An Overgrown Path

I spent some time yesterday evening hiking on an overgrown trail on a mountain near my house, and though I often hike at night, I can understand why some people fear to do so, though I wonder if the reasons for those fears do not exist more in the mind than in reality...

An Overgrown Path

Have you ever beheld a wood at twilight,
Perhaps peered down an overgrown path at dusk,
And wondered what adventures might befall you,
Would you but take a step,
Down that Ancient walkway?

As the light dims you may perceive the encroaching growth of the forest primeval, an impenetrable wall of green closing in tightly on every side, arms of twig and branch reaching for you, attempting to ensnare you here forever as the Wild sets in.

You might sense the heavy and thick foreboding of old man Time as he creeps back in to take hold, unleashing the beasts of old; unspeakable creatures of horror and darkness, nameless in their magnificence and terrible to behold.

Yes, you realize too late that this was their domain, you remember the stories, the legends you heard when you were younger, stories of strange things that haunt the forest at night. For they come to hunt, to trap the things of light and day.

You notice now that even were it the height of day, only ambient light could penetrate that canopy far overhead. And neither candle nor lamp could pierce the thick jungle on either side of this trail.

You know now the stuff from which nightmares are made, and you run. You run back from whence you came, back to the safety of man and civilization. Away, away from the towering behemoths stalking silently after you, their heads brushing the uppermost boughs as they approach, ever faster, in your wake. You hear their breathing, feel the stomps of their heavy feet upon the ground and you run, run for your life.

You know it, you sense a large hand closing down upon you from behind, from above, the light is fading, but shall you give in?

Nay, nay, there is the light ahead and tired legs carry you quickly into the setting sun, into the safety of the known world. As you catch your breath, you look back. Wondrous thing to behold, it is only an overgrown path that greets your sight. Shall you ever again, I wonder, attempt that path at night?