Nightmare

• Pearl Fratti
• Short Story
• 2020

I wasn't expecting to wake up lying on a log, drifting slowly down a stunning stream in the middle of the night - judging by the height of the moon. I also wasn't expecting to be foot first into piercing cold water with the delightful sound of a waterfall in the background. Speaking of waterfalls, is that one right in front of me? There was no mistaking it, I was going to die by falling down a waterfall.
"Yay," I said sarcastically to nobody, "lucky me."
I was starting to panic now, but thankfully I need not to worry because I got knocked out by a stone pocking out from underneath the water which meant that my death wouldn't hurt as much. After that all went black.
The second time I woke up was in between a scorching hot desert and a spooky forest - the stream was in the middle. The problem was that I didn't notice where I was for at least 30 minutes because I was so grateful that I had finally woken up in my pleasant, comfy bed from that dreadful dream I had the night before - or at least that was what I thought at the time. I was still figuring out why the dream seemed so realistic until I eventually opened my intense brown eyes. I couldn't believe what I was seeing but my surprise quickly withdrawn as I decided to scan my surroundings. I realised that I had an arrangement to decide, Sizzling Desert or Eerie Forest.
Unlike most people this choice was an obvious decision to make. I would choose... Creepy forest. I know I might be an individual in this decision but don't judge me, this was my preference to pick and that was what I instinctively chose.
After I eventually found something to put water in, I promptly ambled along into the peculiar forest. I knew to expect the worse when I treaded mutedly into the mysterious forest but what I saw I would never forget.
One sector of the forest was a spectacle image. The presumably once majestic trees blocked all the light from the sun. The trees looked as if a bear came up to it and used it as a very ideal play toy to eat and consume. On the forest floor there were many skulls and bones of dead animals and humans (disturbingly) and even though you think you’re alone, you get the awareness that someone or something is glancing straight at you.
On the other hand, the furthest sector looks welcoming, a little to welcoming. Opposite to the play toy trees, these trees were filled with colour and were lively, the ground and soil was vivid and full of greenery. In the middle of it all was a (once again) exquisite waterfall falling elegantly into a dazzling lagoon, but all of this seemed too good to be true - something just didn't sense right.
I strolled carefully into the forest and everything went black.