Jack and the Night

It was dark when Jack awoke. He had only meant to have an afternoon
nap, and had intended to be awake well before sunset, but clearly, he
had overslept. He gazed out between the trees and saw that the sky was
black with night. Evidently, the sun had not only set, but the moon had
risen well into it's highest orbit and it must have been close to
midnight.

It was not safe to be out at this time. He knew what the consequences
might be, but he couldn't shake the feeling of tiredness that he
remembered coming over him after he ate his lunch on the large broken
tree stump that he had almost stumbled over. He must have slept for
over 9 hours. How could that be? Normally, he would have described
himself as an insomniac; he had been suffering from sleep problems
since he could remember and usually managed a maximum of 4 hours a
night. He had adjusted to this over his 26 years, and an unusual sense
of fear began to rise in him. Could he have been drugged? No - that
simply didn't make any sense. Jack had made his lunch himself that
morning - using left overs from the delicious meal Katie, his
girlfriend, had cooked for him the night before. The thought of Katie
bought a smile to his face and helped to ease the unnerving sensation
that he was feeling.

So how then, could he have slept for so long? What on earth had come
over him and why did he not feel refreshed and energized, considering
it was the most amount of sleep he had had in one go for over seven
years at least.

The silence was deafening. Night animals were rare in these parts, they
had been hunted and destroyed many years ago - by what exactly, no-one
was certain and those who had attempted to find out, had never
returned. Jack did not belong here and he knew that his only chance to
survive the night - would be to run like the wind to the nearest safe
house...........If he could find one.

He leapt up from his guilty position and set off into a run. Which
direction he headed was of little significance - "where" not important
- only NOW. Go, go, go was all he could hear in his mind and his
surroundings almost disappeared into a blur as he focused his vision
ahead on the furthest he could see. The sound of his heart pounding was
drowned silent as a rumble beneath his feet began to grow in fortitude.
His heart seemed to be competing in strength, until Jack felt that it
would almost explode. In an effort to counteract the sound he roared
like a warrior in a battle. He had no idea where this voice came from,
but as it bellowed out from his lips, it's task had succeeded and the
booming around him became less apparent. Was his voice simply louder or
had the terrifying grumble really lessened? Jack expelled air for the
longest period he thought he ever had with that roar, his eyes were
closed and every piece of energy within him was focused in his throat.
How long it went on for - no-one could say, but boy did the town think
he was crazy when he ran into the street shrieking like a
banshee.

Mad Mad Jack McMadman they call him - and they tell his tale to all
their children as they fall asleep in the houses overlooking the Forest
of Roardor