Hello, my fellow steemians! I will give you a warning now that this post will be word heavy. In fact, I am not even sure if I will put any pictures on this one. "Why?", you ask? Well, because this post is a story. A story that I worded after being prompted by a vivid dream a friend of mine had. The story is based on an anime called Attack on Titan which is a favorite anime series of that friend.
Here are the words my friend used in describing what they saw on the dream and the prompt that unlocked my imagination.
First scene, fear. A titan but she can only see his long arm. Some crops beneath. What kind of life is this, how can she survive here...
And now, below is what flowed into my imagination.
Dream Sequence 1 Expanded
She was flying through a field.
Her long black hair flew behind her as her feet barely touches the ground. Such is the effect of fear.
The afternoon autumn air is crisp and her view of the golden field and the refuge offered by the woods some distance away is only broken by the mists produced by her ragged breathing.
She stumbled on an irregular bump on the field and she almost fell flat on her face but that action saved her life as she saw the blur of an enormous hand and arm as it tried to snatch her only to miss.
She continued to run not even daring to look back because she knows that when she does then the thing that's chasing her will end her life even before she can scream. The sanctuary offered by the woods is only a few meters away now.
One instant she was running and the next thing she knew is that she's flat on her back looking at the edge of the ditch that she didn't notice. Her instinct is screaming at her to get up and run but she forced herself to lay still and listen.
Aside from the wild beating of her heart she heard thudding footsteps and the crashing of trees in the woods. She carefully gathered fallen leaves and other debris to cover herself before the monster comes back and sees her.
After making sure that her whole body is covered by the debris and refuse she found in the ditch, she let out the breath she didn't realize she was holding in slowly and quietly. She supposed she has to thank God that the ditch wasn't filled with water which is uncommon in her country. If it was, then she will either have to die of hypothermia or be eaten when she drags herself out of the water.
She let out a stifled shaky laugh. 'Wasn't giant carnivorous humanoids more uncommon here?', she asked herself mentally.
She realized that her whole body is still flooded by adrenaline and that she is shaking because of it. She began to force herself to calm down while trying to catch her breath steadily.
'I guess this is the only way to survive outside the city walls now', she thought to herself, 'by going underground or burying into holes small enough not to allow the smallest abomination through.'
'It's funny how the human mind begins to think of mundane things once it is out of immediate danger.', she realized.
Thankfully, her body is in fit condition, due to her almost every day long walks to the city before the arrival of these so-called monstrosities that humanity called "Titans", and it responded almost immediately to disengage its fight or flight mechanism.
Now that she was breathing somewhat normally, she could finally smell the stench of the ditch she's hiding in. The smell reminded her of an old graveyard that had cracked during an earthquake when the world was still normal. The smell speaks of rot, decay, and corruption of the flesh. She also suddenly became aware of the dampness of the soil beneath her and its stickiness.
She felt bile rising from her stomach and an overwhelming impetus to throw away the "things" that were covering her body. She stood up quickly and began to brush herself vigorously for anything sticking to her. Her hands came away covered in a blackish sludge that she did not want to examine closely for a long while.
'What's done is done,' she berated herself, 'no use standing stupidly here in the open where another titan can spot you.'
She carefully oriented herself with the setting sun and climbed out of the side of the four-foot deep ditch. She then hurriedly and quietly entered the woods.
This was an old wooded area and the trees were massive, easily blocking the little sunlight remaining of the day. She could easily hide between the roots to escape the notice of any titans and she could hear them coming long before they are able to see her.
'I should keep the edge of the woods in sight but be deep enough in the woods that I may not be spotted easily.' Her knowledge of evasion was greatly given priority to in light of the present circumstances.
She trudged steadily westward. Her mouth set, and her pale but otherwise beautiful face full of determination to survive. She needs shelter for the night as the cold will surely kill her just as any titan could and the nearest safe haven she could think of is her granny's.
And that's it for now for this story. I'm still debating whether if I should continue this one or leave it as it is. Did you like it? Would you like me to continue it? I certainly enjoyed expanding my friend's dream into this story and I think I would like to do more. Did you have a vivid dream recently? If so, would you like me to expand it also into a story? Just comment below your dream and I will try to make it into a story just like the above.