Cherry Red

"Finally, I'm home." I thought to myself, slamming the door behind me, and hanging my jacket up on a hook. It had been a long day at work, and I was just about ready to hit the sack, but right as I started to head upstairs I felt my stomach rumbling, so I went into the kitchen, and heated up some leftovers. I finished my food, and set the plate down in the pile of dirty dishes. "Ugh, I guess that can wait until morning..." I said, flicking the lights off, and heading upstairs. Lazily I changed into my usual nightwear of a T-shirt and boxers, and flicked the light off. I was out as soon as my head hit the pillow.

“Come... join meeee... you can’t resist...”

Those words bounced around my head for a few moments as my vision cleared up and I saw a thick black mist surrounding me. “Hello?” I said, nervously into the darkness. A dim light appeared in the distance, so with nowhere else to go I headed towards it. No matter how far I walked I didn’t seem to get any closer to the light. Just when I was about to stop the light sped toward me, growing in intensity and size, until it was merely feet away, when I saw a blinding flash of light, and was knocked backwards. As my vision and the mist cleared I saw I was in a clearing in an orchard, with a mysterious figure in front of me. I stood up, and saw the creature in front of me in it’s fullest, it was taller than me, about seven or eight feet tall, with mismatched bat and bird wings, a deer antler, and a strange, crooked horn, long feathery body with a scaly tail, and scruffy, horse-like neck, an eagle talon and feline arm, and lastly, a set of goat and lizard legs. I stood there, mouth-agape, marveling at this hideous monstrosity. I slowly started to back away, but paused when it started talking to me.

“Why hello there, I am Discord, ruler of all things chaotic. I intend to wreak havoc across this... perfect land.” It said with a sneer. “Of all the creatures I’ve seen in my thousands of years here, YOU have the greatest aptitude for chaos, yet you squander it! Why live in such a perfect world when there’s chaos to be had, havoc to be wreaked, and innocent lives waiting to be ruined?”

I continued to stand there, speechless, and unsure how to react. “But, b-” I was cut short when the monster’s eyes started glowing, and captivating me, forming a dark cloud in my thoughts. I started to become interested in his proposal, and thinking about how much fun I could have wreaking havoc across the land. I looked deeper into his eyes, but after a few moments I looked away, shaking my head and clearing away those ideas. “No.” I thought, wondering what the hell I was thinking. Even being in a place as odd as this I knew what was right and wrong.

“So what do you say? Want to rule with m-” I cut him off, in a smooth, calm tone.

“Nope.” I said, causing him to furrow his brow. I stood up straighter, and made direct eye contact, staring him down. The so-called “Discord” frowned at me, and tutted.

“Such potential... wasted.” And at that moment he struck me hard, raising his paw, and slashing me across the face. I was knocked flat on my ass, head ringing from the intense blow. I shook my head, and looked up, to see him with his talon pulled back, ready to hit me again. He swiped his claws, but I rolled to the side just in time to dodge the attack, and I jumped to my feet. He quickly turned around when I swung and hit him hard in the face with a left hook, catching him by surprise. He quickly spun around and slashed me across the chest, leaving a tear in my shirt, and drawing blood. I hurled myself at him, bringing him to the ground where I furiously pummeled his face as hard as I could, but stopped when I felt a firm grasp around my throat, and was lifted into the air.

“You miserable shit... I’d expect to be treated better than this...” he hissed. I felt his grasp tighten, as I frantically grabbed his arm, trying to get him to let go. Right as I felt myself go limp, and my vision started to fail I was hurled in some odd direction, where I hit the ground hard, rolled, and slammed into a tree. I was in utter pain, gasping for air, a sharp pain in my side where I heard a crack or two on impact, and my head was pounding. I felt dizzy, and everything started to melt around me into a silent, calm darkness.