• It was about 12:30 in the night. I was up, listening to my ipod and watching the lightning streak across the sky from my window. My sister an I slept in the same room, but she was a heavy sleeper (thank the Gods) and I, on the other hand wasn't I had woken up at around midnight and lay in my bed staring at the ceiling and thinking of apparently nothing in particular. Then at around 12:15, I quietly slipped out of my bed, got my ipod, lifted a chair and settled down comfortably in front of the window in our bed room.
    The rain had been plummeting heavily but it was starting to let up. I was glad the lightning wasn't. I love lightning. And the moon. Lucky for me that night it was a full moon. Our bedroom window overlooked a huge lake which looked grey, reflecting the stormy sky.
    The moments died, I hear no screaming
    The visions left inside me are slowly fading
    Would she hear me if I called her name?
    Would she hold me if she knew my shame?
    I was listening to 'Tears don't fall' by 'Bullet for my Valentine'. Weird band name. I know. Lightning was streaking across the sky and I thought I'd go and get myself a story book and a torch when I saw it. Though I wasn't sure what 'it' was. It was a big black shape hurling towards the ground at a speed even my physics teacher wouldn't have been able to calculate. Lightning streaked across the sky and I had a brief glimpse of it. I thought my eyes were kidding me. What the hell? , i thought. A horse?. It fell on the wet mud with a force which made the sand jump. Ouch . I winced. I looked at it (or whatever i could see of it) for a long time, but it didn't appear to move.
    I felt a strong urge to go and see to it that it was okay. I was crazy, I knew it even then. I decided to get up and get down there. So i quickly changed out of my night clothes into my Jeans, a grey T-Shirt and a black jacket. I soundlessly took the keys from the top of the refrigerator and slipped out the house. I locked the door and started walking towards the lake. It was drizzling lightly and the moonless night made it hard for me to see the path but thanks to my instincts and the number of times I had been there (and the Gods. ALWAYS thank the Gods), I was able to reach the lake with minor scratches. I scanned the area for a dark figure. There!. I ran towards the black misshapen shape.
    I gasped. Lying in the sand, surrounded by a pool of blood, was a Griffin! It was pale white and had a beep wound in its chest. I knelt in front of it and touched its head. The griffin winced but didn't attack. I slid my hands downward towards it wound. It was then that I realized that a letter was tied to its feet (forgive me if I'm using the wrong words, because I honestly have no idea what you call those). It was like those scrolls they used in the older days. It pulled it out and unraveled it. Before I could read what was written, I heard a growl from behind me. I turned around.
    I was facing a... creature that had the body of a lioness with a tail that terminated in a snake's head, the head of a goat arose on its back .
    I was face to face with a chimera.