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The Forest

WORD ART by Anonymous


The trees blanketed the sky and shielded me from the stars. I saw nothing. The darkness consumed me as I took one step after another, my shoes cracking against the breaking leaves beneath my feet. My body stood still. I could feel the hair at the nape of my neck begin to prickle up. The woods that I had just seen as beautiful and serene had swallowed me into my worst nightmare. I pulled my sweatshirt sleeves over my hands, trying to warm myself from the gusts of wind that brushed against my face, making it wet and sticky. My eyes began to dry and water. The flashlight trembled and shook with my clammy fingers weaving around it. I squeezed my palms.

You’ve made this walk before, I repeated to myself. The walk home always took me through the woods, but something about this time felt different. Pulling my hood over my head, I tried my best to blend in with the darkness. Each gust of wind or crack of a branch would send my heart racing, and I’d have to fight to catch my breath.

Something caught my attention. As I scanned the trees, I noticed a darker shade looking from a branch of a tree. My breath caught in my throat. I only stood perfectly still, face red with fear. I slowly began to approach the figure, my body shaking every which way. I opened my dry mouth to speak. Nothing came out. Only a hoarse whimper of fear. The tree drooped down, the branch’s weight barely supporting what was attached to it. My guts felt jumbled, my lips chapped. I tried to swallow, but couldn’t.

Just as I got close enough to the figure, my flashlight snapped off. I became submerged in darkness and yelped at the shock.

“Shit.” I muttered, slamming the light into my palms.

The light shined back on quickly. A wave of relief washed over me. I focused my gaze back on the drooping figure above me. As I rose my head, my flashlight followed my eyeline, until it hit the figure. My stomach dropped.

The figure was large and rotting. A human body hung above me, its hands and feet bound together. I fell onto my back, my eyes not leaving the greenish black corpse. A thick blood dripped from what was left of its eyes, which were now black gaping holes, and flies swarmed in and out of them. Its veins were showing at the surface. The body’s bones protruded through its skin, clearly broken. It was missing one of its hands, only a bloodied bone strung together with tendons peeking from the zip ties. The mouth was opened wide, the jaw clearly broken. I could see the skin on its face slowly peeling away, revealing a disfigured, chipped skeleton. The mouth of the body was wide and held a grin, missing all of its teeth, except a few rotting ones.

I felt nauseous and doubled over to vomit on the dewy grass. I wiped my mouth with my sleeve and focused back on the body. Its stench inflamed my nostrils, and my jaw clenched to keep from exposing myself onto the ground again. Suddenly, my head whipped around to the sound of a shrill laugh rising from the trees behind me.

A figure peered from the trees, eyes wide and bloodshot and his pupils small. Its face held a sinister grin like the body. The face was pale, its skin cracked and crooked. The hair top of the figure’s head was patchy and black. Its mouth curved from a grin, widening. Blood spilled down its chin, staining his body a deep scarlet red. Paralyzed in fear, I stood vulnerable to whatever was in front of me. It raised its finger to its lips, pressing it against them. I stumbled back, wanting my legs to run. I couldn’t move. I was trapped. My head screamed at my legs to do something. But it was hopeless. The creature began to unravel itself from behind the tree and slowly headed my way. As he slun near the ground, he kept his head low, never breaking eye contact with me. My heart pounded, and I felt my chest tighten.

I turned my head and ran as fast as I could. My feet thrusted against the ground, kicking up leaves and mud. My arms pumped and I felt myself fly between the trees, dodging the branches. Faster and faster I ran, never looking back. I kept my gaze on the dark woods in front of me. The air whipped my ears and stung my face as it felt like grains of salt being thrown against me. Each single grain felt as it dug into my skin.

I felt my body heave into the air, shock striking through me. My foot caught on a branch buried in the ground. My whole weight came tumbling over me, and I felt myself tip over. I hit the cold, moist, grass with a thud. My face slammed against a thick rock that lay in front of me. As I lifted it, I could feel the pain leave my head, and I felt dizzy. A cool black shaded over my eyes, and I could see nothing. I reached my fingers, traced against my nose, which felt cracked and out of place. I could feel my tattered skin hanging on by a thread from my skull; the torn flaps slapping my face. A warm liquid oozed from my forehead. A shrill scream escaped my throat, and I crawled to the closest tree, pressing my back against the rough oak. My vision slowly began to return, and I squinted in front of me to see the black figure overhead. The figure towered over me, the grin still plastered against its face. The figure squatted down in front of me, inching closer to my face. I felt his hot breath on my cheek as he rubbed his crinkled, bloodied, skin against mine. I was silent, petrified. My body couldn’t move or feel anything.

I dug my nails into my sides, my mind screaming from the pain. I brought the flashlight closer to the figure, trembling to see what I was facing. The light shone on its sagged pale skin. Dark circles seeped below its eyes. I could feel a cool sharp object trace my jaw. I swallowed, trying to keep in my screams. The blade dug into my cheek, and I roared in pain. I could see the scarlet-red liquid dripping down my neck. My neck was soon drenched with the oozing warm wetness. The blade moved down to my hand. I felt my knuckles tighten as I dug my nails into my palms, a stinging sensation escaping my hands. I clenched my jaw, gnawing into the side of my cheek out of desperation to control the pain overflowing my body. My hands were pried open, and I felt the tip of the sharp blade trace my finger. Holding my breath, a slicing sound filled my ears. I squealed in pain, as I felt my hand become light. I heard a small thud, and looked down on the grass, a small nub of skin and bone was buried in the grass. The tendons and muscles clung onto each blade of grass, and I felt all of the pain wash away. I clenched my teeth, digging my teeth into my tongue, still fighting to be silent.

Shaking, I raised my hand to my eyeline, my hand trembling. My body vibrated in pain and my eyes widened as I saw the bloodied stub where my finger once was. I stayed silent, until a shrill scream escaped my lungs. The figure’s studied face began to lighten. Its mouth curving into a bone chilling grin. It took joy that I was in pain.

The creature slowly took my hand, shoving the knub into its mouth. I felt the blood leave my hand, and I began to feel more and more lightheaded. Once it released my hand, it fell beside me with a thud. My eyes began to flutter, the forest around me flickering. My eyes slowly shut, my heart became at peace. I felt my body slow, and I accepted it. My head cocked to the side, consciousness floating away like a lead down a stream. The weight of my body left, and I was light as a feather. A small grin painted my face as I remembered all the times I had spent exploring the forest. I giggled at the silence swallowing me. The light had become dark; I felt the luminescence seep from my eyes, until they turned to a clouded gray. I loved the forest.

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