The Things I Can't See

Once I was out and about at midday –
Absolutely normal in every way,
But across a short alleyway, there was a niggle.
A tendril. An arm thing? A little black wriggle.
I can not describe it, except that I blinked,
After that it was gone. Just completely extinct.
So I sat there and thought, and I thought, and I thought.
All while hoping to find some great myst'ry I sought.
But it never came back. Well, at least not for me.
While in bed, I did think about what it could be.
But eventually I became overtaken.
I dreamt an odd dream. I don't think I'm mistaken.

Across my small room, I saw shadows – a creature!
I could not quite tell each and every feature.
A man who was hunched right against the far wall?
A few kids? An old lass? Someone naturally small?
It began a strange dance as it flickered around,
Little hops left and right without making a sound.
Very soon I was frozen by unnatural fear,
And became quite alarmed as the object drew near.
In an instant, it vanished, becoming a smudge.
I then shouted while giving my lamp a quick nudge.
In the light it was gone, like the alley before.
For that night I was done. I could handle no more.

So I ran down the stairs and I turned on the TV.
Just hoping that shadowy thing wouldn't see me.
It worked, I suppose because hours flew by.
To be frank, I was scared and I thought I would cry.
Soon the screen turned to static. The windows were dark.
I just kept looking out toward a large local park.
As I stared all too deeply right into the void.
All my senses were sharpened. I felt paranoid.
"There is nothing. There's nothing." I said to myself,
Then a figure appeared. It was next to my shelf.
It was large. It was dark. It was human in form.
At the time my heart stopped and my face felt quite warm.
It took all of my power to hold back a scream.
"It's a dream." I repeated. "A dream. It's a dream!"

Then emboldened by logic, I took a quick stand,
I approached it with small, awkward waves of my hand,
But I stepped on a creak and it whipped right around.
All my courage then left me and could not be found.
In that moment, my body and soul seemed to split,
All too strangely my eyes could not focus on it.
It was faceless, opaque, with a glob for a head,
It then gurgled (or howled?) while pulsing and said,
"Little human, you're not the right person I seek.
But unfortunately, your near future is bleak.
Only those with some power see me and my kin.
You have no idea what kind of trouble you're in."

It then lurched and unfurled while limping at me,
With new tenticles reaching like roots on a tree.
In a panic, I screached all while toppling my chair,
I then ran. But to where? Well, I tried not to care.
Soon the floor felt like sand, and the walls were too small.
I then launched for the door just beyond a short hall.
I felt shortness of breath while I jiggled the knob.
Everything was in silence, except my heart throb.
Whether seconds or hours had passed, I lost track,
But the door soon revealed a world, pitch black.
No recourse. I then fled to the darkness' embrace,
Behind me, a deep shout, "I enjoy a good race!"

Ev'ry step. Ev'ry breath. Ev'ry beat of my heart.
I felt hot molten lava through my ev'ry part.
I was frantic, brain static. All thinking was hard,
But I said to myself that I know my own yard.
"I'll just get to the park and then call for some help."
But when looking straight forward, I let out a yelp.
On the bound'ry between swaying grass and night sky,
I saw something odd moving that felt quite awry.
At first glance, it appeared as peculiar rubble,
Amorphous black goop with a weirdly shaped bubble.
Again and again some more bubbles appeared.
Ev'ry one of them creatures. Far worse than I feared.
Yet I could not retreat now, no matter the cost.
For my home – no my sanctuary was now lost.
As I curved through some trees, I heard something behind,
From my house, a loud thunder from one of their kind:
"My dear brothers, don't hunt! I will have my own fun,
For tonight we shall feast. You must wait 'till I'm done!"

Soon a crack and a cackle erupted around,
It was cruel. A chaotic, cacophonous sound.
All the shadows then vanished as if in assent.
In that instant, I knew what the noise must have meant:
That the creature – my creature had left me his mark.
He would hunt me alone, so my future was stark.
All too soon there was nothing. No voices. No light.
I just had to keep running with no way to fight.
There was rustling and howling with noise all around,
Yet it all felt so distant, as if I had drowned.
With dispair in the air, I let fear take the lead,
Every movement was primal, I would not concede!
*I just have to survive.** That was all I could think,
So I kept clawing forward or else I would sink.

Then from deep in the forest, a whisper. A pout?
It was simple and soft, yet as loud as a shout.
It had caused me to jump and break out of my trance,
So I swiveled while running in some sort of dance.
I kept trying to locate the sound that I heard.
There was no one. I thought, "Look, this is absurd!
Why would anyone else be around? It's so late.
But then maybe this meeting means more... It is fate."

I then heard it again. A short plea so distinct,
That my body leapt forward and followed instinct.
I then ducked through some branches and weaved through the trees.
I was still being stalked so I didn't dare freeze.
Then a clearing appeared with a bench and a slide,
And what looked like a figure, just sitting beside.
I then paused, breathing hard. What if this is a trap?
There was no time to think, so I gave her a tap.
She then leapt all while crying and crawling away,
"Please don't hunt me. I just want to live through the day."
So I knelt down and whispered, "Hey, wait. I'm a friend.
Please just come with me now so we don't meet our end."

She then looked right at me, her face painted in fear.
She was frozen while thinking and let me draw near.
It was dark at the time and I couldn't see much.
There was something about her that gave me a hunch.
A strange feeling I felt way deep down in my core.
So I then had to ask, "Have I met you before?"

