that brushed through the dull, gray room.

“Wh-where am I?” he stuttered. A pain throbbed in the back of his head.

A quiet raspy voice whispered, “where’s your wife, your son, your life?”

“I-I d-don’t know” He replied to the dark, still room. Suddenly a cold wave washed over him, overriding his vision.

A woman and young boy appeared, carried away by armed and masked soldiers. He felt a slow grin reach his face, as the women yelled for help and the boy cried for his father.

“Help us, please!” The woman yelled, “help!”

He tried to break character, but his arms were still at his sides, his face in the wide grin. He felt nauseous, watching this scene unfold.

“That’s my wife, my son!” He said, eyes widening, “what did I do?”

“Now you know how I feel.” The voice said again.

“Wh-what?”

He finally came back to reality, stumbling out of bed.

“Who are you, what are you doing in my house!” He said terrified.

He ran down the halls, bumping into the walls, exiting the back door. The lightening cracked in the distance, thunder rumbling with all the rain pouring down. The ringing of his son, and wife’s cries still engraved in his mind, each getting more frantic, “help us, help us, please!”

A dark figure emerged from the shadows darting closer to him. “No!” He screamed, turning his head while running. It was a massive figure, no eyes, no face, no nothing, except for a wide toothy grin. The monster stomped stomped behind him, trailing every step. While looking back, he tripped over a root falling into the mud. The monster slowly approached, while he inched back, scrambling to get a way.

“Please, I did nothing wrong,” He exclaimed. “who are you, what are you doing here?”

“I’m your trauma.” The monster said, pinning him to the tree. Trauma opened his mouth, and swallowed him alive