Jacob was tired. He was tired of his brother's constant teasing, his mother's nagging and his father's constant anger.

After he had stormed off from the dining room, he felt like the world was crumbling on him. A weight as heavy as the one which rested on Atlas'shoulder was anchored to his heart. He felt his spirit climb into the deep trenches of the ocean, where there was nothing but the soft touch of barnacles and the disembodied whisper of corals.

He sighed.

He almost sunk on to his bed, face-first but then his eyes wandered over to his computer, resting on his table.

He took a deep breath.

His friend Charlie had been trying to get him to play a text-based adventure called "The Cypress Trees Sigh". Maybe just maybe, that game was exactly what he needed to get his mind off his depressing life.

He took another deep breath and settled in the chair in front of his computer.

He downloaded the game, while it was in progress, he found himself plagued by the most awful thoughts. The darkness which wandered in the corners of his psyche had decided to stand front and center. He tried to focus on something else.

The band posters stuck to the bedroom walls, the night-light bathing the room in a glow of red, his school bag lying half-open with its contents splattered across the floor, his dirt-ridden sneakers resting against a ball, but nothing worked. He closed his eyes and head a ping.

When he opened them, the download was complete.

His eyes were lit up by the soft, white glow emitted by the computer screen. He clicked on the game.

The title screen simply read: The Cypress Trees Sigh

Then, a wall of text appeared:

The Pale Blue shadow of his corrupting stare burns your skin lying bare.

In that coffin, his eyes closed. You could still feel his gaze. His eyes suspended in the place no one knew what resided, in the place where knowledge and ignorance breathed the same breath and slept in the same bed.

He was gone. You could still feel his gaze on you.

Your eyes briefly glanced at the church around you. You didn't remember coming here consciously. You had a hazy memory of yourself walking here in the rain and your clothes replied in affirmative, but you still did not remember coming here.

The people around you were opaque bodies not lit up by light, or at least that is what it seemed to you. You saw everything, yet you saw nothing. To you all that was here was him, and he was gone.

You couldn't take it no more. You rose up your feet and exited through the door. You could either go left to your car or right to the graveyard.

Where do you go?

Just to stay on the safer side, Jacob chose Left.

Your car is parked in the empty lot occupied by countless other painted, metallic giants. It used to be his car. His cherry red Chevy, before he handed it to you five years ago. Now he wasn't alive,but the car was.

You unlocked the driver's seat and entered the car. You were greeted by the mess you made earlier. Parking tickets, candy wrappers, empty coffee cups and handwritten obscure notes were splattered across the car carpet and dashboard. You cleared a stray coffee cup from the seat and made yourself home.

Your home sweet home, always smelling of coffee and cheap air freshner.

You pull out of the parking lot.

Two roads are in front of you, which one do you choose: right or left?

Jacob had always thought that right was never the right way. Right was meant to trick, it was a false assurance, a booby trap. He stuck with left.

Left was home. Left was the forest. Left was your outpost.

Working as a forest ranger was mundane, but it was a good thing that you like to read. You spent your days scanning the canopy of trees from the watchtower, looking out for fires. The time you had off was spent listening to music and reading.

You had read a lot and you liked what you read a lot.

Reading had this strange euphoria to it, it made you feel more alive.

As you drove, the unfamiliar trees dissolved into familiar ones. Cypresses were visible, your home was near.

You smiled for the first time that day.

The screen cut to black for a second. When it lit up again, there was another wall of text, this time accompanied with the background music of cawing crows.

You are in the heart of the forest, right beneath your watchtower. Your perch where you are the sentinel who guards the horizons.

Your job is monotonous but you happen to like it for that very reason.

Around you, the trees are as tall as the sky. The whisper of cicadas and murmur of crickets is echoing through the air. Birds chirp in the trees above, not quite visible to the eye as the sun sets and the evening begins.

You could go right, deeper into the forest or left, to the watchtower.

As far as Jacob knew, venturing deeper in the forest in the evening had never been a good idea. He decided to play it save and go for the watchtower.

As you climb the stairs to your home above the ground, you hear the familiar creaking of the wooden stairs. You remember the part of the railing where a stray nail is peeking out and the small crack on stair number nine. This home has ingrained itself in your memory.

You smile as you finally reach the top and unlock the door.

The door opens with a screech and leaves skid marks on the floor, just like it always does. You enter the room and close the door behind you.

The upper half of all four walls is made of glass. You can see the Cypress trees sigh as they move with the wind below.

There's a bed in the corner of the room which has not been made. A desk stands against the glass windows, covered with a radio transmission station and other equipment.

Your laptop is lying on a side-table next to a whole family of snack wrappers. A cupboard containing your clothes is in the other corner.

You sigh.

You could actually do your job and check the forest for fires or your could cut yourself some slack and curl up with that book you have been wanting to read.

What do you do?

Well, Jacob didn't want to get into any trouble so he chose to do the job.

You yawn and stretch your hands as you open the door again and go to the balcony, which covers the watchtower on all four sides. After pulling out your binoculars, you scan the forest. You see no smoke and no disturbance, everything is peaceful.

You can feel the soft breeze on your face.

You hear a sudden scream, coming from down below.

You could go ahead and investigate it or ignore it and get back to that book.

Screams should not be ignored...

You run down the stairs, towards the sound. Your gun is in your back-pocket, just in case.

You run through the familiar trees, no footprints, no growling, no scratches, just screams. A terrible, high-pitched scream. The sound grows louder and clearer.

The scream no longer sounds human. There's an undertone there, an undertone which makes every bone in your body quiver.

You look at the ground and see a shadow, following yours.

Do you turn?

Before Jacob could type anything, another text appeared.

Of course you turn, everyone turns.

Jacob furrowed his eyebrows.

You see nothing. There is nothing there. You feel your heart beating in your chest, loudly,very loudly. It is all you can hear.

The sound of a heart beating very loudly filled Jacob's headphones.

The Cypress trees sigh above. You shiver, looking at them.

Jacob heard a sigh. He started shivering, this game was really getting to him.

You decide to turn back and go to the safety of your own house. You walk and walk. The scream is back.

The world turns red.

Jacob's screen went red. The text now appeared in white.

You can hear it. You can hear him. You can hear what he said.

Your father, he was always going on about how you'd never be able to get a job. Always going on about how you are nothing. Well, look at him now, he's six feet under and you...you are here.

Jacob could relate to this character. His father was just the same.

Or your mother who never believed in you, who never loved you, who never stepped up for you. Or your brother who had decided to become your arch-nemesis.

Home was hell. Home was not home.

This place was better. This red abyss where they weren't. A distraction from them, a break from them. Far away from them.

You could not hear them any longer.

But the Cypress trees sighed again.

You decided to relax, to embrace the red void staring you in the face. The sighing, the red glow, the infinite nothingness, everything is perfect.

You decide to sit down, on a chair which appears out of nowhere.

Staring at the red, sitting on the chair.

When something rustles behind you, disturbing the quiet. You turn, slowly, very slowly. Then, you see it. You see everything and nothing.

The Cypress trees sing.

The screen faded to black, Jacob pulled off his headphones. Well, that was weird.

Then, he heard a sound behind him. It was probably his mom with dinner. He turned, slowly, not really wanting to talk to her.

But when he turned, he saw everything and nothing.

And the Cypress trees started singing.

Where do you go?

Two roads are in front of you, which one do you choose: right or left?

You can't run

What do you do?

Do you turn?

They always turn, honey