Running away from six foot monsters in a dark tunnel with nothing but a pocket full of matches isn't as easy as one would think. It was times like this that made my mind cross over from reality to fantasy. Before I tell you what is going on, let me backtrack. To start, my name is Parker. These strange things have been happening to me ever since yesterday. I had my friend Gus over just to hang out, so we watched tv in my living room. But while I was watching, something made me want to look out the window next to me, so I slowly turned my head. I knew I saw something. It looked like a small bear on its hind legs, standing right there next to a tree. I squinted my eyes, but by then it was gone. I figured it was just a shadow or something. Maybe my eyes were just playing tricks on me. 

But, boy, was I wrong. 

Later that day, after Gus was gone, and darkness covered the sky, it started to pour rain. I started to get ready for going to bed. I completely forgot about what happened earlier, because I convinced myself it was just a shadow cast by the tree. I brushed my teeth in front of a mirror in my bathroom. But again, I got this feeling that I should look out the window. So I then looked into the mirror towards the window. The shades were down the window, so I didn't expect to see anything at all. But through the tiny crack in the shades, I saw a big red dot, with a smaller black dot in the middle, like an eye. I jerked my head around staring through the crack in the curtains, but nothing was there. I walked towards the window and stared through the crack. I couldn't see much, but from the illumination of the moonlight, I saw footprints. And they weren't just normal human footprints; they were huge. They looked almost two feet in length and about one foot in width. Both of my parents were asleep, so I didn't want to wake them up to show them. For all I knew, it could just be my imagination. 

I went upstairs to my bedroom, paranoid all the way up. I shut the door, and climbed into        my bed. I immediately felt better. I shut my eyes, and waited to fall asleep. I was just on the verge of sleep when I heard a rip and then a thud. My eyes flew open and I looked around my room. I felt a breeze and I tracked where the breeze was coming from. I looked toward my window to the left of me. The window was open, pulling the cold night wind in. But what concerned me the most was that the screen behind the glass had three, long, rips straight across it. That was the last straw. I knew something was going on. But I was too tired to investigate. I fell asleep.

I woke up and immediately looked at the window. It wasn't my imagination. There were three rips in the screen. I was a bit skeptical at first, but the more I thought about it, it was probably just a raccoon or something like that. I knew my mom was going to freak out when she saw the rips, so I went downstairs. It was nine o'clock on a weekend, so I poured myself a bowl of cereal, ate, and left a note saying that I was going on a bike ride. It was a beautiful sunny day, so it was a valid excuse to get out of the house. I grabbed from the garage and headed out. I was still very paranoid, and a little bit twitchy, to be quite honest. I biked out my driveway and onto the sidewalk. I had this feeling that I was being watched, which made me even more paranoid. I kept on biking until I got to my middle school. I went to the parking lot and onto the soccer field. I really just needed some time to think about what's happened in the past day. I sat down in the empty grass field and looked around me. It was wet and sunny out, spawning a rainbow. Everything looked great. That was, until I started to see something is ahead of me. I thought it might just be a deer or maybe a pack of them. I stood up to walk toward the woods, when I heard a crackle in the grass behind me. But before I even had the chance to look behind me, I heard an awful scream, which I assume was mine, and I fell to the ground with my head aching. I lay on my back staring into the blurry sky, until a giant head object comes into my vision blocking the sky. I scream again but it's again muffled by something. Then I realize that the something that was muffling me was an arm. A giant, green, furry arm. I tried to squirm away from whatever was pinning me down, but it lifted its other giant arm to reveal a wooden club shaped into something that looked like a baseball bat. And with one swift movement of its arm, everything went black.

 When I awoke, everything was black. I realized that something was actually covering my eyes, so I grabbed whatever was on me and yanked it off. It was almost completely dark, but I could tell I was in a tunnel, because I saw light at one end. I seemed to be lying on a hard ground, not as hard as stone, but not quite as soft as dirt, either. I sat up and looked around. I still couldn't figure out what happened to me before, or where I was, but I figured I should go onward into the only light source in this place. I didn't know what lied inside the darkness, so the light was my only option. Standing up, I started to walk.

          After a long while of walking, I started to hear talking. I couldn't quite make out what was being said, but I heard a raspy voice. I was much closer to the light now. Maybe fifty yards away at most. I felt something in my pocket, so I put my hand inside. I pulled the object out of my pocket. It was a little box of matches, about twenty in the box. Feeling relieved, I felt around for the wall, and lit the match. It didn't illuminate much, but it did some. I heard foot steps behind me, so I blew out the match and stepped back towards the wall. The footsteps got nearer and nearer, until I saw a dark figure walk straight past me. It was giant. It was too big to be human. It walked into the light and started talking.

           "Sire, the human has escaped." it said in a booming voice. I didn't know exactly what it was that I was staring at. It was furry and blue, and was six feet tall. I staggered back while in a crouching position, shocked by this monster. 

          "Well, what are you telling me for? Find it you imbecile!" a voice yelled. I didn't know where it came from, but I realized that the lighted room was a big cylinder shaped room, leading high upwards. The round walls had holes big enough to fit a human, and it reminded me of a beehive. I studied this room for a while until I the words that were said finally sunk in what the voice had just said.Find the human? They were going to hunt me.

