Nightmares Of The Past

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Valda's small feet stumbled over gnarled roots, her breath coming in ragged gasps. The mist hung heavily in the cold evening air, obscuring her path, however, the little girl stubbornly pressed forward, driven by her desperation as she glanced askance, not minding the little bruise she had sustained on her knee while running.

Her silver hair tore through the underbrush, shimmering like moonlight, and the trees leaned in, their skeletal branches reaching for her like bony fingers.

"Pappa!" Her voice cracked as she looked around furtively, the sound of her cries echoing through the eerie silence. Each syllable carried hope and fear in equal measures, and her gray eyes glistened with tears.

The forest floor was damp, with rocks hidden beneath a carpet of moss. Valda's tears blurred her vision, but she didn't stop running. She couldn't. Pappa had promised he'd return from his hunt, but days had turned into dusk and still, he hadn't come home to kiss her on the forehead and tell he was back home.

The air smelled of damp earth and decay, and Valda had taken a risk on her life to run into woods alone, in search of her Pappa. Her heart pounded as she stumbled on a rabbit's carcass, catching herself against a rough trunk. She glanced around the forest that was growing darker with each minute, her gray eyes wide with fear.

Where was he? Did the forest take her Pappa away?

"Pappa!!"

She wiped her tears with the back of her hand, smearing dirt across her cheeks. She could almost hear Pappa's vibrant laughter, feeling his strong arms lifting her high, but it was a phantom memory—she knew it was just her memories of him mocking her.

"Pappa! I'm scared!" Her voice cracked again as she wept, and everything about the woods spooked her to her core. She spun around in a circle, searching for any sign that would direct her to her Pappa. When she continued to run, she stumbled forward, and a couple of branches snagged her dress.

"Pappa! Where are you??" She cried, but there was no answer. Only the rustle of leaves and the distant cry of a bird was all her ears could perceive. She sank to her trembling knees from fear and exhaustion, her silver hair tangling with twigs and leaves.

Free tears dripped onto the moss, mingling with the dampness. Her small shoulders trembled as she looked around the woods, probably lost even.

"Pappa." She whispered, her voice barely audible, "come home."

Her small hands clenched her dress, trembling. It felt as if the forest was waiting for her to give up, but Valda couldn't possibly do that, not until she found her Pappa. Something about the woods creeped the daylights out of her, and she couldn't help but feel like she was being followed.

Pushing herself up again, she ran, helplessly clinging to hope like it was her lifeline. Valda didn't pause in her search until eventually, she found her father's lifeless form on the forest floor.

"Pappa?" She blinked at the unmoved form on the ground.

Slowly approaching the body, Valda closed in on her father's figure, wondering if he fell asleep in the woods which was why he was on the floor. Blood stained his hunting outfit, a cruel testament to the violence that had taken him, but Valda dropped to her knees beside his body and tried to wake him up.

"Pappa?" She whispered, her voice trembling as she shook him with her small hands, "are you sleeping? Let's go home, Pappa. Wake up and you can sleep at home where it's more comfortable!"

Valda continuously tried to wake him up, but her body stiffened when she heard a rustle behind her. From the corner of her eyes, she caught a movement—a wild boar, somewhat bigger than a normal sized boar her father normally brought home. its tusk gleamed as it watched her from the thick shrubs, and Valda's body stayed frozen in fear.

She looked at the wild boar who grunted maliciously, and panic tightened her chest. She shook her father's shoulder, her small hands trembling, "Pappa, there's…a scary animal, wake up."

Her face was as white as a sheet, but her father remained frozen, lips forever silent. Valda could not stifle her sobs at this point, and she tried to get her father away from the approached animal. She clung to him, holding his bigger wrist with her tiny hands, and her fingers were stained with his blood. She could not move his body even when she used the strength she could muster.

"Pappa please, get up!"

The boar suddenly stepped closer, its eyes calculating. Valda's terror intensified, and she pressed her cheek against her father's chest, staring wide-eyed at the malevolent creature that was now running in her direction, irises raging with bloodlust.

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Valda's eyes snapped open after watching her life flash right in front of her eyes. She quickly sat up on the bed with a shaky gasp, her dilated pupils taking in the quiet environment that reminded her at the last minute that she was at the inn.

Sweat rolled down her forehead, and it took a while before she could recover from the shocking state she was helplessly rendered in. Valda wiped away the tears that flowed freely from her eyes, and she sniffed, letting out a chuckle as though she found her situation funny.

"Gosh, I still cry like a baby." She humored herself, "it's a dream of the past, you're fine, Valda, you're strong and you can easily get through this." She motivated herself, sniffing back the pain and the ache she wished would forever go away.

She's been having difficulty sleeping, but when she does, she never fails to wake up from one nightmare or the other. However, this particular one wasn't a nightmare, this happened when she was only seven-years-old, and it left her traumatized for years.

When the boar attacked her, she couldn't remember what happened after that. She passed out after suffering from a panic attack and woke up to her uncle and Aunt's presence in her home. She learned that the boar had been killed on the same night it tried to attack her, but by who? No one knows.

She has been trying her very best to lose this memory, she even took pills so she could sleep peacefully, but it didn't work. Nelson had scolded her immensely when he caught her trying to take an overdose, and she never laid her hands on drugs again.

Her uncle and Aunt never bothered about how she was feeling mentally or emotionally, and they made her stop schooling so she could take care of the house and bring food to the table.

Whenever she came home empty-handed, they made her sleep outside. It was when her eyes opened to their cruelty that she started pick-pocketing to survive, and doing other little antics just so they would love her the same way they showered her cousin, Annabelle with love. She was young, naive and stupid, and if she hadn't met Nelson, she would probably be the leader of a gang somewhere.

Insane, right?

Valda wanted to laugh, but she sighed it off and got out of bed. What use is dwelling in the past when there's a future to look forward to. She would get through this chaos eventually, and she will most definitely get her revenge on those three for ruining her life.

Shaking off every bitter feeling from her system, she immediately went to prepare herself for the day. After taking her bath and getting dressed, she stepped out of her room and went down the stairs to meet the innkeeper, dropping two silver coins on his table.

"Thank you so much for your hospitality, and this is for the wonderful meal last night." Valda uttered gratefully, "I really enjoyed it, you can keep the change, but I must take my leave now."

Bowing her head politely, she quickly left before the elderly innkeeper could utter a sentence. He watched her make her exit from his inn, and his confused gaze returned to the coin she left for him.

He certainly doesn't remember bringing her any meal. Could she perhaps have mistook him for someone entirely? Either way, whoever it was has used the lady to bless his day with extra money, and he would finally be able to pay up the fees for his grandson's ulcer treatment.

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