting. What is this nightmare I've stepped into!

I collapse into the yellow light, just trying to remember how to breathe. My Shadows slowly slides below me and it feels chained again. Like a shadow should be… but I'm still not home.

I look up at the shadows that cover the rest of my path. My legs burning, I give them a look over. They're covered in scratches, they don't look near as deep as they feel though. I look up at the Moon that I've admired for the past two and a half decades, wondering why she would do this to me…

The moon, who used to be my only comforting friend throughout the night… it's insane but I just know that it's her. It sounds so delusional, but looking back at my bleeding legs, it's the only thing that makes sense! There's no way just kicking up some gravel, and managing to avoid roots sticking up from the ground did this!

As the old light bulb flickers, I jolt up knowing I won't be safe there for long.

"A̷̜͛w̷̮̑~̷͇̈ ̸̦̑ȉ̷͍s̸̰̅ ̸͎̈́t̶͚̒h̸̼͒ė̷̼ ̴͈̔l̸͜͝i̷̺͌t̸͎̊t̵̪̂l̵̜͗e̸̪͝ ̵̻̏ḇ̶̀ǫ̴̈́y̸̘̅ ̷͍̀t̷̹̂h̶̥̾a̶͓͊ẗ̷̘ ̸͔̎s̴̥̃c̵̜̈́à̵͕r̵͉̋e̴̪͗d̵̻͠ ̵̢̉ǫ̷̈́f̸̙̾ ̶̗͐í̵̜t̵̮͗s̴̢̑ ̵̥̃o̵̝̾w̸̦͌n̷͓̈́ ̶̱͝s̶͇͂h̸͔͠ă̸̹d̸̩̂o̶̡̅w̵̼͝?̶̫̊"

Bolting down the road, in and out of the blue moonlight and her shadows. I see my driveway, alit with the blue and a shadow man waving at me with a shit-eating grin.

I squeeze my eyes shut as I turn into my driveway, skating and catching myself as I try to keep momentum.

"F̵̛̜a̸̔ͅs̸̙̚t̵͉͊e̸͒͜r̵͉͝" its gravelly laughter fills me with fear as I cry down the driveway begging to reach the porch light.

Throwing myself onto my porch, I turn around and watch as this yellow light bends my pursuer to its disdain. Standing right beside me, just as a shadow should.

I stumble inside, wash my wounds and bandage up my legs… this all happened just a couple of weeks ago. Now, whenever I look into the night, I'm just filled with dread and that nightmare creeps back into my mind…