Miranda’s knees were locked and there was a slight tremble in her legs. Despite the cool weather, she felt sweat break out onto her back the moment they stepped into the clearing. The cold snap had settled in a few days ago. Fall was coming.
This time of year seemed to ignite a sense of adventure in the kids in her neighborhood. Herself included. How else could she explain standing at the edge of Evergreen Woods, or as they call it, the Never Go Woods?
A long time before any of them, perhaps even before their parents were born someone had carved a path straight through the trees. Her mother had once told her it was an old service road that was no longer in use since the highway was built. It detoured traffic to the other side of town, leaving this side to die and grow barren.
Everything on this end of town was dead, except for Evergreen Woods. The few row houses that were left were in such disrepair that the roofs had collapsed on a few. It was completely silent as if even the wildlife steered clear.
~
Miranda had been in the basement with her brother and his two friends, Casey and Alfred, Al for short, when out of the blue Casey asked, “You guys know Teddy Corkron?”
Travis looked up from his comic, “He the one with a face full of freckles? Man, I would die if I had that many freckles.”
“No, that’s Teddy Sullivan,” Al said absentmindedly glancing up from the puzzle he and Miranda were doing.
“Yeah, all those freckles would be awful,” Casey looked out the basement window for a second and then resumed what he was saying, “Teddy Corkran is the one with the great big buck teeth in Mrs. Wheeler’s class.”
“Oh! Toothie Teddy,” Travis laughed and lifted his top lip in an attempt to mock Teddy. “Lord, that kid could naw his way through a tree like a beaver.”
Travis snorted with laughter, “Right? They hang-”
“Oh my God you two, what about Teddy?” Miranda asked.
“Oh yeah, anyway, he told me some things he heard about Never-Go-Woods from his older aunt.”
“Like what?” Al asked, finally curious.
Travis put his comic down and gave his full attention to Casey. Miranda pulled her feet up on the seat and wrapped her arms around her knees, not quite sure she wanted to hear this.
“I guess his aunt likes to drink and last week when she was staying with them she started telling him that when she was a kid four of her friends vanished in there and were never seen again. They went in on a dare and despite the warnings, they went anyway.”
“How does she know that’s what happened,” Al asked responsibly.
“She was at the party where the dare was first made. They were telling the tale we’ve all heard, the one where the settlers that founded Beldam Bay banished the midwife after the elder’s baby died claiming she was a witch.”
Miranda rolled her eyes. “Yeah, they forgot to mention that this was after his wife was trampled by a horse and buggy.”
“Technicalities,” Al grinned at her.
Miranda’s young heart fluttered.
“Anyway,” Casey huffed. “So the midwife was a witch that ate the children of the town’s folks just to stay young.”
“She didn’t eat them, she just killed them,” Kevin said.
“How would killing them keep her young? She had to eat them to stay young, Kevin.” Casey’s tone suggested what he thought of Kevin’s intelligence level.
Kevin adjusted himself coming on his knees to argue his point. “She was sacrificing them to the woods or something living in it. Mark from next door said that it was sort of like the Ents from Lord of The Rings only smaller and hungry.”
“Why would she do that?” Casey asked.
“Because the villagers banished her to the woods and she didn’t want to get eaten, right? What’s a few kids to save her own life, she’s a witch remember? I guess it would eat the animals, but do you think a monster would turn down a kid?”
“Yeah, but an Ent? Come on, it’s more likely she was eating-”
“Oh my God, no one knows what she did with them, can we get back to the drunk aunt,” Al snapped.
“Yeah, right. So the aunt said they were at a party and everyone was drinking and having a good time when they started playing truth or dare. They ended up daring the one guy and his friends to go in there. They did and were never seen again.”
“Why didn’t the police go looking for them?” Al asked.
“The police refused to go in until the sun was up. All they found was a bloody sneaker.”
“That can’t be true. It has to be an urban legend because I’ve heard a dozen different stories just like this one. Dad says that everyone knows someone that knows someone that has gone in the tree tunnel,” Al said.
