i wake like i'm hooked up the mains no sleepiness, no slow warming up within seconds of realizing i was unconscious i am on my feet, eyes wide, dreams not just forgotten but erased i am drinking in the feedback of all my senses aside from my own noisy breath there is nothing to be heard and the woods are simply too dark to see much at all black trunks against an almost black backdrop doesn't make for much too see but my pupils have become accustomed to the dark and my imagination begins to supply horrors to fill the void. after a minute or two the sound of running water permeates the inky blanket. i am near a brook a brook would hide my scent, cover my tracks i want to run, but it is with faltering steps and raised hands i move on, like a sick game of "blind man's bluff" i want to silence my feet, but all I do is step on twigs and kick stones my steps came to a sudden halt and that's when i've been caught in front of me, i saw it i saw.. in the corner of her smile there's been a darkness there for a while