Oregon Grape

Every rock and tree was unfamiliar to Kaelen, but the small boy kept walking, hoping to find his parents. They had come to this forest to go camping as a family over the summer. He and his little sister, Ryla, had been playing down by a creek, trying to see if they could find any tadpoles or frogs in the shallow water while his mom and dad prepared lunch for them just over the hill. Kaelen didn’t find any frogs, but he did find a snake. While he chased after it, Ryla screamed and ran back to their mother and father. He remembered hearing his mom’s voice calling after him to leave it alone, but he couldn’t help himself. He just had to run after the snake as it quickly slithered into the trees. Even now, his jeans were still wet from stomping through the creek after the reptile.

Kaelen didn’t think it could have been that long since he’d lost track of the snake and wandered off in search of it, but the sound of his parents’ voices calling after him had grown faint and disappeared into the distance long ago. Now he was alone and the curiosity that had driven him deeper into the woods to catch the serpent was replaced by fear. Maybe if he kept looking, he would find some other campers that could help him find his way back to his parents.

Forcing his feet to keep going, even though he was starting to get tired by now, he called out in the hope that someone close by would hear him. “Mommy! Daddy! Help, I’m lost!”

As he cried out, he held still for a moment to see if he could hear a response. There was no reply. A child’s voice was so small, and the sound was eaten up by the dense woods that surrounded him on all sides. Kaelen started to cry and picked up the pace as he began to frantically scramble through the thick foliage. Panic was setting in and he didn’t know which way to go. Everything looked the same and he couldn’t tell what direction he’d come from. Sniffles turned into sobs as he tried calling out again.

“Mommy! Help me!” he screamed at the top of his lungs through gasps of breath that caught in his throat as he cried.

The only response he received was a few birds taking off from the canopy of leaves above his head and a squirrel chattering angrily at the little boy for disturbing it. By now Kaelen was in hysterics and he couldn’t see clearly through the tears that now flooded his vision. In his blurred panic, he stumbled over a small, twiggy plant that had spiky leaves and fell onto it. Loud wails erupted from the child’s mouth as he looked down to see that his hands and knees were now scraped up and bleeding.

Too consumed by his own grief and fear to carry on, Kaelen sat in the dirt and cried as loud as he could while looking around the frightening woods helplessly. The tall trees suddenly looked menacing and what little sky he could see through the pine needles was beginning to darken with heavy, gray clouds. The unfamiliar forest was too scary for the child to bear, so Kaelen curled up in a ball and closed his eyes, still sobbing uncontrollably.

He probably sat there for hours like that, having cried himself to sleep. When he opened his eyes again, they felt puffy and the tears that had once wet his cheeks were now dried. He didn’t remember falling asleep, but it was significantly darker now than it was before. He could barely see in grayscale, the silhouettes of the trees only a slightly darker shade of black than everything else. Kaelen felt tears starting to well up in his eyes again but forced himself to swallow them back so his eyes could adjust to the darkness.

Staring straight ahead at nothing, he waited as the outlines of the plants around him became clearer. There was a lighter colored profile of something dead ahead of him, but he couldn’t make out what it was. Perhaps it was just a tree stump, or a bush with lighter colored leaves. It seemed like an eternity before Kaelen’s eyes adjusted enough for him to feel confident in standing up and starting the search for his parents again. He wanted to get back to his family as soon as he could, but when he got to his feet, the boy froze in his tracks and his chest grew tight, fear sending a shock through his body all the way down into his fingertips.

Just as he stood up, the lightish gray figure he’d been staring at shifted as well. The movement helped define its shape a little more and suddenly Kaelen could tell that it was a living creature of some sort. When it had changed position, it had caught the glimmer of the moon in its eyes and he could tell that, whatever it was, it was staring right back at him.

Several moments passed as Kaelen and the unknown creature locked eyes in a silent stare off, neither moving an inch until Kaelen jumped at the sudden sound of thunder clapping in the sky. A streak of lightening crackled across the sky, illuminating what its radiance could reach through the tree line and sending sharp shadows everywhere it could not touch. For a fraction of a second, Kaelen could see the thin, humanoid shape of the creature crouched down in the bushes, it’s gray skin catching the light. Then it went dark again and Kaelen had to wait for his eyes to adjust to the darkness once more.

He was too afraid to move or make a sound, so he just continued to stare at the gray creature, praying it wouldn’t move. Maybe it was just a trick of the light. Maybe it was a normal animal. Or maybe it was a person. If it was, maybe they could help him get back to the campgrounds again. Kaelen tried to be brave.

