Fated to End Sometime

Introduction

"Something isn't right," Yaddo muttered to herself. It took a moment, and then she understood the words that had spilled from her mouth.

Yaddo stood alone in the middle of an enormous field of soy, as far as the eye could see. There were patches of trees here and there, and elsewhere the field rolled down hills and into valleys. It was night, moonless and cloudless, with bright white stars twinkling above.

It was silent.

"Silent as the grave," Yaddo whispered, and shivered.

A flock of black birds burst out of the nearest set of trees, flying around in a chaotic swirl, then rapidly flew away from the place where Yaddo stood. The spectacle had almost made her jump, but she stood dumbstruck, wondering how not a sound had been made at their passing. The hairs on her arms began to stand up, and she rubbed them briskly, wondering if it had somehow gotten much colder, or whether she was just now noticing the temperature.

Behind her, she heard the sound of wood creaking, then crackling loudly as though something large was breaking branches from a tree. She half-turned, and saw that she stood just a few yards away from a another patch of trees, but she could see nothing else. The sound stopped.

The air felt even colder, and Yaddo was alarmed to see her breath forming in a mist. She thought she could see the trees shift, as though something was starting to push them out of the way, and at that thought she turned and ran, following the direction the flock of birds had taken just moments before. The sound of groaning trees and wood snapping followed her, and fed momentum to her legs and feet.

Yaddo ran as hard as she could, and all the while felt cold air rush past her face and hands. Her breath was still visible, and was starting to come out in ragged gasps as she pushed herself. She was a runner, and had always felt more comfortable running on soft earth than on sidewalks or pavement. Tonight the soft earth under her feet felt brittle, and made crunching sounds as though covered in frost, and she took no comfort from her surroundings.

Worse, she felt as though whatever had broken the wood of the trees was pursuing her more swiftly than she could run, and that it would swoop down on her from behind at any moment. She argued briefly with herself to turn and fight, then stopped.

Again, it was silent.

A few moments passed, and Yaddo tried to let her breathing slow down enough to listen intently. Not a sound could be heard. No crickets, no night creatures nor birds disturbed the silence.

Something large and dark blotted out the light of the stars. Yaddo tried to back away and fell, her head striking the ground and sending sparks to her vision.

Blinking, she felt the morning sun on her face, and saw that she had fallen from her bed to the floor, her blankets in a pile all around her. She looked around, half expecting to fall back into the dream, but the smell of coffee brewing in the kitchen let her know she was back in the real world. Shaking her head, she got up and headed to the kitchen.