A Tale of the Forest
/She was running through the storm onto the bridge hoping she could get away fast enough from the monsters trailing behind her. Her straw-colored hair was plastered to her forehead, and her pale skin was flush from exhaustion.
She looked over her shoulder, her piercing blue eyes trying to find the source of her fear: the monsters with their large mouths, drool glistening at the edges and the growling filling the air, revealing the rows upon rows of sharp teeth. Fear filled her belly and she felt her legs nearly give out from underneath her. But she pushed on, dipping and weaving her way between the skeletal remains of ages past. The growling grew louder and louder, and she feared they were getting closer, but on she pressed.
A singular thought filled her mind, trying to do away with all the fear, and that thought was; escape. Escape from the beasts and escape from those she had left behind.
She crawled over cars, the remains of a time long past — a time before monsters filled the streets, before humanity had to go into hiding in the hopes of barely surviving. Even the buildings that had once touched the sky were little more than brittle ruins, fit to fall apart at the slightest touch, reminding all those around of times that were long gone.
One car still looked usable, but she didn’t make her way towards it. Humans had long forgotten how to operate such ancient machinery, and she was unsure if the thing could still run even if she did know how to use it. Most who traveled using other means than by foot these days did so with the mounts of the ancient times: horses and other such domestic animals.
courtesy of Rahul Chandwaney
The age of vehicles had long passed — now was the age of monsters. Monsters similar to the ones chasing her, yes, but other beasts also filled the streets. These were nightmarish creatures straight out of some sort of horror novel; most were unintelligent, but some possessed greater intellect than humans.
While she was scared, she felt lucky she hadn’t run into such a creature. But she was still unsure she would escape from the ones who followed her. As if in a reminder that they were still there, the monsters howled, sounding much too close for her liking. She dove behind a particularly large vehicle she’d spotted, kneeling down and trying to catch her breath. Tears filled her eyes and she felt as if her heart would explode at any moment. She brushed her hands down the sides of her once green and yellow flowered dress, now more of a dull gray, trying to get the glass and dirt off of her. Her knees were scraped in several places from where she had fallen earlier, and she could see her hands were in much the same shape.
As she squeezed her hands together, she could feel the clamminess, her breathing starting to become erratic. More glass littered the bridge around her and she could smell the scent of rain. Little drops began to fall on her head, joining the droplets of sweat there, and she prayed that the rain would throw the hounds that followed her off her scent. It may just have been a drizzle at the moment, but she could tell it would start really coming down soon.
She wanted to go home. She wanted to lay down on her straw bed with its much too feathery pillow in the little cottage she had found with her grandparents. But she knew these things were impossible, that the dreams she wished for no longer existed, but it helped her steady her breathing.
After a few more moments, she stood, ready to continue on. She looked over her shoulder and nearly gasped aloud at what she saw: the hounds were not far behind. In fact, one was nearly upon her and, having found its prey once more it released a howl that echoed all around her. She took off running before the howl finished, whimpering as more howls answered from in front of her.
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The rain began to come down harder as she veered off in the direction of some woods, jumping down from the road and running as fast as her legs would take her through the long grass. The hounds were right behind her, and she was unsure if she would make it. The trees flew past, but her ability to run was steadily becoming a losing battle with her stamina, and she could smell the damp earth mixed with a scent of wet dog. The hound’s cries began to fill the air around her and she whimpered once more, unable to hold back the tears now. Her vision was becoming blurry as the sweat, tears, and rain all mixed together, but still she pressed on as hard as she could.
She came upon a clearing, a clearing she knew where her body would never be found, where no-one would come to save her… where she was destined to die. She fell to her knees, the tears falling freely now, her shoulders moving up and down as her body was wracked with silent sobs. There were five of the things in total, their maws hanging slightly open and their long tongues running over their teeth at the thought of the feast to come. One, in particular, had gotten much too close for comfort — she could smell this particular creature’s previous victim on its breath.
“No, please god, no,” she pleaded, her body giving out on her and the fear overtaking her entirely. The hounds began to close in around her, the growling filling the air. The girl prepared herself for the end.
That was, until a snap so loud that it overpowered the growling filled the air in the clearing. It was followed by a low growl, one deeper and far scarier than that of the hounds. The hounds began to moan and whine before another growl followed. They scattered, clearly far more afraid of whatever was now in these woods with the girl. The whining and barking filled the air for a bit of time, slowly fading into the distance until there was nothing more than silence. The girl slowly stood, looking all around as another low growl followed.
She was no longer afraid. No, she felt at peace, and she nearly smiled. A voice came from the shadows of the trees.
“Oh…are you not afraid of me little one?”
The girl said nothing, merely shaking her head as she looked for the source. It revealed itself to be a man. No, not a man, but a humanoid in shape. It had skin the color of the leaves and its hair seemed to be made of the very trees that surrounded it. It came into view and the girl smiled, wiping away the tears in her eyes. She would not run anymore. She had no reason to.
She had found the one she had been looking for.
The elders had tried to shy her away from finding it, telling her it was nothing more than a folk tale and that, if she did find it, it would take her away and she would never be heard from again. But that was what she wanted; she wanted to escape all the pain, all the fear. She wanted to get away from the monsters and the hounds and those who were human but were, in fact, worse than the monsters. She had been looking for it since the day her parents died, and now here she was in front of it at last. How could this person be any worse than the monsters she had just escaped from, or the ones she had left? It was so pure, so beautiful, especially when compared to the other monsters that had been chasing her since day one. She walked toward it and, having now reached it, raised her hand. It grasped it and she felt a peace fill her… one that she had not felt in a long time.
“Let’s go home,” she said, and the pair faded into the woods.
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Kevin Mazurimm
Kevin Mazurimm is a second year student at Algonquin College in the Professional Writing Program. He is an avid lover of video games, owning over 400 on steam alone, and is an up and coming writer of fiction.
