I ran to my bed and jumped up on it facefirst on top of the sheets "Bam" I landed and buried my face deep into it.

Damn it!! I felt so angry.

To an extent, I knew that they had their reasons for not telling me. Yet, I was still pissed that they didn't even take my contributions to the house as something worth respecting.

I sighed. Yet, they still view me as a 'child'.

'I AM A BLOODY 38 YEARS OLD MAN TRAPPED IN A CHILD'S BODY FOR CRYING OUT LOUD' I screamed in my head before I turned around on my bed with my back pressing against it.

I stared at the ceiling of my room and sighed exaggeratedly.

Yeah!

I am a bloody 38 years old man trapped in a child's body!!

"Hah!" I chuckled. And who the hell will believe that?

A loud voice penetrated my room. Murmurs, hisses, and sudden screams punctured through my door, luring me to go take a peep and listen to what they were both arguing about.

However, I regressed.

If they didn't want me to listen to their conversation, then I won't. Instead, I will think of how to make more money and then present it to them together with an essay on how my shoulders are open to help them carry their burdens along with mine.

For now, I needed to sleep and save my strength for tomorrow. However, their voices won't even allow me to doze off.

I took one of my pillows and pressed it against my face. Blocking out all the shouts and murmurings that were transpiring right in the room next to mine.

Without wasting any more time, I felt my eyes turn weak and then went to sleep.

…...

"Where am I?" I swallowed as I looked around the darkness around me with a dose of fear and uncertainty shooting through my body as I laid my bare foot on the smooth pavement road in front of me, that only got brightened up the closer I approached it.

The road was wide and blanketed by the side with an overwhelming dense curtain of darkness so thick that I couldn't see through it.

I don't remember how I got here. I don't even remember how long I have walked. The only thing I knew - I sensed, was that there were more paths ahead, and so, I kept on walking, forward.

Suddenly, I halted. I turned back cautiously to examine if there was anything behind me.

"Haa...." I breathed out in relief.

For a moment, I thought that I was being followed. But, I couldn't find anything or anyone behind me other than my shadow.

I exhaled one last time before I began to walk forward again.

Where the hell am I? It didn't make sense. This place did not in any way make sense, and was more than confusing!

It felt like a…...

I halted my steps, and my mind came to a complete standstill.

Why do I have a shadow?

Behind me were endless nothingness and darkness. I could only see the path in front of me and not the path backwards.

So why?..... Why can I see my shadow?

I gulped and steeled my will as I turned to look back.

To be honest, I thought that my mind was playing tricks on me. So when I turned my back and saw nothing but a large mass of darkness that resembled my shadow, staring down at me like a lifeless doll just gaining sentience.

.With 'God' as my witness, I ran.

.And it followed.

I could hear its large legs imitating the rhythm of my footsteps, chasing me like a lost child running with no purpose.

No -

No -

No -

This - this can't be happening!

I am dreaming, right? I raised my hand and ran my palm right through my cheeks.

My eyes bulged as realization struck me.

I - I am not dreaming.

Huh!!

Why can't I open my lips?

I tried again.

It didn't work!

I tried again.

It didn't work!

Suddenly, I stopped. My body crashed into a huge stony door with strange distinct carvings and shimmering dull silver-coloured surface.

My brain would have stopped and questioned why there was a stony door blocking my path. My body would have jumped back by instinct and contemplated if it sensed any danger or not through my gut.

Yet, I grabbed the handle of the door and pulled it with my growing adolescent arms

And just when there was a gap large enough for me to enter….

"SHRRRIIIILLLL!!" A shrieking sounded behind me.

I didn't turn around to look back.

"SHRRRIIIILLLL!!"

Because in front of me was a vast swarm of floating tentacles.

"SHRRRIIIILLLL!!" Another one sounded.

To be honest, I didn't know what I was looking at, because the light that brightened up my surroundings could only illuminate the view in front of me like a watchtower lighting up the sea., and was fully incapable of revealing what was behind this door.

I could see, but I couldn't even put it in words.

Then, as though a hammer cracked open my head, and inflicted a very nasty headache, I could hear a voice.

An eerie silence of wrongness echoed in the darkness. and smashed the pavement behind me before it collapsed completely into dust and disappeared.

I was left floating in front of the massive stone door. And -

And -

"Ya hafh'drn"

Cold. Cold. Cold. The darkness was cold!

"Ya r'luhh..."

My body convulsed, while my soul stood still and listened.

"Ymg' ah"

The darkness fled.

And for the first time, I felt it. I felt as though I was being 'watched'. I felt as though thousands of eyes wear watching me, and I stood, slapped in the ass like a whining child forcefully dragged to a centre stage as thousands of hands ran down my spine and wriggled through every part of my present body.

The pressure around me tightened. I felt my lips becoming loose. I could talk! And so I voiced out my first thought.

"Divine power".

......

"Huff! Huff!! Huff!!" I held my chest and tried as much as I can to slow down my breathing.

"A nightmare!" I wiped off the layers of sweat around my forehead and stated, assuring myself that everything was just a dream.

A terrible, terrible nightmare.

I breathed in deeply and exhaled. Getting up from my bed, I arranged the sheets and pillows properly before heading out to take my shower and begin my long hectic day, again.

"Came down, it was just a dream?" I said assuringly, as I held the handle of my door.

With confidence in my gait, I pulled the door open and walked straight to the toilet with my towel hanging across my shoulder.

I entered the toilet and immediately came out, not spending less than 20 minutes in it.

"Simeon" I snapped my head to the side after hearing my mother calling out my name.

"Yes, mum!" I responded and walked towards her dauntlessly, to hide my absurd dream that still wandered around in my mind, while I watched her set the plates around our small dining table.

"How was your night?" She asked with a beautiful smile spreading across her face.

"N- Nice. It was nice" I replied before I stopped and looked around "Where is Aunt Gilda?".

It was already Six o'clock AM, and we all had breakfast together before we went to our respective workplaces.

"After our argument, she didn't feel like seeing me this morning, so she went to work early" She spoke smoothly without delay.

Her words and the manner she expressed them would have fooled anyone, especially a sixteen years old boy. However, I saw right through it.

"What was the conversation about anyway, to make Aunt Gilda so pissed?" I asked, half-heartedly.

Brief silence.

For a moment, her calm expression broke before it immediately amended itself as though no cracks had previously formed on it.

"Nothing serious. She is only pissed because I went looking for a new job even though she has already arranged one for the both of us by herself, and had even spent a huge amount of money doing so" She responded with a stiff chuckle escaping her lips.

"Is that so?" I asked while digging into my food as though I was just a curious teenager lackadaisically looking for some answers,

"Yes. The problem will be settled soon though. I am just waiting for her to cool down so that we can talk reasonably like grown adults" She replied, and then chuckled again "so you don't have to worry about us, okay?"

I nodded. While, internally, I scoffed 'Grown adults'.

Nonetheless, I relaxed my body and cooled down the raging flames burning within me. If she doesn't want to tell me, then fine. Because, I will find out myself, whether they liked it or not.

"And what about you mum? Why did you come back home so late and with such a dirty appearance?" I inquired and stared at her while I played around with my food.

Another long silence.

And this time, as though learning from her previous error, she replied with a fake smile arched upon her lips "It's nothing. I had problems looking for a new job, and at some point, I was even thrown out of a building and landed on some mud" She sighed "Some people can be wicked".

"Clang!!" I dropped my spoon and stood up from my chair "Thanks for the breakfast, mum. Don't forget to lock the apartment and keep the key under the rug as usual". And then I walked towards the door, pulled it open, made my way out and slammed it back shut.

For some reason, I lost my appetite.