• I didn’t know how long I had been sitting there, watching, waiting. The fear rumbled endlessly in my chest. The pain was shredding my courage. I had to close my eyes, I had to look away. I couldn’t bear it any longer. It came at me at full speed, roaring like a raging lion, burning like a black fire. The fog thickened with every moment, sucking up every inch of the Earth before me. The waves, the island, the sea, the sand, the trees. That’s when I started running.
    I ran faster than ever before, I ran with every inch of strength I had. Surprisingly, I had more courage when I wasn’t looking at the fog, the black thing. I sprinted faster than any other human ever had but it still wasn’t fast enough. The Black Thing doubled my pace, getting closer and closer every moment. Suddenly I was surrounded by it, engulfed in nothingness. I couldn’t see anything, couldn’t hear or feel anything. There was no happiness, no sadness, no anger or fear. There was nothing. Without warning, a circle of clear space surrounded me, I could see in front, beside and behind me. There was nothing at first, but as the circle widened, there was bodies lying around me, scattered across the field of what used to be nothing. These people were total strangers to me, but they looked so familiar, like they were my family. Then it hit me. They were dead. The Black Thing killed them, stole their souls. Their bodies were empty, lifeless, loveless. That’s when I came to my senses, my feelings came back, this time multiplied. I felt no longer fear but loss. The loss of every person, I wished I could have gotten there sooner, ran faster, saved them. I felt alone. My knees buckled under me. I lay there and cried.