Waiting

A small girl sat staring at a lonesome flower beyond her reach. Her longing eyes burned with a desire to touch it, explore it, smell its sticky sweetness. But a thicket isolated her with its clawing hand, pushing her away from the flower’s beauty. Only between the taunting branches could she catch glimpses of it. In the windy night, she watched the flower sway, like the soothing rhythm of waves in an ocean. The pulling motions drifted her to sleep, her dreams filled with thoughts of escaping the darkness. It closed in on her, making it harder and harder to breathe. She could feel her lungs tighten. Her mind was clouded with demons. Demons who hid within the shadows of the trees around her.

The flower distracted her.

She craved its innocence, its purity. The thought of exploring its delicate simplicity kept her from insanity. As the unforgiving, wintry air arrived, she feared for the little flower in the field. Lonely. Cold. She yearned to hold and comfort it, warm its frozen petals. But the thicket held her back.

She was lost. Alone in a world of darkness. No one was with her. Her family was gone. She should have been gone too. But she was still here, somehow. She longed to join them. So she waited.

After a while, she turned away and began walking down the damp, abandoned trail. Her feet dragged across the loose pebbles, emitting a faint scuffing sound. Her little rain boots wandered across the muddy soil.

She stopped suddenly, hearing footsteps from behind in the distance. A man revealed himself, coming around the corner. He hesitated when he saw her. He stopped, concerned for the lonely girl in the woods.

“Are you alright?” He asked. She didn’t say a word. A look of fear came across her face. He found this to be perfectly natural, as a stranger had just appeared to her. He took a step toward her, wondering if she was lost.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” she said. Her voice was soft and light. Looking at her closer, the man realized she must’ve been much younger than what he thought originally. Maybe eight or nine. But her eyes hinted at a terribleness he could never imagine.

“Wouldn’t do what?” He asked.

“You shouldn’t come any closer.”

He questioned her again.

“These woods aren’t safe. This town isn’t safe.” She drew in a quick breath. “It is always listening. It’s always here,” she whispered. “Can’t you feel it? It never lets you leave.”

He felt the crisp air moving along the trail, encouraging him to draw closer to the girl and her secrets. He felt an ominous presence from where the girl had been walking. He looked behind her. The woods continued on, darker and more mysterious. She turned around and left the man standing there. She continued back to the forest where she had been. Back to her flower.

The man, with a chill coursing through his body, felt overwhelming curiosity in the cold, dark night. He looked down the long road. He couldn’t see the end.

“It never lets you leave.” The girl’s words echoed in his head.

He started walking.

He walked for only a minute or two before he came across a quaint little town in a clearing of the woods. Doors barely hung on their rusted hinges, groaning in pain when each gust of wind blew. Ancient houses stood in agony of their betrayal. Through all of the destruction, it seemed as though this town used to be loved. An old playground lay in the center. He could envision an abundance of children, running through the small town, laughing, playing. Why had it been abandoned?

He walked along the cracked road, searching for an explanation. As he got closer to the houses, he noticed that they had all been boarded up. He moved closer to a small house whose boards were not as secure. It only took three strong kicks for them to collapse. He opened the door slowly. A wave of nausea hit him hard. The smell was unbearable. But the sight was worse. Bodies lay on the ground, stained a deep shade of crimson. Their flesh had been ripped to shreds. Only their eyes stared back at him. Amidst this horror, flowers had been placed inside the entire house. The multitude of colors did nothing to make the scene less horrible. Shattered glass from the vases covered the floor. The brightness of the petals created a disturbing image next to the mutilated bodies. He felt his stomach tighten. He couldn’t imagine the horror that befell this innocent town. It couldn’t have happened long ago. The flowers hadn’t even wilted.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps. It was coming from above him. The sounds were very faint. Something climbed across the roof. The calmness of the steps was the worst part. He swallowed hard, somehow knowing this was what had destroyed this town, these families. He couldn’t explain it. He felt this unknown presence throughout his body. It urged him to stay.

The footsteps continued.

The creature must not have known that the door was wide open. The man followed the sounds above him until he heard it scraping inside the chimney. It came down. Down. He heard a faint rattle. It struggled to come toward him. It was desperate. The creature came closer, pushing through the narrow tunnel. It wouldn’t stop. He didn’t hesitate to run. He raced out of the house, hearing a blinding shriek from the thing in the chimney. It knew he was there. He turned back mid-sprint and saw it.

And knew he stood no chance.

The girl still sat in the woods. She heard the shrieking. She knew what had happened. It was what took her family. Her entire life. She tried not to hear the crunching of bones, the obliteration of a body, another life taken. A tear escaped her eyes. She had tried to warn him. She looked back at the flower. Her mom had loved flowers. Their home was full of them. Full of happiness and warmth. But that happiness was gone. Now she remained, somehow having escaped these horrors. It had only happened days ago. She wished she was with her family. But she was stuck here. Stuck without her mom, without even this flower to hold. So she waited, too scared to face the creature. She waited and waited in the woods.

She waited to die.