Shadow in the Woods

*tweet, tweet*

     Birds? Was morning here? No, it shouldn't be. I do not remember the day ending. Did I really finish gathering the spring onions? Did I really walk back and begin cleaning? Did I make a bit of soup, and then finish the work before going down into my wonderous slumber? Did I really do all of that and not remember?

*tweet*

     No, that is not the tune of the morning. That song is sung by the birds when evening falls. My eyes spring open and I lurch my body up, looking around. I look up at the hole in the canopy. Light, a very light gray that ombres to a pastel orange as it goes west. Night is falling. I hurl my body off the ground and run towards my bag. With speed, I dig out the onions. The years of practice allowing my nible fingers to get them out easily at fast speeds. I look up at the hole again; the orange is gone. I throw my bag over my shoulder and quickly grab out a few more onions before grabbing the giant pot and leaving.

     How could I have fallen asleep? I weave through the trees, my heart pounding as the shadows of night begin to cover the landscape behind me. Perhaps the lack of food from the winter has caught up finally. No matter the reason, I have now wasted an entire day of work. I jump over a large oak's root. It's arm stretches far and wide towards a small creek, which I also jump over. I have never been so reckless and stupid.

"Idiot," the harsh whisper seems to echo off the slim pines that I squeeze between. "Idiot, idiot, idiot."

With each step, the veil of night reaches it's unwelcomed hand towards me. My eyes grow squinty as the darkness makes my vision worse. My breath begins to come in at a more hacened pace, almost matching the pace of my racing heart. Faster. I hear a voice behind me, a shrill voice that haunts the shadowy parts of my memories. Run faster. My body is now lunging, jumping, and pumping as fast as it can to get out of the woods. Memories flash in my head: leaves, branches, red, cold, wet face. Was that red color blood? Was I crying? Air rushes into my lungs, my breaths sound like final gasping of air. "Let her go, we have to leave!", it echoes off the walls of my head, shaking me to my core. Please stop.

"Stop!" I fall out of the woods, gripping the grass of the clearing. I look up and see the sun has left the town, and now ahead by the house is just a blanket of gray. Based on that, and the way the woods seemed, I guess it to be around 6:00. I sigh with relief as I press my cheek into the soil and take in deep breaths.

My heart beat slows, and I slowly pull my hands back. They are covered in dirt and grass from my intense grip when I fell. I sit up and glance over at my pot and let out a sigh after examining it and seeing no cracks. I take my time standing and wiping my hands a little on my pants. I glance over my shoulder one last time as the forest, and quickly hate myself for doing so. The branches of the pines reach out as if trying to grab me and pull me back in. I begin walking towards the house, making sure to not look back at it.

I stop at the creek at the bottom of the hill and decide to just fill my pot there. I set it in front of me, the mouth of the pot sits where the stream flows into it. I wash my hands, digging more at the small cracks in my callouses that are now filled with soil. After getting them out, I do one final pull and take the pot out. Placing the lid on the pot, I begin walking up the very steep hill. As I gaze up the hill, I catch a look at the sky. I walk towards a blueish gray sky as it darkens. Yet, it is still not dark enough to have stars. As I walk further up the hill, the air begins to feel a little colder. The pale colors of the night sky bring a calmness to my soul, and I quickly hurry up the last little bit of the hill. At the top, I stare out over the town.

Once again, it is quiet. The lights on the sidewalks in town are slowing turning on. In the far distance, where the sky is a dark blue, stars begin to open their shining eyes. My second favorite time of day has arrived. I feel a smile spread across my face as I turn to look over at the setting sun. It slowly sinks behind the trees and I wait until the last ounce of light has gone before turning away. How ironic that my favorite place is the place I hate most when the dark of night opens it's ugly mouth to swallow it. I take one last glance at the town and begin to walk inside when I hear something behind me. I quickly turn around, grabbing a large metal rod by the door and stopping from swinging when I see a sleek looking man with two ladies beside him.

"Don't kill me please!" his voice was high, and he was more squemish than the two girls he stood between. I immediately lower the rod, but keep it in my hand. He peers through his fingers that he had thrown up in defense to look at me.

"I told you guys she was a freaking monster." One of the ladies whispers. Before the other can laugh, the man clears his throat and fixes his tie on his nice suit. He quickly casts a glance up and down my body, and his lips go into a frown, but he is so quick to plaster a smile back on most would not have noticed.

"Miss Juniper Burks?" His eyebrows raise and he leans forward as he poses the question to me. I step back, hoping to gain more room from them as I nod, hoping they will see that even in the diming light. "Perfect!" He cheers and one of the ladies steps forward. I step back again, only to press my back into my door. She stops and hands me an envelope, her face scrunches up as I take it from her and look at my name sprawled across the front in fancy writing. The man smiles and nods, signaling me to open it. I quietly obliged.

"Can she even read?" One girl mutters and the other one lets out a breathy laugh. I ignore and pull out a letter from the envelope. I glance over the words, not truly comprehending what they are saying because of the nerves knotting up in my stomach. "Poor thing looks confused, Sebastian should read it for her." This time the other cackled.

     "I do apologize, but you will have to tell me why you're here." I state and the two girls gasp loudly followed by an excruciating silence. "I cannot read it well in the dark, nor when things are... loud."

"It can talk?" She mutters and the man, I assume is Sebastian, steps forward.

"Of course, is it okay if we come in?" He asks and the two girls share a look before staring at me. As we stare at one another, I find myself giving one firm nod, and opening the door for them. He smiles and turns whispering something to the two before they both hurry down the hill and he briskly walks through the door. As soon as I turn back to look at the hill, the girls are rushing past me, each carrying a plastic tote with a handle. Deep within me, the nervousness I felt has now turned to fear, and strangely, excitement.

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Thank you all for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thank you for continuing this journey with me so far! I really hope that you've been enjoying so far. I hope you see guys next time!

Sincerely,

P&P