Omen

By Peter K. Lam

What’s going on?, I thought as I ran through the cold, dark and foggy forest.

I didn’t know what was happening. I couldn’t tell if it was a dream or if what I was experiencing was real. My heart pounded like a bass drum as I sprinted into the abyss of night. Perspiration dripped from my forehead as I ran. Sweat trickled into my eyes causing them to burn but I ignored the stinging. I had other problems at the moment.

I didn’t know what I was running from but the more difficultly I tried to escape my pursuer, the heavier my arms and legs felt. It was like trying to run with tons of lead on my back. All I could hear was my exhausted breathing and the dead silence of the forest.  There was no sounds at all. No birds chirping, now owls hooting, no sounds whatsoever. There was only silence. When I had thought my pursuer had stopped coming after me, I started to slow to a stop.

I stood still in the middle of the forest, freezing, restless and petrified. Had that thing gotten away? What was it?, I thought. As I stood dripping with cold sweat, I started to hear a low growl. I didn’t think anything of it but as the blood-curling growl grew louder and louder, I knew that something was still after me. Before I could get myself to turn around and run again, a gigantic, scaly, four-legged monstrosity lunged out of the bushes and snarled liked a rabid bulldog from Hell.

Fear had gripped my body and wouldn’t let go. I was so afraid that I couldn’t even move. The beast’s burning red eyes locked onto my every movement. It puffed out vast amounts of steam with every breath like a bull seeing red. It snapped open its jaws and made an earth-shattering roar that turned my blood to ice. The hellish beast ran towards me and I could see the raging inferno in its eyes.  It was as though a blast furnace was burning inside of this creature.

I turned and ran but I couldn’t outrun a monster with the speed of ten thousand cheetahs. As I looked back and ran, the beast pounced on toward me and pinned me to the ground. Its titanic strength overpowered my own tenfold. I hammered the beast with my fists and tried desperately to get the beast off me. The beast snapped at my face ready to rip me to shreds. My life flashed before my eyes as I stared into the face of death. My heart pumped so hard that I felt as though I would explode. Flashes of my life dashed through my head at hyperactive speed. Everything was a blur and I knew that I would die.

Suddenly, I heard a cat hissing noise that startled me. The beast still snapped its jaws attempting to feast on me but I kept fighting. Then an obsidian black feline leaped toward the beast, clawing the beast’s face. I was shocked to see a cat, not even a fraction the size of the beast, leaping to help me battle. The beast stumbled backward in surprise and had stopped attacking me but used its arms to try and tear free from the ferocious feline instead. The cat slashed the beast creating fatal wounds all over the beast’s head and body. The beast shrieked in anger, grabbed the cat with his long deformed arm, tore the cat from its face and thrust it toward me.

The black cat flew across the sky and acrobatically twisted itself to land on its four legs. When the cat landed, it slid back a little from the force of the beast’s powerful throw creating a trail of dust clouds. When the dust cleared I saw the black cat standing in a pouncing stance, unharmed and ready for another round with the beast. Before the black cat could finish the fight, a snowy white cat emerged from the trees behind me. It walked elegantly and had a ruby red jewel on its forehead. By now I had stood up watching in awe, unable to explain anything I saw. After a few more steps, the white cat stopped walking and sat up straight but it eerily reminded me of a goddess and a princess because of its elegance. The beast breathed hard as it’s blood red eyes and pitch-black pupils glared at the two cats and me. Suddenly, the white cat started to glow, giving off a golden hue from its white fur. The white cat’s black eyes slowly turned red and in an instance, it unleashed a quick crimson red flash that illuminated the night sky. The beast screeched in unbearable pain as it melted away in the presence of the white cat’s crimson flash. After the beast dissolved into nothingness, the white cat turned to me as if to say, “You are safe now,” and unleashed the red flash on me. Searing heat coursed through my body as I was torn awake from my dream and found myself drenched in cold sweat. Was that all a dream?  Why did I have that dream? Is it some kind of omen? Most importantly, what does it mean?