Silence sat over the forest like a heavy fog.
Moonlight slipped through the branches and fell upon a face
one you couldn’t tell was alive, or just a memory from a nightmare.
Its eyes glowed… red, weary, unblinking.
As if searching for someone or waiting for someone to return.

From behind the tree, hands emerged… pale, slender, lifeless.
But they weren’t reaching to take they were reaching *to hold*.
Every branch, every shadow seemed to breathe.
The forest was awake… and something in the dark was smiling.

They say if you stare at this scene for too long,
you’ll wake the next night
with the feeling of hands reaching for you from under the bed…

Some nightmares only become real when you open your eyes