I ran through the forest as the stars gleamed down upon the trees, and the wolves howled at the blood red moon. As the forest got darker, the deeper I went. Sticks and leaves snapped and crunched under my feet as I kept racing and they kept chasing. I ran as far and as fast as I could to try to get away and as I did, it did too. It ran faster and faster until it was right on my tail. I was losing my breath and my stamina just as I tripped on a tree root and fell onto the dirt. The figure slowed down and stopped in front of me, I rolled myself over to face them. I couldn’t make out what or who it was, the shadow reached down at me and my vision went black.

I opened my eyes and sat up, gasping for air, my heart pounding in my chest. It was merely a bad dream, but this was the third time I received that dream. I got up out of my bed and went to my window, I looked out into the forest behind my house. It’s not scary during the day but at night, especially under a blood moon, the forest is creepier. Mother always warns me not to go near the forest at night, especially when the moon is blue or red. I calmed myself down and left my bedroom, the house was empty, and mother had already left for work. I checked the calendar and as I feared, tonight was a blood moon.

The time passed by slowly as I stared at the clock in the classroom. I turned my head every now and then to look out the window, the school day was almost over and I could sense the freedom, free to be out of these walls and on my way home back to my bed. Something suddenly caught my attention, snapping me out of my little fantasy and back into reality. The teacher had said my name, asking me to answer a question. A student’s worst fear, zoning out or falling asleep and the teacher calling on you, and you don’t know the question nor the answer. “Sorry miss, I’m a little lost,” I spoke low as I sat near the middle of the class, god was this humiliating. She pushed up her glasses and just as she opened her mouth to speak, the bell rang. Finally, free at last, I gathered my things and got up, and walked towards the door as I heard kids talking about tonight’s red moon.

Maybe it’s some sort of sign, I stare out the window of the bus as I get lost in my thoughts. The blood moon is all I can think about, I heard about it all day. The blood moon hasn’t appeared in almost a year which is strange as it should appear at least three times a year. It’s going to be a dark night for sure, maybe I should stay inside tonight. I was shaken out of my trance as the bus stopped, it was my stop. I got off the bus and looked up to the sky, the moon was slightly visible, but it hadn’t turned yet. I walked down the hill through the grass and back up the other side to the small park in my neighborhood. I reached home and unlocked the door, mom wasn’t back yet. I took off my shoes by the door and went to my room. I set down my bag and walked over to my desk, I sat down and as I opened my sketchbook. The sun was still bright as it came through the window and I started to draw. A circle, a line, a curve, erase, try again. I drew for a while until I had finished. When I looked at it as a whole, I realize what I  had drawn. I set down my pencil and stood up, looking at the window I could no longer see the warm rays of the sun. The sun had set and my mom still wasn’t home, she must be working a night shift.

I found myself outside, walking towards the woods. It was dark, the trees were tall, some with lots of leaves and branches, and some were dead. I stepped on some fallen leaves and as I walked, they crunched and crumbled under my feet. A few twigs snapped as I stepped on them, my mind was blank, I stared off into the distance. It’s just like my dream, maybe I fell asleep? I heard something behind me, I turned back quickly just as I saw the very thing I had drawn, the figure from my dream. It looked like a wolf but this was no regular wolf, it was bigger than any wolf I had ever seen. It had huge claws with eyes filled with rage. It was looking at me with hunger, it seemed as if I’m its prey. I turned around quickly and started running, but the creature chased after me. I could hear it growling, its paws hit hard against the ground as it raced after me. It got faster and closer as the woods got darker. I suddenly tripped and fell, I heard a deep growl from right behind me. I turned myself around, still on the ground as I met its face. It looked up to the moon and howled, it looked back down at me. It raised its paw and slashed down at my face. I tried to push away from it as I touched my face. Blood ran down the side of my face and dripped onto the ground. The wolf-like creature opened its jaw and lunged at me, I let out a blood curdling scream as it bit deep into my neck. I start to lose consciousness as I look to the sky, the blood moon was a curse and my dream was a warning.