"Thomas E. Sniegoski - The Fallen" - читать интересную книгу автора (Sniegoski Thomas E)

the difficult realization that he was indeed going insane.
A swarm of fireflies distracted him from his thoughts, their incandescent bodies twinkling in the inky
black of the nighttime woods. They dipped and wove in the air before him, their lights communicating a
message of grave importance.

тАЬRun,тАЭwas the missive he read from their flickering bioluminescence.тАЬRun, for your life is at risk.тАЭ

And that is just what he did.

Eric pushed off from the base of the tree and headed toward the gurgling sounds of the tiny creek. He
would cross it and head deeper into the woods, so far that no one would ever find him. After all, he had
grown up here and doubted there was anyone around who knew the woods better.

But then the question came, the same question that the rational part of his mind had been asking since the
warnings began.

What are you afraid of?

The question played over and over in his head as he ran, but he did not know the answer.

Eric jumped the creek. He landed on the other side awkwardly, his sneakered foot sliding across some
moss-covered rocks and into the unusually cold water.

The boy gasped as the liquid invaded his shoe, and he scrambled to remove it from the creekтАЩs numbing
embrace. Its chilling touch spurring him to move faster. He ducked beneath the low-hanging branches of
young trees that grew along the banks of the miniature river, then he plunged deeper into the wilderness.

But what are you running from?a rational voice asked, not from the woods around him but from his own
mind. His own voice, a calm voice, that sought to override his sense of panic. This voice wanted him to
stop and confront his fears, to see them for what they really were.There is no danger, said the sensible
voice.There is nobody chasing you, watching you.

Eric slowed his pace.

тАЬKeep running,тАЭurged something as it slithered beneath an overturned stump, its shiny scales reflecting
the starlight.

And he almost listened to the small, hissing voice, almost sped up again. But then Eric shook his head
and began to walk. Others called to him from the bushes, from the air above his head, from the grass
beneath his feet, all urging him to flee, to run like a crazy person, which was exactly what he decided he
was.

At that moment, Eric made a decision. He wasnтАЩt going to listen to them anymore. He wasnтАЩt going to
run from some invisible threat. He was going to turn around, go back to his grandparentsтАЩ home, wake
them up, and explain what was happening. He would tell them that he needed help, that he needed to get
to a hospital right away.

His mind made up, Eric stopped in a clearing and looked up into the early-morning sky. A thick patch of
gray clouds that reminded him of steel wool slowly rubbed across the face of a radiant moon. He didnтАЩt
want to hurt his grandparents. They had already been through so much. His mother, their daughter,