The House in The Woods

As I woke from this weird dream, I could hear someone yell my name. I got up and looked at the time. It indicated that it was 12:40 AM. It looked pretty dark outside, but I went down the creaky rotten stairs as fast as I could. As soon as I got down, I saw the door wide open, leading my eyes to the woods. My eyes widened, then the realization came kicking in. I looked around frantically and yelled for my sister… I heard no reply, I ran out the door and into the woods barefoot. Whether I was stepping on mud, leaves, sticks and probably even pebbles. I kept going until I was stopped by this random figure. He was wearing a black sweater, a button shirt under it, and suit pants. I couldn’t tell, but he was in front of the woods that my sister and I used to play hide and seek in, while our mother made us our favorite snacks. The figure looked familiar, but my memory is faint. I tried to run after him, but then I realized that he looked like the man from my dream. The stranger carefully put my sister down and charged at me. He managed to stab me in my shoulder and I fell back and held onto my shoulder. I was looking at him walking back to my sister, picking her up, just walking away carrying my sister by his shoulder. She seemed to be knocked out. In his right hand I could see that he was holding a rag that contained a clear substance. At that moment, I thought that this couldn't be real, this could have to be a joke, but I was surely mistaken… Darkness surrounds me. Once again, I see my parents' house just like that night, but it’s different; different vibe, different aesthetic, it all looks like it's breaking apart just like my life… but what caught me off guard the most was the figure. I was trying to run, but everything was crumbling at every step I took. I screamed from the top of my lungs. Don’t leave me, not again —“Ethan, wake up, you're going to be late again!” with those words, it has brought me back to life. Her voice startled me and I woke up confused and panicked. My aunt Anne asked “Are you ok?” I replied with “I’m fine, it’s just a nightmare”. She was looking at me with concern on her face. It was clear that she was worried about me. I told her to calm down and that she had nothing to worry about. Clearly, I was wrong. She told me to get ready or else I’m going to be late like before. What I have started to realize is that my life is just a cycle. Have a nightmare about my sister, waking up halfway, going to school just to come home and find solutions to something that won't be given easily “come on hurry up the bus is going to leave you!” My mind was instantly cut off by my aunt’s eagerness for me to go to school. I hurried my way out before the bus could come and potentially leave me. While I was standing near the bus sign, I could see my friend running towards me. “Hey Ethan!” I just stared at him while he continued to run towards me. I said to him, “Hey.” He stopped right in front of me and excitedly asked me “Do you want to come hang out today?” I was hesitant, but I said, “yeah sure—” I stopped since the people kept staring at me as if I was a lunatic. I lightly yelled, “What?!” Everyone was confused as I was, but there was no time to question it. The bus managed to come before I began to act “strange”, I suppose. As we got on the bus, I asked him “Do you want to come to my house or yours?” “You can’t come to mine.” “Why not? I’ve known you for about a year, Mark!" “It's because of my dad.” “Ohh… I’m sorry I shouldn’t have been pushy.” “Great. Thanks for understanding Ethan." "No problem, I'm sorry. It's mostly because of my sister that I feel this way." “No, I understand, but I have something to tell you.” “Yeah sure what is it?” “It’s something personal, but I really need your help with this.” “Alright, just tell me” “Ok, so you know that we are friends, right?” “Yeah why?” “I wanted to ask you to do something for me” “Sure what is it?” “I’m stuck”