Free Crossroads by Mary Ting Page A

whooshed past me, I used the
flashlight to hit it, hoping to knock it out or hurt it. But the
flashlight went right through it. At that moment, the courage to
fight back vanished.
    Suddenly the room became extremely
cold. It was so cold that I could see the mist flow out of my mouth
as my breath became heavy with fear. Shivering, I hugged myself as
I tried to find something, anything, to keep me warm. Then I
thought of running to the window to scream as loudly as I possibly
could in hopes that someone would hear me.
    As I turned to run, the clothes on the
table came flying toward me. I screamed out loud in panic. Using
both arms to cover my face, I tried to reach for the door again.
Even though I knew I wouldn’t be able to open it, it was the only
way out. I was confused, and I didn’t know which way to
go.
    Suddenly the black cloud came at me
even faster and harder. I kept backing away, shielding myself with
my arm as I tried to escape, but it was relentless. It knocked the
wind out of me, and I was gasping for air. Then it stopped. Feeling
breathless and disoriented, I rubbed my sore arm and looked
around.
    Realizing I was now at the opposite
end of the room from the door, I backed away slowly, taking one
baby step at a time, afraid that it may sense my movement again.
When I thought I had backed far enough away, I dashed for the door.
That was when I felt something cold at my feet. It was already
freezing in the room, but this coldness was directed solely at my
feet, and the pain stung right through to my bones. I tried to run
again, but it was no use. It felt like my feet were cemented to the
ground. When I looked down, a long black fog that looked like a
slithering headless anaconda started circling me.
    The fog took the form of a snake, the
thing I feared most. The one thing that would make my skin crawl
inside and out was now taunting me, like I was about to be its next
meal. The farther it moved upwards, the farther the coldness and
the pain spread. As I stood there like a statue, a single nerve
jolted through my body like lightning from my head to my toes. I
tried to control my panic as my whole body trembled from the cold
and fright. Trying to fight back, I looked around to see if there
was anything I could use to defend myself against this attack,
anything but this useless flashlight and my sore arm, but there was
nothing.
    The black smoke finally showed its
face, but only for a split second before disappearing. Just a
glance at the monstrous black face and demonic yellow eyes was
enough to paralyze me. The fog seemed to be getting pleasure out of
making my blood race with fear, teasing and taunting, shifting back
and forth from a fog-like form to a snake. When it became the
snake, it took a solid form with its red tongue slithering in and
out, looking for the perfect place on my body to strike.
    It began to squeeze tighter again, and
I could no longer feel my legs. Blood rushed to my head, and I was
certain death would be next. I wanted to grab the head of the
snake, but I couldn’t. The thought of touching it made me cringe,
and I knew my hands would simply go right through it just as the
flashlight had. Besides, I was a mere human next to this creature
of immense power. There was no way I would win.
    Let this be a dream, I prayed. Things
like this didn’t happen in real life. I needed to find a way to
wake up. Wake up! Wake up! Help! Somebody help me! I screamed
inside.
    “ No one can help you,” it
hissed wickedly.
    I was so astonished to hear it speak
that I was speechless. Then it hit me; hearing the snake fog or
whatever it was speak to me was a sure sign that I was dreaming.
Any minute now, I would wake up from this nightmare.
    “ I’ve finally found you,”
it spoke again.
    I didn’t wake up, and all I wanted to
do was scream at the top of my lungs, but I couldn’t. All I could
do was scream inside my head. “I’m dreaming. I’m dreaming. Go away!
Please, go away!” I finally managed to say