Miranda looked at the serious faces of the boys in the room and it scared her a little bit so of course she made a joke. “Ooh, and they were never heard from again. Well, except for the ones that were so they could spread more urban legends. Truth or dare is dumb.”
~
With that one little statement, she found herself standing outside of Never-Go-Woods more scared than she had ever been in her life. ‘What if I become one of those missing kids?’ she thought.
With the mist floating in the air, the silent neighborhood, and the slight green glow of the path, Miranda was terrified. An adventure that had seemed like a great idea half an hour ago now seemed like one of the most foolish things she had ever agreed to.
She had a flash of her parents watching a disaster movie and she heard the actor say to follow the rats. If there are no animals, there shouldn’t be people, but animals aren’t stupid.
“If it’s good enough for the rats, it’s good enough for me,” she whispered to herself.
“What was that?” Travis her older brother, by eighteen months, asked.
She shook her head. “Nothing.”
“Well, go on then,” he taunted her.
“I’m going, stop rushing me,” she snapped. “I walk to the other side, turn to face you, take your picture and I can run back out?”
“That’s it, easy peasy.”
“If it was so easy peasy why haven’t you done it?” Miranda asked.
Casey snorted with laughter and lightly punched Travis on the arm. “She got you there Trav.”
Travis turned to his best friend and punched him harder than necessary. “Shut up Casey or you can go instead of her.”
“Nu-huh, man, she lost fair and square.” Casey’s tone was less teasing and he took a step back as if proving a point.
“It wasn’t fair and square and you know it, Casey. You and Travis gave her an impossible task.”
Miranda glanced at Al. Even on the misty grey day, his ginger hair shone. At that moment, Miranda thought she loved him instead of just having a crush on him. Something she would rather die than admit to anyone outside of Lisa, her best friend, whom she had sworn to secrecy under penalty of death.
“Aw, sticking up for your girlfriend?” Casey teased in a singsong voice and then brayed his donkey-like laughter.
For the life of her, Miranda had no idea why Travis hung around him.
The blush crept lightly on Al’s pale skin and he looked over at Miranda. Their eyes locked for a brief second before they both looked away.
“Shut up Casey,” Al said. “You dared her to take money out of her father’s wallet while it was sitting right beside him. I’d call that impossible.”
“Yeah, not only did I get grounded from Lisa’s for two weekends, but now I have to walk to my death for a stupid picture.”
“Don’t be so dramatic,” Kevin said. “Besides, you agreed to it. If it was so possible, you could have said no.”
“But you didn’t, did you, dummy?” brayed Casey again.
“Shut up Casey,” Miranda snapped and pulled her cell phone out of her pocket.
Kevin shoved Casey to the side and stood next to his sister. For a second, she thought she saw concern in his eyes, but then he spoke and ruined the idea. “Let’s go so we can get out of here before dark. If you aren’t out by the time the sun starts to set, we will leave you.”
She looked up into her brother’s face and tried to decide if he was telling the truth or not. Sadly she couldn’t decide and that made her a little sad.
Miranda shook her shoulders and her legs in an effort to ease the tension. “Walk in, get the photo, run out.”
“You don’t have to do this Miranda,” Al's soft voice said on the other side of her.
“Yes, I do.” Her voice sounded sad yet determined. If she backed out now Travis would never let her live it down.
“Then I should say, you can do this Miranda.” His cool soft fingers brushed against hers and gave them the tiniest squeeze, before moving back.
The feel of Al’s fingers on her caused a jolt through her body that seemed to kickstart her heart. It gave her courage and newly discovered determination to do this and come back out.
She stepped to the edge of the woods where the soft green glow was just visible. Miranda turned and looked at the three boys standing back, safely out of the wood’s grasp.
“Don’t forget, you cannot turn back until you reach the other side,” Kevin said to her.
“What?” she snapped. “No way, that wasn’t part of the deal.”
Kevin raised an eyebrow and in that second, he looked exactly like their mother. She knew then that it had been part of the deal. “Oh yes, it was. Now go!”
