As we passed along those mazy dirt roads, through magnificent pine trees, my heart began to race. I was home again. The air was pure and warm and the bright stars were perfectly littered across the endless night sky, which had shown itself to me in a way that I had not seen in a very long time. No longer had I gazed upon the city's version of an impure contaminated night. I remember stepping out of that modest black car and being brought back to a time in which Mother Nature had reigned supreme. I recall the tired, but energetic look on my friends' faces as we gazed into the spillway. We appreciated those few minutes of absolute relaxation. We had traveled hours away from the city so that we could feel that sense of homeliness once more. At that moment, we had not cared that it was incredibly early into the morning hours. We let go of worrying about our busy schedules; we were careless more than ever on that night as we allowed for the perfectly gloomy night to sweep us away into wonderful solitude. We were selfish back then; we held no care for anyone but ourselves. Beauty and intelligence held no meaning; we were human and we had subjected ourselves back to nature. The four of us were alone in those quiet woods. There was such a great deal of harmony that had passed through our veins. We had shared fond memories and we had made humor out of our many misfortunes. While I stood above the spillway, my body leaning against the rails, I thought to myself the blissful thought of letting go. I allowed for my excited imagination to take over and I gave into considering the idea of allowing for this to be my last memory before my mind became contaminated with greater capitalistic hostilities. While I stood along those rusty rails, I glanced over at Rain. She had stood by the car. I thought about how lovely she was. I saw beauty in her in ways unexplained. She was my opposite yet I made it a point to see similarities between us. Rain was paled skin and her hair was as dark as her pretentious attitude. I saw deep and intellectual thought in Rain; at the same time, I realized she was wonderfully narrow minded and arrogant. We held similarities in thought, but the way in which we perceived our thoughts were vastly different. She was a complex individual to understand and she seemed slightly as insane as myself. I was intrigued by her. Though she had made me nervous, I felt more comfort around Rain than I had around many other people. I forget what she wore that day, but I'm sure that it was something dark and ironic. I stood beside my best friend, William. He was more charismatic than I was; I've always found him to be a disturbed individual with a lot of hidden internal pain. He would make no sign of this, however, and he came off as energetic and full of life. William was a larger guy with light colored hair. He came off as an extrovert, but he had numerous introverted tendencies. It was not a secret to any of us that William had liked Katherine. He had not kept this information to himself. It had always been a mystery as to whether or not the feeling was mutual; Katherine had made signs, but I had always assumed that she just enjoyed the attention. The sound of the spillway had become overpowered by the sound of the supernatural. I had realized long ago the many other worldly beings that roamed those woods. Three of us had become at ease with their presence. Rain was an outsider in the group; she was a newbie and that night had been the first in which she had visited those woods. While we fell into even greater harmony at the beautiful sounds of the other worldly music that filled the rustling tree leaves, Rain felt uneasy and the look that had covered her face had made this known. Although she was arrogant, I knew Rain to be an independent and open minded individual. I was hardly surprised when I noticed that she had quickly become more intrigued at the sound of the supernatural than she was afraid. Because she was unfamiliar with the location, Rain was foolish in her comprehension with those woods. She had decided that she wanted to explore them, something that the three of us had never even considered. Initially, we held resistant against her desires to discover; we had been taught our entire lives about the dangers associated with those soundly and unseen supernatural beings. Rain held the power of persuasion, however, and it did not take long for her to talk our young and accepting minds into exploration. I still remember in great detail how I threw the smoothest maroon pebble into the spillway prior to our adventure. I was a severe brooder and I had made connections in the strangest aspects of life. I had told myself that no matter what would happen in those bizarre woods that I'd continue to exist, much like that newly lost pebble. Leaving the spillway had left me dazed. Although I was generally accepting of new things, I was fully aware that I was the worrier of the group. I tended to fear things big and small in a disorderly kind of way. It was of no surprise to my friends that I'd be the first to decide to leave those woods. William and Katherine had made many jokes at my expense over my orderly and safe nature. Rain had not typically joined the banter, which I had always respected. "Of course he'd be the first to go." William had said. Katherine agreed. She had said something in response, though I forget what. I didn't care, though. The wonderful and inviting sounds of the woods had gone from being captivating to dreadful. I turned around; I knew that I'd easily find my way back to the spillway since we had just started our journey not long ago. This belief, though, turned out to be false. As I turned around and separated myself from the group, I found myself lost. In the attempt to cast light onto my unfamiliar location, I fumbled around in my jacket's pockets for my phone. When I directed its light on the trees ahead of me, I realized that I was not in the same area as I was just seconds earlier. Unexplainably, I had not panicked. I did not cry for help; I decided instead to attempt to rationalize the situation. I had lost my friends in a matter of seconds and I had not known why. Any reasonable person would have been startled beyond belief at my predicament and although I was typically one to worry, I was hardly reasonable. I took my first steps out into this newly discovered territory. Each step that was taken was taken in deliberation. I was careful to remain silent for the consideration of the unknown. I had noticed that the sounds surrounding me were starkly different. No longer had I heard the sound of the beautiful supernatural music that had once echoed throughout the woods. Instead, I witnessed the sound of chirping and of owls in the distance. I heard frogs croaking and leaves rustling. Besides my phone's light, the only other