6 April 2012
80 miles an hour down the motor way. Radio 1 blaring out tangy tunes that makes me feel like one of those vibrant, indie people who live everyday as though it were their last. Though I stare at the road ahead of me, out of the corner of my eye I can see the pleasant, harmonious shades of green that blur past at the side of the road; Lime, evergreen, moss, olive, jade, fern...then there are the muddy trunks of the trees that stand resolute and firm, dark bars against the brightness that streams from the other side.
A dark shape flits at the corner of my eye. I blink. It's there, steady. I risk a glance. My heart freezes. Flashing between the trees, it's there. I'm sweating now. Pushing 90. Fuck the cameras. I keep my eyes glued ahead, but the dark blot, the blot that haunts me, slithers in and out of my dreams, seduces me, terrifies me, it's still there. I shudder, grip the wheel white knuckled.
Suddenly the forest is blown by, and a great canvas of plain land stretches away into nothing beside me. There it was, clear as day, my nightmare. Leisurely keeping pace with my car. I panicked, pressing my foot down harder. I risked another glance, and my blood ran cold. The coal black horse was maybe 20 metres away, parallel to my car. It's rider, shrouded by night, sat firmly, it's ragged cloak curled and floated like black smoke. The horses feet barely skimmed the grass. Forgetting everything else, I snapped my eyes shut, pushes it away from my mind. Impossible. Hallucination. NOT REAL. I could be insane. What had I eaten that day? What pills had I taken lately? I fought madly for my sanity, grappling with madness, scrambling through my torn thoughts for a solution, a feasible explanation. There was none. But I had to reopen my eyes. Angling my head slightly away from the haunted side of the road, I gingerly opened my eyes.
Bang in front of me, facing me head on. A challenge. The ghastly figure stood, terrifying, unmoving. Shadows clung around it, a black, malevolent aura. Without thinking (I could not) I slammed my foot down on the brakes. The screeching of tyres, others as well of mine, drowned out my scream as it charged me head on, darkness blotting everything else out. I couldn't move. This was it. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to pray but everything had shut down. Mentally paralysed.
A blaring horn cut through the ice that had frozen my mind. My eyes snapped open, and suddenly I could breathe. It was gone. It was now a memory, smoke on the wind. A nightmare. I felt the cold rush of fear, as I realised the inevitable. It would return. Next time I might not be so lucky.
Dark Horse • Opuss № I