Iopened my eyes and found myself lost in a dense, green jungle. As I looked around, all I could see were trees — miles and miles of lush jungle. Stunned, I got up and looked around. It felt like the trees were caving in, as my anxiety grew.

The flowers shimmered and shone. It was the only sight of beauty. The vines hung from the highest tree branches and danced in the slow breeze. But there was no sound. The silence was so loud.

The forest looked completely empty, deprived of birds and animals, but I had this feeling in my gut that I wasn’t alone ....

I didn’t know where I was, why I was there, and how I ended up there. As I pondered about my surroundings, I noticed that the fog started to move closer. And as I panicked, out of the silence, came a screeching roar. I covered my ears and sank to the ground, clenching my teeth hard.

As if things couldn’t get any worse, I felt a warm breeze. My spine tickled. I couldn’t look back; I could only think about running.

Once I felt that I was alone again, I turned back to see if there was really something there. When I did, I was in complete awe and shock. Standing before me was a creature that looked straight out of a fairy tale. It almost looked like a rhinoceros, and looked like a century old. A single ray of sunlight shone on this creature’s face, revealing its blood red eyes, and the thick, moss blanket that covered its entire back and head, from which strands of moss and vines hung from the side of its face, almost like hair.

This magical creature had three horns made of greenery, with baby pink cosmos growing out of it. On the upper area of its massive legs grew these threatening, dull orange-coloured spikes, which it probably used for defence. Out of that thick coat of moss upon its back grew more sharp, but small, spikes, that led to a large hump with an opening on its back. From this arose an electric blue flame that whirled like a tornado.

As I stared at this enchanted creature with amazed eyes, I heard some rustling around the corner. Panicked, the first thing I thought to do was hide in a nearby shrub. I could hear gentle footsteps coming from afar. I peeked through the bush and, to my amazement, I saw people assembling and surrounding the mystical creature. They seemed to be from an old red Indian tribe.

They bowed down in front of the creature, and a man, probably their leader, recited and enchanted something that I couldn’t make out. They then kneeled and pleaded to the creature, as if they were asking it for mercy or forgiveness.

I sat there, observing their religious ceremony, then I felt a sharp pain in my back. My unintentional and sudden reaction from the sting caused the shrub to rustle, and that caught the attention of the tribe members. They immediately stopped whatever they were doing and stood gazing at the bush I was hiding in. It felt like they were staring straight into my soul.

Not knowing what to do, I just started running. It felt like my body took control over me and I could not stop running. With fear in my eyes, I ran and ran and ran. I didn’t know where I was, I didn’t know where I was going, but I just kept running and running and running.

Suddenly, I hit something hard and I opened my eyes. I was in my bedroom, but not on my bed. I had fallen off from my bed in my sleep.

Published in Dawn, Young World, December 11th, 2021