light emitted was from the moon and lightning bugs. I had tried to hear the water from the spillway and the voices of my friends. I heard neither of those things. "William!" I had cried in a hushed tone with hopeful wishing that perhaps he'd appear beside me. As assumed, William did not respond to my voice, nor did Rain or Katherine. I continued walking amongst the fallen orange leaves, in the same direction in which I had traveled from the spillway. I had walked for what felt like an eternity until finally I had heard the sound of laughter. I was startled, but I tried my best to rationalize the situation. Although the sound of laughter was distinct, I had figured that it must have come from either Rain or Katherine. It didn't take me long to discover how wrong I was in my assumption, however. As I foolishly followed the sound of laughter, I discovered a trail of lit torches that hanged from the sides of the large pines. I followed those torches carefully and silently in the fear of garnering the attention from whom the laughter had emerged. At this moment, I had realized that the only option that had remained for me was to hope for a peaceful encounter. I had genuinely believed that those woods had become endless and that this would be the only sign of life that I'd ever be able to witness again. That thought had left me teary eyed as I recalled the memories that I had established with family and friends. I thought of those who had died in my life; I began to wonder if I'd see them once more in those infinite woods. I glanced down at my watch; it was a habit of mine each time I grew nervous. The time baffled me; I knew that there was no way for it to be nine o'clock, but that's precisely what the time had read. The torches had eventually led me to a humble and dark cabin. The laughter had faded away midway through my journey along that torched narrowed path. Curiosity had left me encased in unexplainable fear. I had no knowledge as to where the laughter had gone and that was more frightening to me than if I had continued hearing it. Feeling an uncontrollable need to do so, I walked up to the cabin and peered into the fogged window. I had not wanted to accept the truth that was so blatantly obvious. It can't be, I had thought to myself. I knew that I was incorrect in that statement- it could be and it was. The cabin that I had found myself at was the one that I had lived in when I was just a child. I decided that I'd have to overcome my fear of the unknown and step foot in that cabin. I crept up to the worn out wooden door that I had been eerily familiar with. I hesitated while staring at that door knocker; its eyes had peered into mine as if urging me not to go inside. Arrogantly and foolishly, I ignored the internal cries that resided within me. I slowly opened the door, expecting to find the furniture that I had once been accustomed to. Instead, I found something far more complex and unexplainable; I had gazed into my former life as a child. I watched as my family huddled together in a circle; they shared stories of a mystical being that I once knew as the shadow creature. Suddenly, memories that were once ridden from my mind had come back to me. Candles were scattered around the cabin. I remember being young and examining as my mother placed each candle carefully to ensure that the mystical being would steer clear from the property. I had always assumed that the creature was fictional, though. I stood there as a ghost while I relived the concerns on the faces of my family as they shared their tales. I attempted to reach out to them; I tried to tug at my sister's hair and I tried to grab my mother's arm. I sat in the center of the circle; I gazed directly into the eyes of each of my family members. My father kept glancing away from my stare. He must see me! I figured, but he never answered to my cries. I spoke into my child self's ear, thinking that I could surely gain my own attention. I was an expressionless child, though, and I had never indicated emotion. I became horrified and confused. Why couldn't they see me? Why am I here? I thought these things while I sat there studying the youth in my family's faces. They were so young and lively. As their stories concerning the shadow creature continued, I attempted so hard to remember their present selves. No matter how hard I tried, however, I found that I could not do so. Wait, what were their names? I had asked myself. A chill rushed down my spine as I attempted to gain back the memories that were once instilled inside of me. I stared into my mother's eyes, not realizing at the time how frozen they were. What is your name? I asked her. I glared at her for what felt like an eternity, expecting her to answer my many questions. I stood up and stared down into each of their individual faces. I realized at that moment that they were silent. They were frozen; their fictional stories concerning the shadow creature had ended and I watched as their eyes shifted in fear at the ceiling. Suddenly, memories of this horrible day had come back to me. Each candle in the cabin had slowly faded out. I stood there amongst my former family in absolute darkness. I did not hear a single noise escape from their mouths. The only light that had been emitted into the cabin came from the moon, which had shown itself through the foggy window. I gazed up at the ceiling, noticing the familiar red eyes that I had witnessed long ago. How I could have forgotten this event had been beyond me. I called out to a familiar friend, whom I had known resided himself over my innocent family. "Shadow!" I cried, realizing that I remembered his name but not my family's. I trembled in absolute fright as I witnessed his unique red eyes become larger. Those eyes had shifted in my direction. I was surprised to find out that the figure that I had once known had realized my presence. I closed my eyes, I clinched my fist and prayed to wake up from such a horrid dream. When I opened them, I found myself overlooking the gushing waters of the spillway. I gradually turned my body around, looking directly at Rain and Katherine. "Come on, let's go! Don't you want to see what's out there?" I heard Rain ask Katherine as they both peered into those mystical woods. "What if it's another dimension? A gateway into our former lives? Would you want to go and witness your own death?" I asked them. I felt a sense of relief knowing that I had the opportunity to stop this occurrence from happening once more to the each of us. "Hmm. This is definitely déjà vu." Rain had said to me. "He's a worrier, don't listen to him." Katherine stated. "Where's William?" I asked them in serious concern. "Who?" They both asked in unison. I realized at that moment that some people are forever forgotten in their eternal deaths.
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