Digital publication | Page 17

thanatophobia  

{Aryav M.}

I awoke from a peaceful slumber as a bloodcurdling scream

startled me this morning. I'll never forget that scream. It was the

most terrifying screech I had ever heard. It sounded like an elderly

man was suffering a harrowing breakdown. My blood began to run

colder and colder. My ears were in excruciating pain. Shivers ran

down my spine. The world turned into a single human body with its

heavy heartbeat thumping on the living room floor. THUMP THUMP 

The rear door slammed shut behind me, as if someone wanted to 

confine me to  my living room.  The room grew silent  for the first

time today. No sound except my hurried and heavy breathing.  A

painful tremor  shot throughout my body.  Suddenly, the  air 

seemed to be void  of oxygen. I gasped  for air to no avail.  The

room went dark. My entire world collapsed. Nothing but opaque

blackness. Silence.

 

It was an experience that  I  would  never forget. I was drowning in a

sea of sweat.  My body grew  stiff. I attempted to raise my ankles

and wrists into the air but was too  frightened. The silence was

finally  broken by a single word. A groan followed by a hefty

footstep. Then as if I was inside a snow globe, my reality was

abruptly turned upside down. I heard something that  halted my 

dripping heated tears.  I listened intently, straining to hear each

word,  attempting to identify the voice that whispered,  "Audrey,

Audrey, Audrey, Audrey!"  The words rolled around in my ears

repeatedly. The  voice  still ringing  in my ears was familiar. I 

paused until it came to me. "It's Dad!"  I dashed to the back door as

quickly as I could, knowing that if I didn't make it in time, anything 

could  happen. I extended out my hand as I spotted the flyscreen

door. When I opened the it,  there was my dad's horrified face. A 

spider the size of my pinky nail  was crawling across his forehead.

My  world  stopped. My heart stopped. I dozed off again...  

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