_There is nothing but the dark. An ebony blackness surrounding me. Until the first light appears. Tiny and flickering but still there. And more follow it. Little white dots peppering my vision. _

Stars._ _

_I’m staring up at the night sky. Now that I’ve realised that I can feel the grass beneath me. I push myself to seated and take stock of my surroundings. Besides the silhouettes of some trees, there’s nothing out here but me and the stars. I’m struck with an unsettling sense of déjà vu as I get to my feet. Or maybe it’s not déjà vu, maybe this has happened before…_

_A bright red light catches my eye and I spin towards it. It’s a tree. One of the trees which had been merely a dark smudge against the starry sky moments ago was now glowing blood red. I’m about to take a step towards it when another lights up. This one further away but just as red. _

_Another one, two, three, light up in quick succession. When two turn red at the same time I set my sights on the closest tree - which happens to be the first that lit up - and walk towards it. _

_I trip on the uneven ground as I slowly stumble towards the tree. It feels as though I’m getting nowhere but soon enough the tree is only a few metres away from me. It pulses with red light and an eerie creaking sound comes from it with each pulse. The creaking is getting louder and—_

Oh God._ That’s not not creaking. _

_I take a step back as the screams increase in volume. Tearing out of the glowing bark and echoing in my mind. My foot catches on something and I fall. I try to scramble away from the tree but there’s something on caught on my ankle. I tug at my leg but whatever it is only grows tighter. _

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_The anguished screams of the tree are joined by my own as something grabs my other ankle, this one with thorns. Splotches of blood appear on my leg, glowing just like all the trees. _

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_The thorny… vines grab my wrists and every attempt to escape leads to more glowing blood coating my skin. One wraps around my stomach and another around my chest, limiting my movement even more. I keep struggling though, until one grabs my neck and forces my head down. _

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_The screams are so loud now they’re making my ears bleed along with the rest of me. I can feel vines crawling around my legs, arms and torso, creating a thorny cocoon. The thorns tear at my skin with even the slightest movement, even breathing. _

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_“Get off me!” I cry though it’s barely audible over the screams. It earns me a vine slapped across my face like a gag. _

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_More appear on my face until all that isn’t being marred by the vines’ thorns are my eyes - allowing me to see only the stars and the faint red glow given off by the trees - and they too and soon covered. _

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I shoot up, gasping for breath. I glance around and my heart rate slows as I realise I’m in my bedroom.

“It was just a nightmare,” I say to myself.

_A nightmare that leaves my body feeling like it has been sliced by a thousand thorns, _is what I don’t say. _A nightmare that leaves my heart racing and my mind muddled. A nightmare that I have every single night. _