The forest breathes heavily in the dark
The night sky is inky black
Gazing up at the tangled web of branches overhead, you see
There is no moonlight or starlight to help you find your way
The snow is deep – up to your knees
Like walking through wet cement
The canopy of leaves above sigh through the stifling air
Like a far-off ocean swell from the sunlit time when you were young and happy
And the woods creak agonizingly, just a little bit, under the stress of a muted breeze
And you know you are being hunted
By that which frightened you most when you were just a child
Lost in the deathly shadows of the forest
In the middle of the night
Snow relentlessly falling
Alone