“Hello?” His soft voice shook and there was no response, so he tried again, a little louder.

“Hello, is someone there?” This time, whatever was there made a sound in reply.

It was not words, like a person spoke, but it sounded almost like a human voice. The sound was a low, melancholy moan, and it scared Kaelen.

“Are- are you nice?” He asked, his voice shaking still.

The thing made another moan and started to slowly move towards Kaelen, causing the young boy to yelp in surprise and take several steps back. The creature stopped, slowly retreating back into it’s original place. It continued to stare at him though.

“G-go away! You’re scaring me!” Kaelen yelled, trying to sound strong through the tears that were already forming in the corners of his eyes.

The creature did not make any more sound, but it laid down in the grass and dirt. Kaelen could still see the glimmer of it’s eyes staring across the twenty or thirty feet of foliage between them. He wanted it to leave, but it just stayed there, staring at him.

“Mommy! Daddy!” Kaelen began yelling for his parents again as he turned away from the creature, walking the other direction.

He just wanted to go home. He was lost and scared and now he wasn’t alone. There was something there with him and he didn’t know what it was or what it wanted. Kaelen kept walking at a brisk pace, trying not to stumble through the dark and hoping he was going the right direction to find his parents. Hopefully that thing would just stay there, and he’d never see it again.

There was a rustling sound from behind and Kaelen turned his head back only to see that the creature was following him. It was still a good distance away, but it had gotten up and was crawling on all fours very slowly behind the boy.

“No!” Kaelen screamed, turning to face it and trying to look as big and scary as a six-year-old child could by reaching his arms out and stomping his feet. “Go away!”

It stopped moving but did not retreat, it’s pale eyes still lingering on the child. Kaelen quickly turned around and started walking even faster. He’d made it maybe ten feet forward before he heard a twig snap and peeked over his shoulder to see that whatever it was, was still creeping after him.

“Stop!” At this point, Kaelen broke out into a run through the dark forest.

He didn’t make it far before tripping over a rock jutting out of the ground and falling flat on his face. He screamed, sure that this was going to be the part where the monster pounced on him and ate him. Once his shrill voice died down, there was nothing but silence in the night air. Gradually, Kaelen gathered the courage to raise his head up and look behind him.

The gray outline of the creature was crouched down just to the left of his vision, only two feet away from him now. Kaelen felt his little heart pounding in his chest as it looked curiously at him. He didn’t dare move. Slowly, carefully, the creature reached out a hand to Kaelen and touched his back. The little boy felt a whimper escape his throat, but the creature just sat down beside him and let its hand rest on his back. Neither of them moved for a few seconds before Kaelen couldn’t help himself and sniffed in a few ragged and sharp breaths through his nose.

A sorrowful sound came from the creature’s vocal cords as it tilted its misshapen head to the side and started to gently rub its hand up and down Kaelen’s back. The boy could only feel three spindly fingers and a thumb on the creature’s hand, nothing but a small stub where the pinky finger should be.

Now that it was closer and Kaelen’s eyes had adjusted to the dark better, he could make out a few of its features a little bit better. It was almost shaped like a human but very thin, with elongated limbs that seemed to jut out at awkward angles. When Kaelen looked down at its feet, a couple of its toes appeared to be missing as well. He looked back up at its face, squinting his stinging eyes through the dark. It was hard to tell with such little light from the night sky filtering in through the trees and clouds, but it didn’t appear to have any lips covering it’s jagged teeth, and its eyes were very big, but milky and pointing in slightly different directions. It probably couldn’t see very well. Whatever this thing was, it was horrifying to look at.

“Are you going to eat me?” Kaelen managed to squeak.

Another sad moan came from the creature and it laid down on the ground next to the boy, still stroking his back with one hand, while using the other as a pillow underneath its own head. A soft sigh escaped through it’s teeth, blowing hot, foul smelling air into Kaelen’s face and forcing him to scrunch his nose up at the offensive odor. The creature then closed its eyes and gave one last, barely audible groan before becoming silent except for the steady, rhythmic sounds of it breathing.

Kaelen stared at the creature as he lay on the hard ground beside it, its hand still resting on his back. Even though he was terrified of whatever this creature was, there was something oddly comforting about it as it slept next to him. He didn’t know if it was friendly or not. It looked scary, but it wasn’t hurting him. Maybe it would protect him until morning. Or maybe it would wait until he fell asleep and then kill him. Eventually the fear gave way to exhaustion and Kaelen fell asleep on the cold forest floor. The thunder rolling through the clouds above them grew softer and more distant as the storm passed the two slumbering figures by.