Forest of Denial

The mirror showed a reflection that wasn't my own. It was that of a forest, covered in mist. This surely was not a feature on the website for the house, but it doesn’t seem to be real. I mean, obviously it couldn’t be real. It must be some sort of picture, but I could swear that the mist was moving. I must truly be stressed if I am seeing pictures move. Now that I look at it more, it really is an amazing piece. I am not sure what made the owner place it above the bathtub though. I rented this house to get away from all of the distractions for a weekend and just relax. The bathtub in this gothic style bathroom did catch my eye on the page, but I still don’t remember seeing this picture.

Thinking on it won’t help anything. I’ll have to remember to contact the owner later and tell them to include it on the page. It will be nice to have the feeling of looking outside while relaxing, but it is a bit creepy. Then again, it is a gothic style bathroom so I might be thinking too much about this. I am sure only people like me would even consider this style of house, and I am clearly far too stressed out. Maybe I’ll use some of these bath salts they put out. I have heard that they help.

After waiting for the tub to fill, I started to get ready and just paid no attention to this picture on the wall. The water is the perfect temperature and will take my mind off of everything. Well, maybe not everything. I’m still thinking about this last month. My grandfather passed and then my significant other left me because they “couldn’t deal with the depression”. What an awful excuse, but I suppose I am better off without them. If trying to process all of that wasn’t enough, they are also letting people go at work and I just hope they don’t use my bereavement leave as an excuse to let me go. It’s their own policy, after all. They shouldn’t hold that against me even if it was a busy week. It isn’t like I planned any of this.

Hmm. This bath really is nice though. I haven’t been able to take a pause like this in so long. Almost makes the cost for just a weekend worth it. The warmth is like the sun melting away my worries. I should have brought my phone in to set an alarm just in case I fell asleep. That’s okay though. I’m sure I will be fine…

…that’s odd…is that wind?

I suppose I did fall asleep but what’s going on? This can’t be real. I must have really boiled myself. Am I seeing things? The house is gone? That picture must have really gotten to me. It looks like I am in the forest. Like the bathtub and wall got transported without anything else. Wait. The wall? The picture!

Hold on a second. That’s me. I am in the picture in the forest? No wait. I’m moving with the me in the picture. Is this actually a mirror? What in the world is going on? Alright, just calm down. Maybe this is just another unlisted feature of the house. All of the walls must be tricks too. I mean come on, There is no way I’m in a forest. That is the silliest thing I’ve ever heard.

Uh? No, that can’t be true. There is no wall here. My hand goes right through? The ground seems real as well. The dirt even clings to my fingers like actual dirt. Okay. Clearly there was something in those bath salts and I just was in the bath too long. I have heard about this before. A bad trip. That is all it is. I will just stay here on the bathroom floor and just ride it out. As long as I stay calm, everything will be perfectly fine.

What’s that sound though? Like the trees are being pushed aside and swaying back and forth. The wind isn’t even that strong. What am I saying? This is all a hallucination. Rules don’t apply. Did one of the trees just move though? Oh gosh, what is that? It’s taller then the trees. I have to see if I can get a better angle.

Oh no. This really is a bad trip. It’s okay because all I have to do is stay calm. Right, right, stay calm. There is no way that there is a sixty foot tall, freaking, spider! It’s not real. Just stay on the bathroom floor and it will be okay. Stay calm. You’re okay.

Is the water rippling like in Jurassic Park? You have got to be joking. Real funny brain. If I learn anything from this, it has surely reaffirmed my conviction to not do drugs. How do people deal with this? It is not enjoyable in any way at all. Just don’t look behind you and focus on breathing. Phew, it’s going to be okay.

Crap. Don’t look at the mirror, idiot. It’s fine. It’s fine. This isn’t real. The bathroom floor is safe. Nothing can touch me. I don’t care what this mirror says. It isn’t coming this way and won’t ever touch me, because it isn’t real. Of course it isn’t. Stay…

…calm. That is impossible. There should be no sounds on the bathroom tile floor. It should just be forest ground sounds. Again, the mirror is also pulling a trick because the leg isn’t on…the…ground!

…ouch, the ground really does feel real. My gut must have told me to run and I just blacked out. Where am I? Well, it does seem like I am in a forest. My feet also seem to be bleeding. TV surely did not prepare me for this. I have never heard about hallucinations being this real.

Would the sounds just stop? It sounds like thunder rumbling across the ground. Of course it is getting louder. Why wouldn’t it be? Alright mind. Show me what you got this time. Let’s fight.

You know what? Never mind. Forget what I just said. I would much rather not fight a swarm of car sized spiders, that I can only assume are the babies. What I would really like is for this to stop. I just want to wake up and still be in the bath. I am not trying to fight my mind today.

Well, now that they are all here and surrounding me I don’t think I will be able to run even if I wanted to. Ew, it really is their legs and all of those eyes that send a shiver down my spine. I am sure there is some psychological way to explain this. Like these are all of my anxieties and the mom is the towering, creeping amount of grief I am not dealing with. Right? Yeah. That makes sense. Speaking of. Here she is. Oh her babies are making a path for her to lean down to me. This must really be the embodiment of grief. It’s a huge creature that crawls around, usually out of sight. Those creepy fangs are possibly the venomous nature of not dealing with it.

Okay. Now I am going to face this all. Then I’ll wake up and the healing will begin. I am calm because of this psychological breakthrough I must be experiencing. So here we go. Just have to face this hairy, multi-legged, fang bearing monster.

“Hey look grief. I get it. You’re scary and I am not dealing with you. I will now…and why are you getting closer exactly? I do not like that clicking sound you’re making. Hey. No need to get any closer. Woah…hey now! No! Stop! I’m just…”