NIGHTMARES: A WARNING

I awaken, standing somewhere, nowhere
My eyes open to total darkness
All is black as pitch
I stretch their sockets wider, blink,
Hold then tightly shut
Open them once again, wider still

Naked as the day I was born
Shivering, freezing
I shake uncontrollably
Icy winds scream and rip around my body
Folding my arms around my chest
My body shrinks, pulls inward

From every direction comes a deafening roar
The winds carry unearthly moaning and screams
Zipping past me like rejected souls
From above are deathly rumblings of distant thunder
At my feet the earth trembles, snaps and crackles
Like thick breaking ice

Far to my right a sudden, massive shaft of light shoots downward
Striking the frozen ground
Even at this distance it blinds me further
I shut my eyes then open them warily
The light moves slowly along the barren earth
Like a beam from a hovering craft

The light shows me that I am on a frozen lake, or river
Low swelling, black clouds roll overhead
Like billowing smoke from a torrid fire
Enclosed in this black vacuum
The light shows me nothing more
But the ice below and black clouds above

As suddenly as the light appeared
It is just as abruptly gone
And I am once again cast into total obscurity
But now I feel a presence before me
Something enormous, incredible
A monster so colossal that it shatters the mind

I now tremble not with cold but with fear
It is before me though I cannot see it
But it is there
It reeks of death and corrupt, decaying flesh
I gag from its stench
Cowering before it I await to be taken

A blast of light hits directly down upon me
The moon has once again found a passage
The sudden glare scorches my eyes
Forcing me to fall to my knees
As I throw my forearm up to shield them
Then slowing I begin to lift my head and open my eyes

Before me is a massive black, scaly head of the dragon
"The Ancient One"
For ten thousand years it has feasted upon the forsaken
Horrified I stare into the eyes of death
With its dull, black lifeless pupils
Surrounded by a deep blood red

In the illumination only its head appears before me
But the size of that alone defies imagination
Haughtily it smiles and bares row upon row of sharp pointed teeth
The lips and muzzle are covered with fresh and dried blood
Its black nostrils flare as it begins to speak
In a deep throaty rumble, Death arrogantly chuckles

"Ha, ha, ha... yes, bow before me maggot they all do.
But fear not, bug, for though it is beyond your time
I am not here to take you... yet.
The Master has sent you a warning. You have work to do.
But whether you succeed in your tasks or not.
The next time you see me, I will feed."

And then the light and the demon were gone
I was once again alone
I must go now, for I live on borrowed time
But then don't we all
I must go now, for I have work to do
I have been warned.

Michael Tank

04-20-2008

"Copyright 2008.  Michael E. Tank   All rights reserved. No part of this document may be copied, faxed, electronically transmitted, or in any other manner duplicated without express written permission of the author."