The wind blew softly, leaves rustling like whispers and bird song reverberating in the disturbed air. The forest was peaceful. No sign of another walking, talking life like me. There hadn’t been for miles. The trees breathing, the birds chirping, an occasional squirrel or dear, and my footsteps.
Twigs and bracken cracked and groaned and snapped under my feet. Occasionally, when it got too quiet, I would whistle back to the birds; their symphony filled the air like a choir. As I walked deeper, my hands instinctively pulled out a flashlight- the artificial light sparked a thought in me that I wasn’t natural enough to be welcome. Less light filtered through the towering trees as I walked deeper, less bird song, less wildlife. Far away, I heard a swarm of birds take flight, and I found myself missing the woodland edge. I felt something watching, encircling me just out of my field of vision, echoing a thought in my mind that I was only a visitor, surpassing my parameters- the unspoken contract of where I can go and when and how long had somehow been tarnished, that I should turn around and go. My paranoia spiked- my heart adrenalized- like the pace of a rabbit to slaughter, blood pressure skyrocketing, jumping at the slightest sound. I couldn’t stop my feet from stepping further, an invisible hand pulling me against my will until I reached a clearing. All paths seemed to lead here... but there was nothing, a circle of dead weeds and exposed dirt that seemed to cause all life to rot as it got closer. I felt like I had heard about these somewhere. Something to do with-The wind blew softly, leaves rustling like whispers and bird song reverberating in the disturbed air. The forest was peaceful, no sign of another walking, talking life like me. There hadn’t been for miles. The trees breathing, the birds chirping, an occasional squirrel or dear, and my footsteps.
Twigs and bracken cracked and groaned and snapped under my feet. Occasionally, when it got too quiet, I would whistle back to the birds; their symphony filled the air like a choir. As I walked deeper, my hands instinctively pulled out a flashlight- the artificial light sparked a thought in me that I wasn’t natural enough to be welcome. Less light filtered through the towering trees, less bird song, less wildlife. Far away, I heard a swarm of birds take flight and I found myself missing the woodland edge. I felt something watching, encircling me just out of my field of vision, echoing a thought in my mind that I was only a visitor, surpassing my parameters- the unspoken contract of where I can go and when and how long had somehow been tarnished, that I should turn around and go. My paranoia spiked- my heart adrenalized- like the pace of a rabbit to slaughter, blood pressure skyrocketing, jumping at the slightest sound. I couldn’t stop my feet from stepping further, an invisible hand pulling me against my will until I reached a clearing. All paths seemed to lead here but there was nothing, a circle of dead weeds and exposed dirt that seemed to cause all life to rot as it got closer. I felt like I had heard about these somewhere. Something to do with-
“is anyone there?” The voice was innocent, childlike, pure. All feelings of worry swept away, my invisible watcher drifted to the back of my mind. I heard it again: “hello? Is anyone here?” Nothing plagued me anymore, I took off like a hare down the path, jumping over roots and ducking under low hanging branches. I felt like I had gone for miles. Sweat soaked, feet ached, heaving for breath. The spring breeze had gone, I hadn’t heard a bird for what felt like hours, no creature crossed my path- not even a simple beetle- but I kept going.
Slowly, I lost all hope of finding her and the inescapable feeling of tension came back two-fold. I had never been this deep into the forest before, there’s no way that I’m not lost, spinning in the same spot as if I were a hopeless, squirming prey; panic overtaking every nerve, every cell. The trees were creeping, skeletal beings, scraping at each other like simple creatures. “is that you?” I heard quick, small steps behind me. We met eyes. Black, bottomless, bulging, filled with something despicable I could not quite place, an unfounded hatred of everything that made up what I am. Above all… hunger. Its whiskers shivered, hairs bristled, tail stood on high alert, its antlers shone in the yellow light of my torch, blood stains luminescent. Truly inhumane. It jumped higher than any normal rabbit, thumped behind my faster than any deer, anything I’d ever encountered. I realised, all at once, that the clearing was the den of a jackalope. I had made myself a free meal, all bets were on, and no other animal would dare touch me if I’d been tagged by the Demi-devil staring into my soul.
Running was truly pointless but running was all I had, all I could comprehend with my last few thoughts. The thought of sharing its air disgusted me but as it dug its horns into the backs of my legs, collapsing to the floor with an anti-climactic, shallow thud I had no choice. The final thud was the last noise I would ever make- for I did not scream as the sharp fangs dug into me- and I was left to wonder if things in the forest did echo, did make a sound, or if what final impact I made would fade away into the spring breeze and be carried off into the trees shadows.
Running was truly pointless but running was all I had, all I could comprehend with my last few thoughts. The thought of sharing its air disgusted me but as it dug its horns into the backs of my legs, collapsing to the floor with an anti-climactic, shallow thud I had no choice. The final thud was the last noise I would ever make- for I did not scream as the sharp fangs dug into me- and I was left to wonder if things in the forest did echo, did make a sound, or if what final impact I made would fade away into the spring breeze and be carried off into the trees shadows.
