As I take every step, I hear the houses around me breathing loudly. I can feel them watching me, the windows the eyes, the sidewalk, the large tongue lolling out, trying to lick me. Everything inside me is electrified and without my permission, I start running.

There is only one light post on my entire street, at the corner of Custer and Magnolia, and it is far away. The rest of the street is soaked in black, like someone grabbed a sharpie and scribbled everything out. I keep running and running, away from the darkness, into more darkness.

The willow trees hang over me like spiderwebs, their long tendrils brush against my shoulders. Everything is alive and breathing around me, but I cannot find the air myself. My lungs slowly squeeze shut, but i can’t stop. I can’t be caught. I can’t be caught.

I can’t be