The Peanut Gallerie

I can't remember how it started. The first thing I remember was panic. I was living at my parents house, but it was a two story townhouse. Sarrah was getting ready to fly to Ohio for a visit. I mentioned that I would like to go too. My parents informed me that she was leaving in a couple of hours and that I should pack if I wanted to go. 

I felt unprepared. 

As I began to look through my closet, I found it difficult to focus on what to bring. I remembered it was suppose to snow, so that I should dress warm for the weather. Everything I pulled out of my closet had fur. It seemed warm enough. 

I had the feeling of being rushed. I expressed to Sarrah that I wish she would have told me ahead of time so that had the opportunity to pack.

The plans changed. 

My parents said we were driving to Ohio instead. My dad had to drive his dad's car to Ohio to drop it off, therefore, we would follow in the Mariner behind him. It was suppose to be a short trip.  As my dad pulled out of the driveway and onto the street, traffic was backed up all the way to our house.

The cars weren't budging. 

Sarrah took this moment to see what I had packed. Apparently, all I managed to grab out of the house was wrapping paper and hangers. My brother, Philip, laughed and made fun of my "clothing" choices. I asked Sarrah if she thought I had time to fix this. So, we unpacked my suitcases out of the car. Sarrah headed into another house and it took a moment to convince her which house was ours. When she finally believed me, we went inside the house and headed back upstairs. 

On the way up the stairs, a receipt dropped out of my bag. Someone in the stairway bent down to pick it up and hand it to me. As I reached the top, there was a patio-like room that was surrounded by glass walls. The room had a sliding glass door on the opposite side that connected to the backyard. 

It was open.

Within the room, I saw a deer. He must have entered through the backyard. He was standing next to a deer laying on the ground.

I entered the room.

I noticed the deer on the ground was dead. It's legs had been ripped off. The deer standing next to it, was blood soaked. I could see detail of the reddish-brown fur that matted together. Another deer entered and was also fully covered in blood. Next to the dead deer was a fawn. Legs also removed. It was alive and squirming around trying to get up.

Sarrah walked in the room.

Smaller critters started showing up. Every one of them bloody. It was a scene out of a war movie. As I looked at the ground, a huge bunny was crawling towards us. Sarrah motioned to get the broom to shoo them out so that we may get a handle on the situation.

Behind her was a dark, moving shadow.

There was no form. It just kept getting bigger. As I went to grab Sarrah's arm and run us out of there, a big squirrel jumped on my shoulder. I attempted to brush it off. The squirrel lunged to sink it's teeth into my head.

Sarrah gasped.

I wasn't sure if she was even aware of the lurking shadow behind her or if she gasped for my sake. 

I fought for breath out of fear.

I woke up. 

My heart was pounding. 

I sat up in bed.

I attempted to talk myself down from what I had just seen. 

It was disturbing.