• Tap- tap- tap- tap- tap!
    Worn Converse high tops slap across pavement. Their owner's heart is beating like a savage drum- roll on his ribcage. His lungs are filling and emptying at a sickening pace. His throat is raw from the cold night air. His legs scream in the protest of his pace. Surely they will give out soon, and end this nightmare.
    tap... tap... tap...
    Footsteps are chasing him, wherever he goes, no matter how fast. They are at a normal walking pace, perhaps even as slow as a stroll. But they are always there. Never ceasing, never dropping farther behind.

    The prey of this chase is getting tunnel vision. A ringing enters his ears. He stumbles slightly, then a little more. He is slowing and shambling along, same as every night. He falls, as he knew he would soon. He picks his head up from the wet pavement, and looks up. Nothing there. The footsteps have stopped.
    All seems quiet.
    Suddenly, an overwhelming sense of pressure, an ominous feeling settles over him. The physical signs of the approaching villain have stopped, but the pursuit continues, He knows this. As the fear mounts, the tension seems like a tangible thing in the air...
    BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
    The alarm goes off. 5:00 AM. The prey rolls out of bed, to have a normal day. But tonight, the chase will continue, as it always does.