Autumn Nights (499 words)
My entry for the not-so-classically trained writer’s ‘Hooked in 100′ contest. I already submitted it a few days back, but I thought i’d toss it up here too,for funsies.
It turns out word restrictions physically pain me, but I tried the best I could to fit my ideas into 500 words. Enjoy.
Gwen could hardly believe it. The oldest gateway in all of Canada, in this shithole of a park? It was tiny, filthy, and had only one tree that wasn’t already dying. Grunting in a mix of disgust and anticipation, she skipped around the third used condom she had seen so far. ‘If I didn’t know any better, I would say that Sam told me to stay away from here for sanitary reasons’ she thought. Her gut clenched when the name came up, but she forced her thoughts forward. ‘Just find the tree’ she thought, ‘focus.’ The old oak was barely 20 feet tall, even though some of the people she had asked claimed it was older than the park itself. Every branch seemed to be grasping outwards, searching for a way to pull itself to freedom. In the highest branches, Gwen could see a dim shape of a crow in the evening sun. It’s bark was dotted with notches and the initials of lovers carved into the wood, proof of their bond. Tears gathered behind Gwen’s eyes as she drew her switchblade from her windbreaker and made her own mark. G.C. alongside S.J.
The ritual begun, Gwen raised her arms, palms outstretched towards the gnarled branches, and spoke: “One for sorrow, two for joy, three for a girl, and four for a boy.”
The sound of her calm and practised rhyme sent a barely visible ripple through the leaves of the trees, rustling them despite the still and unnatural city air. “Five for silver, six for gold, seven for a secret that will never be told.”
Gwen could hear their whispers now, floating around her. “Eight for a wish, nine for a kiss, ten for a surprise that you never should miss. Eleven for wealth, twelve for health-”
Gwen took a deep breath. The crow screeched a warning. “Thirteen beware, it’s the devil himself.”
As the last syllable left her mouth, the slight breeze surged into a gust that nearly knocked her off her feet. Gwen held fast. “Show yourself, Gatekeeper,” she screamed. “Take me to where you bastards took her!” In a single instant, the dark shapes of the buildings surrounding the park melted away. She felt turquoise grass tickle her ankles, saw the single gorgeous tree with emerald leaves, before a dark shape descended from its branches. What had been the crow crashed into her, knocking the breath from her and pinning her to the grass with wicked talons. Larger than any eagle, the thing clacked its beak, ruffled its black feathers and met her gaze. The right eye blazed with a wild fierceness she had seen in no other creature, the other bore a cracked, cat’s eye marble. When it spoke, the creature’s voice grated, like someone was shaking a bag full of shattered glass and pebbles. “Not gatekeeper. Tolltaker.” It hissed. Letting out a wail, it stabbed its beak into Gwen’s left eye socket. Her screams tore a hole in the world.














