She nervously looked around; the silence in the dense forest was so deafening it hurt her head. All she could see were the outline of the trees against the midnight sky as the clouds blanketed the moon. Her heart pounded in her chest. A twig snapped behind her. She spun around, her gauzy dress catching on thorns. A scream caught in her throat. The moon peaked out from clouds, casting ghostly shadows down onto her dress. A shadow moved in between the trees. It turned.

Red eyes glowed from black fur. She shook her head, hoping this was a dream. It was a human and it was real. It narrowed its eyes as it looked at her longer. The whole forest was still and quiet. It started to run toward her. The scream finally escaped from her throat as she turned and ran, the branches tearing at her dress. She looked back, her foot catching on some unseen menace. She felt his hot sulfuric breath on her neck. She rolled over, her breaths coming in gasps. She punched and pushed against the coarse black fur, trying to put distance between him and her.

The last thing she saw was those red eyes glowing from black fur.
*



*





*
She felt a heavy thing on her chest. No. It was more than heavy. It felt like a horse. She opened her eyes to find her big black Newfoundland laying on her.
“Come on, Chancy,” Abby said as she tried to push her dog off her chest. Chancy whined and licked her face. The dogs’ breath was sour. “You need a breath mint,” Abby said, giving up on the idea of getting her dog off of her.
“Abs? It’s morning. Get up,” Her mom said. “Chancy, down.” The dog jumped down wagging her tail.
“I’m up.” She grabbed her blanket and shoved them off. “Thanks, dog. My bed has dog hair all over it.”
“You’ll live. Breakfast in ten minutes.”
“’kay, mum.” She grabbed her jeans to get ready for school, thinking back over her dream… Her horrifying dream.