The Shepherd’s Axe

“You wanna do something fun?... I’ll show you fun.”

This is my worst nightmare.

Not knowing what to do, I ran. Pushing through thick leaves and sharp branches. Cuts everywhere to be seen. I’m a thunderstorm of fear trying to evade the monster hunting me. It knows it. To them I am prey, only alive for their own pleasure of being murdered. It's so close, I can feel it breathing down my neck. I’m gasping for air, in search of shelter. The dense fog isn't helping. Wind rushing onto my face like a constant hard slap. Light headed, knees bleeding out. Thorns impaling my feet and body so numb that I can't feel anything but panic.

I can’t do this anymore. Gathering up the last bit of my strength, I sprint faster than I possibly could. They take notice of this and pick up the pace. I can hear the booming footsteps shortening the gap between us. It's coming for me. It wants me, But why? It doesn't matter if I don't keep moving. Any moment now it could easily capture me and no one might be able to find me. I’ve been running past these trees for what feels like days. It all looks the same. 

My throat was compressed. I'm being pulled back. My breath hitched. I was doomed. My head hit the ground and my eyes blurred. Everything around me was spinning and it wouldn't stop. It picked me up. I protested, begging for a hint of mercy. But I was a fool. How could I think this devil was capable of mercy? 

It held me up high and threw me against the floor as if I was a ball to play with. The pain was unbearable. It was agonising, excruciating, and more than I could bear. I was too weak to even whisper let alone scream. Before it could do something else to me, an immeasurable amount of tears painted my numbed face. It stared at me and asked with a hushed and yet head-splitting voice “any last words?” All my senses seemed to have stopped functioning at that moment. It dragged a sharp and bloody axe beside me. “Well, then...” said the voice. The axe was lifted on top of me “goodnight little lamb.” 

______ 

DRIIIIIIIIING DRIIIIIIIIING DRIIIIIIIIING DRIIIII-

I shot up and looked around frantically. Oh thank goodness, it was a dream. I let out a shaky and grateful sigh. It felt so real. I look over my shoulder to see a broken alarm clock and the time on my phone. It’s 5:32? I seriously don’t wanna go back to sleep after that. Slowly, I shifted off my bed, turned the lamp on and made my way over to the window. I pushed the heavy curtains off to the side and stood there, taking a couple of deep breaths while admiring the dark sky patterned with tiny specks of light. I looked over to the road and saw Mrs Jennings walking Wilbur, her dog, like she did every morning. Wilbur looks an awful lot like a lamb. I was reminded of that voice. I turned around to check if someone was there, but it was just me. I quickly looked over to the mirror and shook my head as if I shook the thoughts away. I should go get ready for school now. 

I turned the water on and stood there while it warmed me up. I want to stand here forever. The water was like a warm hug while the soaps smelt fresh and cool. While grabbing the mint scented soap, I thought about the group presentation for science. I should double check with Tilly if she’s free today, she always has dance practice. After rinsing the soap off and brushing my teeth, I wrap my towel around myself. I opened the door and the cold air surrounded me, engulfing myself with goosebumps. I walk over to my dresser and try to find a suitable outfit. Why is it so hard to find clothes today? After some hard thinking, I finally chose a shirt and some overalls to put on. As I turned to grab my books, a notification went off on my phone. Who is texting me this early in the morning? It was Tilly.

“Hey Mira”

“Can’t come to school today”

“I’ve been vomiting all morning”

“Sorry about that, just do the project without me ok?”

