Inside an Upside Down

Once a cold winter morn, when the world lay fast asleep, a Runner slowly stirred. Groggily waking up from his slumber, he hauled his arse out of his bed. Marathon season was upon him and if he didn’t wake up he would miss on his mileage leaving him Ill-prepared.

So hastily he brushed his teeth, made and gulped down his black coffee (cause he needed a caffeine kick to jolt him out of his sleepy head). He quickly got dressed and laced up, grabbed his running belt and placed his water bottle, then his mobile and earphones, his watch, and off he went, down the stairs, trying to warm up and stretch.

Once warmed up and stretched, he cantered down the familiar path. But not before he switched on his watch and tracking app. 

The morning seemed like every winter morning he had experienced, when he had woken up for his runs. But at the back of his mind he had this nagging thought that something was different. There was something peculiar about this morning but he just couldn’t put a finger on it.

Out of nowhere, came a growl, first faintly but then began to get louder and sinister. Being a runner, he was used to being chased by dogs, but this didn’t sound like one. So he did what he did every time a dog came barking after him. He took a deep breath and tried to run calmly at the same pace.  

By this point, most dogs normally gave up and returned to the confines of their territory. But no this creature (cause something told him this was no dog). He could feel its breath at his ankles. So he did what he knew best, when flight set in, quickened his pace. But he just couldn’t shake the creature off his tail. This is when panic began to set and his heart began thumping against his chest. He had no intention of being bitten. 

But as he quickened his pace so did the creature. Now he could feel its warm drool, along with its warm breath. He was prepared, at any moment he would feel a searing pain as the creature would sink its teeth into his flesh. 

And then, as it had appeared, the creature disappeared. When he felt he was safe, he stopped to catch his breath. He looked around, first to check where the creature had gone, and then to get his bearing, where he was.

From the looks of things, the place seemed familiar but at the same time felt strange and unfamiliar. The weather was cold, but it was a cold filled with fear and dread. The place felt gloomy and dull, and the air felt heavy. Though it should have been dawn by now, there was no sign of sunlight, or for that matter, any sort of light. The place was dark, not too dark though, with the trees and ground covered with slime and moss and creepers. Something told him that he was not in his usual place any more.

So where was he? How did he get here? What was this place? So many questions racing through his mind, but he had no answer to any of them. 

He realised he had his mobile with him. But to his dismay, the battery was drained and the phone dead. He distinctly remembered charging it only the other night. So how could the battery drain so quickly? He glanced at his watch, and it too was showing no time at all. What strange was this?

Though it looked like the world he knew, it didn’t feel like the one he lived in. It felt strange and forebodings. Everything felt upside down, dark, sinister, alive. Something straight out of an episode of the Twilight Zone. 

Was it possible that he had stumbled upon a parallel dimension. This sounded too far fetched to be true. But everything screamed out of an alternate dimension. If this was true, how did he get here? How did he stumble upon this dimension? Was there a tear in time and space, a wrinkle which he had stumbled upon, and unknowingly traversed through it? Did the creature chase him through this wrinkle or tear, or whatever was it?

Everything felt unreal and scary. He fumbled trying to find his way, still hoping this was the world he knew. When all of a sudden he heard a cry, more like a howl in pain. It sounded like no animal that he had ever heard before. The sound sent a shiver down his spine, froze his blood, and still he was curious to know what it was.

Curiosity may have killed the cat, but this thought didn’t stop him from trying to locate the source of the sound. He set out in the direction from where he thought it came from. And he heard it again, each time it sounded more painful and scarier.

He stumbled his way through the darkness and the thick undergrowth till he reached the source of it all. When he reached the source he didn’t know what to make of it. What was in front of him couldn’t be categorised any of the animals that he had known. It looked like a dog but wasn’t one. It was more ferral, more raw, more dead in its appearance, almost like the zombie creatures you seen in the movies. It even gave a rotting stench. It’s leg was trapped in what appeared to be a trap. It seemed broken and that caused it to howl in pain, if you could call it howling.

Inspite of his fears, and a bit disgust, humanness overtook him. He inched closer to it, a bit hesitating, a bit apprehensive. As if if felt his presence, the creature looked at his direction, if you could call that a face, and snapped at him and clinched his teeth displaying razor sharp ones. He cautiously went behind it and tried to loosen it legs, or what was left of it, from the trap.

Suddenly there was a loud burst in the air. From the ensuing smoke, appeared a lady dressed in a red gown that seemed to be alive. She seemed royal but was also seemed like what nightmares were made of. A closer look at her gave you the chills. Along with her followed dozens of similar creatures.

“How dare you!” She billowed, “ How dare you hurt my baby. “ she said as she freed the creature who limped over to her, letting out yelp. “My poor baby”, she said, as she took the creature in her arm, stroking the back of its neck, trying to console it. “You are in so much pain, “ and without a warning she snapped the creature’s Head, letting its limp body slid to the ground.

This all caught him surprise and left him feeling numb and shaken. “Look at what you made you me do,” she hissed coldly, “You wicked and vile creature.” He tried to protest, but words failed him, he just opened his mouth, but no sound came from it. He wanted to run from this place, but somehow he felt frozen.

She gave him an icy cold stare that made his blood freeze. “This is murder, and any form of murder calls for blood. Blood for blood”, she said, almost in whispers, “children he harmed your sibling and time you avenged it. Off with his head.”

And without a warning, the pack at her feet, began to charged towards him. Fear took over and for a moment he felt disoriented, not knowing what to do. But then he went into flight mode, and with all the will he could summon, he pushed on.

By now adrenaline had kicked in and he ran with all his might trying to keep a safe distance from the chasing, howling pack. He couldn’t see where he was going. All he felt was fear and the sting of pain from the branches that scratched him. This was not the way he wanted to meet his end. Not here in this strange place, strange dimension.

Without a warning, the trees gave way, and he almost went over what looked like a ledge. He looked down and saw something that looked a lot like flowing water. He could hear them howl and snap as they came ever so closer. Should he jump or try find another way. But if he jumped there was no telling what was below, if he stayed and couldn’t find a way, he stood no chance against the creatures. He was caught between the rock and a had place.

In the end, he just jumped, just in time as they came crashing through the foliage. He could here them bark and snap from the ledge where he stood just a few seconds ago. He could feel his stomach flip, the feeling you get when you sit on a roller coaster.

Suddenly there was that feeling again. He felt like he was falling no more but running. He once again found himself on the trail he was running on before he was chased by the creature.

Though he felt like he had spent hours, if not a day, in that upside down, everything seemed the same. He checked his watch, which had begun working, as did his mobile, mobile. Was what he had just experienced real, or was it just a bad dream? He checked his hands and legs, where the branches had scratched him, but there was no marks to be found.

He made his way back to the start, looking over shoulder for any sight or sound of the creature, but there was none.  Once he got to the safety of his home, he quickly washed his face and assumed that it was all a bad dream, hoping he never returned to that dreadful place or see that dreadful woman and her creatures. 

But at the back of head a question burned through his mind. Who had set the trap that snared the creature? Who was brave enough to do that?