          After I came out of my initial state of shock, I tried to form a plan in my head. I know I don't want to go where those monsters were, so my only option was to flee into the darkness. I stood up very slowly and started my way down the tunnel. My footsteps echoed quietly in the tunnel, and I hoped no one would hear them. I stopped for a moment, thinking that I might've heard something. But the silence was deafening. I started walking again, very cautiously. I stopped in mid-step! and I heard a footstep. Someone was trying to match my footsteps to be more quiet. That meant someone heard me. I pulled the small match box out of my pocket and pulled out a match. Then with one quick swipe, SCRATCH! The match didn't quite light up much, because I still couldn't see five feet ahead of me. I turned around. I was pretty surprised to see a giant face a few inches away from mine. I screamed and stumbled backwards. In doing so, I dropped the match. But instead of hitting the floor, it dropped onto the monster's foot. The creature started to scream, with its whole foot catching fire. I was still in a sitting position, watching in horror as the monster yelled and screamed while the fire engulfed his whole body. It's face was hairy and very ugly, with razor sharp teeth. It tried to claw at me, but I shuffled backwards. It had such a terrifying, blood-curdling scream, making me want to scream myself. It fell backwards onto its back, choking and gasping. Finally, the monster stopped moving entirely, and I knew it was dead. The blazing fire lit up much more than my candle, and I could see figures coming from the lit tunnel. I stood up and turned towards the darkness. I started sprinting as fast as I could. While in mid-sprint, I lit a match, and saw a wall about ten yards away. I looked behind me and saw the creatures getting closer. At first, I thought the wall was a dead end, but I saw a ladder heading upwards. I blew out the match and I started to climb. 

By the time I reached the top, the monsters were climbing up, too. I lit one more match and dropped it down. Considering what happened to the last one that caught on fire, I was hoping it would do the same to the others. At the exact moment that the match made contact with the first creature, it set the whole thing ablaze. Conjuring another scream like the last, it fell downwards, slamming into others climbing the ladder, catching more and more on fire. By then I turned around and was looking up for any exit out, but to no avail. The wailing of the creatures below preoccupied my mind with horrifying imagery. I already had a good idea of what it was. I struck another match and spotted something in the wall that didn't look like the normal rock that was on the walls surrounding it. I did what my instinct told me to do, and I kicked it as hard as possible. I expected to have a pain shooting up my leg, but that never happened. The fake rock flew outwards and light shone through the hole. The hole was big enough for me to crawl through, so that's what I did. Quickly I realized that if there were more monsters down there, they could crawl out, too. But to do that they'd need to climb up the ladder. So I crawled back into the darkness and lit the rope ladder on fire. The ladder dropped all the way to the ground, and continued to stay lit in until the light went away. I wasn't sure if that was the only exit, but I was not going to go back down to investigate, either. So I climbed out again. The air was fresh and it was green and sunny. I stood in a forest, and started to wonder exactly where I was. I saw light in the distance, so I followed it. Footstep after footstep, I was scared that a face would pop out at me like it did in the cave. Fortunately, that never happened. Finally I reached the light and was out of the forest, and was staring at the open field where I was abducted by the monster. I took two slow steps and then sprinted across the field to my bike, which was still sitting there from when I left. I had gotten across the field and onto my bike when I saw something lying in the grass. It was glowing a bluish color. I picked it up and was shocked when I saw what it was. It was a sword, that looked like it came from a Lord of the Rings movie. It was somewhat heavy, but I was still able to swing it around with ease. The blade was about a foot and a half long and three inches wide. There was a small post-it note attached to it, reading "When in the hands of a hero, it will glow red. Only use when necessary." I stared at the sword as it went from blue, to purple, to pink, to a bright, intense red. Uncertain of what to use it for  I brought it home with me. I dragged my bike into my garage when I got home and walked inside my house

"I'm home!" I yelled to let my parents know I'm home, and I run upstairs. I looked at my window, and am shocked to see that the rip in the screen has vanished. I hid the sword in my closet and tried to forget everything that just happened. This was definitely not my imagination, no matter how many times my parents will tell me otherwise.

          So I woke up the this morning feeling sore and drowsy. I go downstairs and find my mom in a chair reading the newspaper and drinking coffee, and my dad doing the same. They both say good morning to me, and I pour myself a bowl of cereal. I eat it fast and go to the living room to watch tv. But then the feeling comes across me again to look out the window. So I turned my head as fast as possible, to see a monster across the street, smiling with crooked, sharp teeth. It walks behind a tree and doesn't come out. My eyes are as big as dinner plates, as I scramble off the couch. I can tell my parents are somewhat alarmed by my random burst of energy. I open my closet and see the sword glowing red like before. I thought about what the note said. I think this is a necessary time. 

          At the exact moment I grasp the sword in my hands, a burst of confidence flies inside me, and I feel alive. I swing it in a 360 movement. I don't know what I'm doing, but my arm is doing all the work. I open my window and climb onto the roof. I get a sense of confidence like before and do something I never, ever would've done without the sword. I jump off the roof into a tree right in front of me. But before I make contact I shove my sword into the tree and slowly slide down with the sword cutting the tree in half. I don't know what powers this sword has, but I instinctively know it contains some sort of powers. I walk across the road to where I saw the monster. There is a giant hole in the tree, leading downwards, like some secret passage. Whatever is down there, I'm going to check it out. I lean inside the tree, and start falling with my hands pressing against the walls, so I can have a slower fall. I grip the sword tightly. 

"This time I'm ready."