“Sounds terrible, hope you feel better soon!” Ugh of course she had to be sick today of all days. I sighed out loud and grabbed my books. Let’s see, today I’ve got art, french, geo and science. Well, that should be fun. After packing the necessary supplies needed for today, I swiped my phone off the side table and checked the time. It’s 6:18, ok so I have some time to eat breakfast. I made my way downstairs to find my mother making pancakes and my brother drawing. “Hey honey, you’re up early,” she spoke, “yea mum, i’ve got…” My voice trailed off as soon as I saw what my brother was drawing. It was him in a black cloak with a bloody axe in his hand. My heart stopped and I froze, staring at the picture. Did he know somehow? There is no way he dreamt the same thing as me. Unless… 

“Hey Kris, why are you drawing that?” I asked cautiously, “Oh, it’s for my halloween costume, mum is gonna make it for me!” He replied enthusiastically. “Yea I am. Mira are you ok? Do you wanna sit down and eat a pancake?” She asked, looking really worried. “No thanks mum,” I replied with a smile “I think I’ll just grab a banana and eat it on the bus.” I’ve totally lost my appetite now. “Are you sure Mira? I don’t want you to be hungry in the middle of lessons and complaining to me about-“ 

“I’ll be fine mum, Love you guys” She was completely shocked when I said that. I don’t usually say that I love them, but I should more often. “Um ok honey, I love you too!” I heard her say as I walked out the house with a banana in my hand. I sat on the steps to wait for the bus. Should I be worried about this? I could see the bus arriving, so I stood up and walked over to the end of our driveway. Nah I’m just a little shaken that’s all. I hopped in and looked for an empty spot. Ok there’s one at the back. I walked towards the seat and stared out the window while the bus moved inconsistently. I put in my earbuds and listened to some music on the way to school. 

“Get out, I don’t have all day!” shouted Mr Henderson, the bus driver. Gosh, why does he have to scream each morning. I got out of the bus and the first thing I saw was a horde of people pushing their way into the colourful building. Great. Just great. I’m not much of a social person without Tilly. The only times I ever speak are when I answer questions or when I’m dying to go to the bathroom. I took attendance in the office and I pushed my way into art. As per usual I’m the first person there. I organised my things and a couple more people arrived. My art teacher, Ms Lucy, started the class with a power point presentation. “Today in class, we will be painting trees.” she said while handing out papers. She had also put up some example pictures of forests. “Oh my god…” I didn’t notice what I said out loud. “Is something wrong Mira?” she asked. “Oh no nothing, I just realised that this is..gonna be so much fun!” I replied with a happy tone in order to hide what I felt. It looks exactly like that forest. 

Another two classes had passed, I’ve never felt more baffled in my life. Why is this happening? There is definitely something wrong with me. In french we learned about animals and had to write a paragraph about an animal. Later in geography we learned about famous forests around the world. This can’t be a coincidence. Right after school I’m making a doctor’s appointment. Maybe I should visit the school counsellor? I went over to my locker and grabbed all my stuff. Tilly’s locker was right next to mine so I opened it up and put all her books in my bag. I’m gonna pass these to her after school. Behind her books was a half eaten sandwich that had, what looked like, borax in it. Oh poor girl, she must’ve had some borax on her hands after yesterday’s science class. That’s probably why she’s sick.

I closed her locker and reluctantly made my way to my next class, hoping that at least this would be a normal lesson. As I entered the classroom, I saw that there were students just hanging out and no teacher to be seen. I looked over to the whiteboard and written there was a note from Mr Jacob, my science teacher. ‘Good Afternoon students, I won’t be in class today as I have an important event planned. I suggest you use this time to prepare for the next lesson’s class project. You all know your assigned tasks so you have my permission to leave school and complete the work.’ Yes! Finally something good is coming out of today.

I could finish this now and visit Tilly later. While exiting the science class, I bought a soda I could drink on the way. I was starving and all I could think about were those amazing pancakes I passed up this morning. Leaving school, I headed towards the forest, which is only a few blocks away. I stared at the sky which is now looking gloomy. Looks like it’s about to rain. I should hurry this up. I quickened my pace and found a broken bench to place my things. I wish Tilly was here to help. Leaving my books and bag outside, I walked in. So what was it I needed to find? I picked up my phone and checked. “Ugh if only I were doing something fun right now.” I said out loud thinking nobody was there.

“Hello little lamb”

I dropped my phone and my heart sank. Staring into the forest I tried to find the figure behind the voice. It was familiar. Too familiar.

It revealed itself.

“You wanna do something fun?... I’ll show you fun.”

This is my worst nightmare.