Pursuit

Oh crap, it’s onto me. I can hear it. Why did it have to come now? Why couldn’t it have waited until I was in a position to react?

Okay, calm. Calm. I need to figure out a way to escape, but how? The buzzing is everywhere now, it’ll find me wherever I am. A tree, yes, a tree. That’ll be safe. Okay, I’ll try this branch – ack! What’s this tree made from, paper?

No, not the tree. That won’t work. It’s closing in on me now, and I can taste it. The presence is everywhere. If it gets back into my mind, I’ll lose my sleep, forever. I’ll be a walking zombie. That’s what happened to John, and he ended up in mental rehab. No, come on. I can’t let it feed off my psyche like that… how many people has it got already? Tens? Hundreds? Did it go through the whole town before it got here?

No, no, come on, can’t think like that. Just gotta keep running. I could try the river, can it cross water? Strong current. Here it comes, doesn’t look like I’ve got much choice…

Need more air. Got to reach the other side. Argh, this damned buzzing! I can’t think properly!

Air. Surface.

Sleep.

Sleep?

Please?

Oh.

No sleep for me.

Goodnight.