The Hill

Boy meets fear

There is a man on a hill who watches all the children go to school. It is a large hill so you may not see him but I do. I see his silhouette beside his little home watching like a lion waiting for one of us to break free from the herd. I have never seen him up close as fear grips my leg when I begin to step up the hill but I know his eyes. I see them in my dreams. They are blue like the ocean. Not the ocean that connects near shore but the ocean that stirs far from the sight of land. My dad used to take me deep sea fishing before he lost his boat but I would see the ocean blue I am describing now. It is dark and deep blue and there is nothing pretty about it.

These eyes follow me when I dream. They chase me down the large hill until I stumble and fall. His shadow falls over me as I clutch my twisted ankle in pain. I get cold, very cold. The sun sets behind him and I feel the hunger in his eyes.I look to my friends and they are running away to safety. They look back on me with fear as I am the one that has strayed too far from my herd and the lion with the deep ocean eyes has caught me.

He reaches for me and I scream.

I wake up flailing,sweat pours down my brow and I hope the water running down my leg is sweat as well. I frantically search the room in fear that the man has followed me into the sanctuary of my room. Delirious and scared I see his eyes all around me. I see it in the crack of the closet door and at the window that stands above my bed. My mother enters the room and turns on the light. Rubbing her eyes she calms me with her voice as only a mother can. She hugs me and I stop shivering but my soul and my mind won’t let go. In four hours I will walk to school and see him watching us from the hill. I will try extra hard to stay amongst my friends, to stay within the herd and not stray. He is still watching.

http://presterjohn.co.uk/2015/01/the-hill/