  Eternal Slumber in Shadows… There is no escape. Feeling another branch scrape at her arms, another thorn scraping at her ankles from some randomly scattered shrubs, the one thought upper most in her mind was…’There is no escape.’ She sees the trees whisk by, faster than the wind they went, her feet barely touching ground before lifting off again in flight. She doesn’t need to think anymore about where she’s going – it never matters, They always find her. Her eyes dart frantically about, looking for new paths to take, new roads that could, that might, that would lead her further and further away from Them . The night air filled her lungs, simmering the fires of exhaustion with a cold force. She lifts her head to the skies as she floats along, seeing the tips of the trees meld together, as if creating a web in case she set flight and dared escape in the sky.
Ah, the night sky! There it lay, so expansive and eternal, filled with worlds and beings of its own. How she longed to be on any one of them at this moment. A bitter laugh escaped her bruised lips, who’s she kidding? They would probably be there too. What’s that? The shadows are moving closer together near the webbing of the trees! She blinks a few times and it was gone, merely leaves falling onto the forest floor. It was getting harder to distinguish between all the shady motions…was it Them or just a figment of her imagination.
She’s been running so long, so very long, They were becoming a part of her, a daily and hourly habit. Letting her legs move on their own volition, she closed her eyes and saw the changing landscapes of all the years past since They started to haunt her. She remembered what it was like to be considered normal, to see the world through eyes of innocence and joy with nothing to plague her. She recalled the faces. Everyone had beautiful faces, filled with emotions and expressions that lent to their character. There were children playing with joyful laughter, mothers and fathers watching on in pride, love and ready to pounce lest one of their offspring got hurt. Oh if only they knew what was waiting for their children out in the world, she longed to tell them. She screamed and screamed at them, banged on the bubble they lived in, “Run! RUN! Don’t let them grow up! !” No one ever heard her. So she kept running. She remembered the feel of snow crunching under her feet, changing to mud soaked land in the Spring; soft, lush grass of Summers and the padded earth packed with fallen leaves of Autumn, seeking escape from their world as well she imagined.
Over and over the seasons cycled as she ran, ever watchful during moments she slowed. Sometimes she had that far a head start on Them, she was allowed to stop and live life a bit. How long? She had no idea, time had lost all meaning soon after They found her. Inevitably, and all too soon, They would catch up to her and she’d run again.
She remembered desperately clinging to people for help, pleading with them, “help me, please mercy HELP!” But there was nothing they could do for her, some even spurned her in disgust or fear. Feeling a tear slip between her tightly shut lids, she gasped in the night air once more, realizing she’d held her breath the entire time. Opening her eyes, letting the haze clear, she saw a shape in the coming distance. A tall, dark spectre loomed ahead. It entranced her in a way nothing has for the centuries she’s been running. Staring intently at it as it came closer to her, she felt her heartbeat calm itself, felt her mind slow its racing, she found her feet slowing its flight incredulously. She stopped directly at the base of the spectre, letting her gaze travel from its base upwards. Her Spectre was a tree, not a leaf existed on it, nor branches of any long kind. Yet it stretched proudly toward the night sky, defying all the trees around it, lively in their leafy decorations and awing branch spans. Looking beyond its top, she saw a circular opening where there were no branches or leaves to web the sky from her view. The moon hid behind a dark cloud, she smirked at the “silver lining” metaphor and looked to the shimmering stars surrounding it. Leaning in, for the first time since she began running, she reached out to touch. Closing her eyes, she felt the coarse bark under her fingertips and felt, really felt the Spectre’s life force flowing beneath her. It lived…it had nothing to its name, but it lived, triumphed on in the face of being non-existent.
She saw at the side of the Spectre a large stump that was once a magnificent tree. It was moss covered all around except for the top of it, which was surprisingly clear and clean. Looking toward the sky, the Spectre and the stump, she closed her eyes and swallowed. She knew now what she had to do. She kissed the Spectre, letting her lips stay on the cold bark, letting the energy flow around her, tears streaming down her face. Walking around to the stump, letting her fingers trail along the Spectre’s base, she sat down and lay back.
Letting her entire body relax, for the first time in what seemed like forever, she smiled and felt her bones groan. Feeling it before seeing it, she opened her eyes and saw above her, high in the sky, a red Moon. Knowing this phenomenon comes very rarely she knew it was just for her, for this moment. She let its rays caress her and kept her fingers touching the Spectre. She heard Them coming. All other sounds quieted in the forest. Even the wind died down to a respectful silence, knowing what was to come and not wanting to travel the sounds to anyone. She closed her eyes and whispered a name onto the night air. As she fell into an eternal slumber, They claimed her. 
