The Forest

She stood there looking up at the dark gray sky as the cold droplets painted her lovely pale face. She looked around hoping for a sign, there behind her was a puff of light gray smoke joining the rain clouds. She heard the crunching of the leaves beneath her cold achy feet. As she looked up, there standing behind an old oak tree was a figure, yellow eyed staring directly at her. She started running towards the puff of smoke when she fell on a tree root sticking up out of the ground. She yelled out in excruciating pain then everything went black. A little while later she woke up with a throbbing headache, her brain twisted into a ball of confusion as now it is dark and she doesn’t recognize where she is. She slowly sat up holding her head and leaned against an oak tree.  After a few minutes she finally got clear vision again and to her surprise she shrieked in fear when she saw the same figure looking down on her then suddenly disappeared.

She felt something cold running down her leg and she brushed it off but it was something wet. She reached into her back pocket and pulled out her phone hoping now she’d have service. A picture of her puppy greeted her as she turned her phone on.. “No service” read on the top of her phone screen, she tried calling 911 again but the call didn’t even ring once before shutting off.

She turned on her camera and shined it at her leg to see the damage. A part of the tree root was still in her lower leg. She sighed as she ripped two pieces off of her dirty yellow shirt. She bit down on one piece as hard as she could and started to slowly pull out the root. Her screams muffled by the shirt scared something in the distance and caused rustling in the bushes. She took the other piece of her shirt and tied it as tight as she could. The throbbing sent a cold lightning shock of pain through her spine as she limped to the cabin which looked empty but she still knocked. She heard rustling behind her and she knocked again the rustling growing louder and faster she urgently opened the door which took all her strength she put her back towards the door and took a breath that left a trail of condensation. She shined her camera light around and went  to lay down on the ripped up sofa in the far corner.

She woke up the next morning and was greeted by the smell of freshly baked apple pies when she opened the door. She looked around before walking outside and didn’t see the figure, she found a stick that was perfect for a walking stick. She followed the smell of the pies and entered a small town that felt like it was part of a movie set. As she entered this small town the fresh air revealed her pale dirty cut up face and pushed back her red hair that was filled with twigs. Every house nicely painted with a lawn surrounded by white picket fences..kids playing in the streets and parents talking with neighbors. When the kids saw her they immediately ran to their parents and everyone seemed to disappear.

She came up to this tiny baby blue painted house with a flower garden behind the freshly painted picket fence. She knocked on a door far too big for the house and an older lady with short blonde hair with light blue eyes and a birthmark on her cheek opened her door halfway and quickly started to close the door, the girl stopped her door with her hand. “Please help me. I don’t know what is happening and I don’t know why everyone is running away from me.” The lady looked scared at first but took pity on the girl and let her in. The lady’s house smelt of freshly baked biscuits and lavender. The lady noticed her leg injury and quickly led her to a flowered sofa that was dressed in yellow throw pillows. She grabbed her leg gently and put a pillow under it and said she would be right back. She returned a few moments later with rubbing alcohol, a needle, thread, a bandage wrap  and a small white piece of cloth with a daisy embroidered in the corner. She told her to bite down on the cloth as hard as she could and to take a deep breath. Once the cloth was in her mouth, she asked if the girl was ready and poured the rubbing alcohol on her leg. The girl gripped the couch in pain. She went to the kitchen and came back with a bowl and cleansed the needle in alcohol. She felt the needle go into her skin and passed out. She woke up to the smell of freshly made hot chocolate and biscuits on the table next to her. Her leg was stitched up and wrapped tightly in the bandage. The lady came out with tylenol and some water, “Here dear, take this it will help a little bit and eat the biscuits and drink the hot chocolate it will help with the medicine.”

She guzzled down the water washing the medicine down her throat. She blew on her hot chocolate and dipped her biscuits in. “Do you know why everyone is running away from me?” The older lady quickly changed the subject of asking how the girl's leg was feeling.

The old grandfather clock in the corner chimed as it hit 7 o’clock. “It's getting late, you should go.” The lady said in an urgent tone. “But I don't ha…”. “Go now!” The lady interrupted the girl.

The girl hopped out of the house filled with confusion, not knowing what's happening or where to go. She made her way back into the forest where no one was scared of her. The fresh apple pie smell slowly disappeared behind her and her nostrils now being greeted by the smell of wet musty leaves. In the distance she saw someone or something, the slight darkness was starting to close in on her as she got closer she saw, it looked to be a little girl… no older than 8. She had freckles masking her face with amber red hair neatly tied up in a light blue bow with a white fluffy dress that looked fit for a wedding. “Are you lost?” The girl asked her. As she got closer the little girl transformed into the figure she saw when she woke up under the tree and whispered “why, why did you run” in a soft deep breath so close to her neck and so warm it covered her body in goosebumps. Everything suddenly started spinning and she felt a cold chill go up her spine. “Who are you, why are you following me?” The girl screamed. She felt something running down her face when she wiped it away it appeared as blood. She looked at her phone to see that her eyes were bleeding. She ran to the creek that was a few feet from her to wash the blood away. She heard a low growl from behind her. “Don't run. Don't run. It's all in your head.” She told herself she crouched there looking at the water holding her breath hoping whatever made that noise would pass. She heard something walking closer and closer to her. The fear overtook her and she ran, getting hit with branches but not letting the pain stop her. She took one quick look behind her as she was running and a low tree branch hit her throat and she fell backwards and stumbled over a boulder and went rolling down into a ditch. The last thing she felt was the throbbing pain in her head and then everything went black. She heard muffled talking in the background as if someone had their hands over her ears. She tried opening her eyes but couldn't.. the harder she tried the more strain she felt in her brain.

She felt cold hands touch her sensitive skin.

“No, stop that hurts” she said

Her body suddenly felt like needles all over and after a few seconds it faded away.

“It's because I was so cold and now I'm in a warm environment. Where am I? Hello?”

After a little bit she realized no one could hear her and she was only talking in her head. She still couldn't open her eyes but she knew she was in a car of some sort. The car kept going over bumps and she tried to say it's hurting her head but she didn't even attempt to say anything she just laid there in pain. The twists and turns of the road were making her nauseous. She could see the sunlight through her eyelids. As the pain started dying down for a slight second a dog barked and it felt like her head got hit with a hammer and she lost vision and hearing again.