Running through the tall grass and flowers to escape the little beasts, I made my way toward the nearby trees. Darting into the shade and cover of the canopy, I turned and looked behind me but didn’t see any of the strange insects. Being underneath the trees was far darker than it had looked from the field. Tilting my head back, I could only see a little fragment of light. Shivering, I wrapped my arms around myself and stepped gingerly over the rougher ground until my feet found a wide path. This spot was lovely. The way it opened up and allowed the sunshine to filter through in pockets gave the appearance of spotlights.

Feeling lighthearted once more, I picked up the pace, and my footfalls barely made a sound on the packed dirt. Humming a song that was stuck in my head, my feet shuffled a little faster to the beat as I began singing.

“Take me away,” I sang. “A secret place.”

Allowing my eyes to close, I felt my body move to the song that was on a constant loop in my head. It was only then that I realized I didn’t know where I was going. As beautiful as the path was, it was familiar. I tried to recall where I’d seen this trail before, but the harder my brain worked to remember, the more uncertain I became. The song died on my lips, and my pace slowed as the gentle breeze that had been rustling the leaves disappeared and left an eerie silence in its wake.

The sensation of being watched made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. Spinning in a circle, I searched the shadowed forest for the cause of my unease but didn’t see anything move. The sweet smell in the air was replaced with the scent of something strong that I couldn’t place, but it was making my nose curl.

“I’ve got a pocket full of sunshine.”

“Who said that?” Still, nothing moved, but the forest seemed darker as the bright spots dulled, the sun disappearing. “Answer me, who said that?”

“A sweet escape…take me away.”

“Stop it! Show yourself,” I screamed, and a few birds nearby took off, making me jump.

There was a subtle movement in the distance, and then just like that, there he was. He was far away, but it didn’t matter. I knew who he was. I could feel his stare boring a hole into me. He was the man with the eyes that wanted to tear my heart from my chest and eat it in front of me.