Though in imminent danger, the world seemed to stop.
We just studied each other from bottom to top.
She had eyes of deep blue and her hair was light brown,
At the time, she had pursed her lips into a frown.
Yet her juxtaposition was truly a sight.
She appeared as an angel amid a dark night.
As I looked even longer, my vision soon blurred,
Like my brain turned to goo while my thoughts were all stirred.

In a flash, my head split and my body collapsed.
There is no way to know how much time had elapsed.
I awoke to her tear sliding down my right cheek,
With my head in her lap. She said, "This looks quite bleak,
We'll get through this somehow. We just have to. We will.
Please just calm down. Relax. We'll stay silent. Be still."

In that moment, her hand on my head and her voice...
Everything felt so calming. I made a bold choice.
I said, "OK. Let's do this. Let's think of a plan.
I will promise to do anything that I can."
I then saw something odd. A faint aura? A glow?
A translucent white mist that continued to grow,
And then covered her body from head to her toe,
Quite perplexed, I then asked, "What is that? Do you know?"

"What is what?" she responded, as if unaware.

I said, "Maybe it's nothing" and tried not to stare.
But it irked me quite deeply. I started to wonder,
If talking to her was a possible blunder.
I didn't know her, and she didn't know me.
In the end, we were strange as two strangers could be.
Yet that strangeness bred closeness. I felt a connection.
She pointed. No question. I followed direction.
We crawled a short distance right into a playhouse,
Collectively sighed, slightly sheltered from chaos.

We whispered and analyzed our situation.
It wasn't too long until her short narration.
"It knows where we are. We can't hide. We can't fight.
So to me, our best option has got to be flight.
We must run and keep running as fast as we can.
But it could come from anywhere. We need a plan.
There is something I think we both know to be true,
That we cannot get caught. It wants me. It wants you."

At that moment, we paused and both thought the same thought.
Were the creatures we ran from the same? Maybe not?
And if not, then just how many creatures were there?
At that moment I noticed her gaze. A deep stare.
It went right past my eyes and straight into my soul.
All her aura extinguished and now just a coal.
We could run from just one. Maybe two, but not more.
Yet we knew there were many. We heard them before.
So we sat there in silence both shoulder to shoulder.
No plans left to plan. We got colder and colder.

The moment of respite was quickly destroyed,
For from deep in the forest, a voice quite annoyed,
"You can't hide for much longer. I know you are here.
Who is that you are with? A pair huddled in fear...
It's no matter for me. Just one more for the feast.
She does look to be tasty – a snack at the least!"
I then saw it appear from the edge of the park,
An odd smudge. A long shadow. A figure, quite dark.
Now distorted, opaque, and much larger in size,
It was cutting through silence with gutteral cries.

So I looked toward my friend and then tugged on her hand.
I said, "Come with me. Right now, I need you to stand.
We have no time to think. We have no time to rest.
We'll get through this together. Our final grand test."

She was still and unmoving. I pulled and I pulled,
But her paralyzed glare was both icy and cold.
She said, "Hey. There's no doubt that we're hopeless and late.
Maybe now it is time to accept our grim fate."
She then stared at the creature, now so very close.
We could see it quite clearly, all gooey and gross.
Its new body was buldging with odd extra legs,
And it smelled truly awful, like old rotten eggs.
As I studied it close, I saw more than before.
Its translucent, dark skin showed a red glowing core.

All my thoughts seemed to scatter. I lost my own mind.
I then sought an escape. Any help I could find.
Yet my eyes could not focus on any one thing,
Time had frozen and panic then reigned as my king.
So with little recourse, I just stared at the sky.
With my heart indicating the time passing by.
I was drowning on shore with the waves hitting me,
So I offered the heavens a desperate plea:
"To a god or a goddess who's up there right now,
We could really use help in some way or somehow.
I don't know what we want – What we need at our core.
For it might be a miracle... Or something more!
If you hear me right now, please just send us your best,
Maybe give me a plan and I'll do all the rest!"

There are bound'ries where subjective, objective smear,
Where fantastical facts and good stories appear.
It was there that I think that our story began.
As a promise to no one to do what we can.

The next moment, I saw a star shimmer and glow.
It just rocked back and forth before starting to grow.
It then pulsed a bright blue and popped with a sound.
A lone note in the emptiness, echoing 'round.
In a chain reaction, there were more stars to burst.
Ev'ry one with a vibrant display, like the first.
Pretty soon there was no light. The sky was pitch black.
We saw only our creature's dim, red glowing sack.

It had stopped in the darkness while watching and curious,
Its miserable core both impatient and furious.
It felt like a cat watching prey get away.
Or a shark smelling blood, watching dinner decay.
Under cover of darkness, I checked on my friend.
Even then, she was whispering, "This is the end."
In that moment, I felt something deep in my soul.
That my hope to survive was alive – a small coal.
I could save myself only. My partner was stone.
In the void I could run and escape all alone,
Yet my heart knew the truth. That there wasn't a choice.
I then squeezed her hand tightly while raising my voice,
"We are in this together. I'll die by your side."
Then my coal was snuffed out while we silently cried.

The faint light from the creature – now all we could see,
Though once chained to the earth was released and set free.
The false idol stepped forward, and as it did so,
A red shockwave then set the void briefly aglow.
A new step. A new gust. A new wave on the sand,
We felt pressure now building we could not withstand.
Something new then appeared. A faint light from behind.
From the heart of my friend that each pulse then refined.