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cut in the manner
of the very elite. The energy about him is dark and
foreboding and yet he looks like he belongs in a grand
setting with marble floors and platinum fixtures. The
stranger suddenly smiles at me and I notice blood
dripping from the corner of his mouth. His eyes seem
to burn with fire, and it is as though the empty shell
he had been just moments before, is now alive.
    The fear and alarm coursing through my veins
quickens my pulse. My back straightens and the
energy that had eluded me before has returned.
A
breeze stirs through the clearing, lifting the limbs of
the tree next to me. The man’s face contorts and
blackens as his gaze locks with mine. He gives me
one final, long stare and then turns on his heel and
disappears into the dense trees.
    It takes me a few minutes to get my thoughts
together. I watch the place where the man vanished
until my breathing returns to normal. I pause and it
occurs to me that the people who reside here are
aware of my presence. I can’t help but wonder if the
window of time for me to return to the other realm
has closed. I have learned how to survive in pretty
much any circumstance but this is too much for even
me. This place will soon drive me over the edge if I
don’t leave.
    Then, I remember that I am here for a purpose. I
almost cry out with relief and change the subject in
my mind. I will not second guess why I am here.
Not now. If I do then I will lose my mind in this
horrible place. I need my mind intact if I am to finish
what I came here to do and get back to the other side.
I feel an immediate, intense need to leave this
clearing. My gut is twisting with pain from
dehydration and I walk in the opposite direction of
the man to find water.
    After a couple of hours I stumble upon a lethallooking pool of water. I am so thirsty that my tongue
is like sandpaper. My taste buds have swelled up in
protest and are screaming out in pain. I stop and
contemplate the water even though it is clear that it is
probably not safe. What I wouldn’t give right now
for a glass of blackberry wine. I can almost taste the
sweet liquid in my mouth and imagine the calmness it
would bring to my nerves. My mind is running away
with me, and I quickly bring it back, for fear that I
will open the door for something scary to enter.
    As though on cue, I hear the faint sound of a man s
laughing. It’s a deep, throaty laugh that has the feel
of an inside joke. You know. The type of joke your
friends play on you when you are at a party? The
only problem isthe joke isn’t funny. My mind seems
to be held in a brain fog and I am having difficulty
concentrating. I see images out of the corner of my
eye. The muscles in my body are contracting and I
am starting to feel numb all over. My body is going
to shut down soon and I know that I need to find
somewhere to hide. The world is spinning around me
and I feel as though I am being sucked into a
whirlpool. I can barely make out anything around me
and the green of the trees is whirling around me so
fast that they look like finger paint swirled together.
    There is a buzzing sound in my head and swirls of
white emerge from the green colors. I’m not sure if I
am actually having a hallucination or if there is
something out there. A kaleidoscope of color flashes
before my eyes. The outline of a human shape is
coming towards me.
    There are strong arms about my body. They lift me
easily off the ground, and as I struggle, they tighten
and hold me still. I can feel large, calloused hands,
squeezing my thigh and shoulder. A familiar scent
teases my nostrils and I am transported for a moment
to another time. The scent of spice and rain has
awakened a distant memory in my heart that was a
happy time in my life. The memory has been long
forgotten and locked away in the inner core of my
mind. My eyes are closed but I can see him in my
mind’s eye.
    He is tall with high cheekbones and has thick eye
lashes that any girl would kill to