Casey was motioning for her to move forward and smiling like a loon. ‘I’m going to deck him when I get out of here,’ she thought and smiled.
Miranda looked at Al who was the only one that looked nervous for her. ‘And I’m going to hug you, Alfred MacGregor.’ That thought caused her to turn around and step inside Never-Go Woods.
For a road no longer used it was fairly clean. Everywhere in the town, leaves were starting to fall, but here there didn’t seem to be a single one. There were no sticks and the grass was low as if someone had been tending it.
She held her head up a little higher and walked straight ahead looking at the bright end of the tunnel. That was her goal.
The misty green seemed to be swallowing her up, making her a part of it. She raised her arm and wiggled her fingers, the green haze reflected off her skin as if it were the rays of the sun. “Lord, I hope it’s not toxic. I’ll end up a mutant and not a cool one like in the movies, but one of those The Hills Have Eyes types of mutants. I’ll grow a third eye and a hump on my ba-”
“What are you saying?” Kevin called out to her.
“Nothing, I’m just talking to myself.”
“Stop it you sound mental.”
She took another deep breath and blew it out slowly picking up her pace. The woods were so thick that it didn’t make any sense for the light to be shining through the trees. “Yep, definitely a mutant.”
There were soft rustling sounds to her left and her mind instantly thought of rabbits or squirrels. Every forest had those animals so why wouldn’t this one?
“Walk in, get the photo, run out,” she mumbled again and again. Each step seemed to punctuate each task.
Her voice fell flat instead of being carried in the silence. Her teacher had once taught them about how sound fills the silence, but this was different. It reminded her of how the world sounded through her earmuffs. Muffled.
“Walk in, get the photo, run out,” Miranda said a bit louder, but the sound of her voice fell flat.
Miranda opened her mouth to yell it, but the sound to her right caused her to freeze. Her eyes scanned the treeline and at first, she didn’t see anything. As she took a step forward, she thought she saw a hulking shadow, move forward as well.
Her knees locked and everything inside her wanted to run out and just take whatever punishment her brother would give her. Chores for six months would be better than this. ‘No, don’t be silly. It’s probably Kevin or stupid Casey trying to scare me into chickening out.’
“Guys! Is that you?” she called back without taking her eyes off of the dark mass that had blended back into the shadows.
“What?” was their response. They sounded so far away. How could they be so far away, she wasn’t even halfway through.
“Are you guys messing with me?”
“Why are you…” is all she heard.
“What?” she yelled back and this time almost turned to face them. ‘No that’s what they want.”
“Why whispering?” She heard them yelling.
“Why am I whispering? I’m not whispering you jerks. Ugh, whatever,” Miranda snapped. Her sudden flush of anger that they were deliberately trying to scare her pushed her forward.
“Jerks,” she snapped again, louder this time.
“They really are.”
Miranda gasped with fright and fell backward on the ground. She looked up and into the apologetic face of Al.
“I’m so sorry, Miranda, I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“Well you did,” she scolded him and scrambled to her feet. Her cheeks were burning red with embarrassment as she turned away and brushed her backside off.
“I’m really sorry, you didn’t hear me?”
When she turned back to face him, he was looking around in circles trying to take in everything. His pale skin seemed to glow a much brighter green than her own. She wanted to touch it, but would never be that brave.
“I didn’t hear you because the sound doesn’t seem to carry in here like it does out there.”
“You know what else is weird? It seems like we are halfway through, but we are less than a hundred steps inside.”
“There’s no way, I’ve been in here a lot longer than that.”
“No Miranda, you’ve just walked in. Turn around and look, Kevin and Casey are right there.”
Miranda had a sinking feeling then. Al only came to mess with her, to make her turn around and break the rules. That hurt her down to her belly. “I’m not turning around, Alfred MacGregor, and if you think you can trick me into losing you can just leave.” She started walking forward again.
His cool fingers wrapped around her arm. “Miranda I’m not here to mess with you, honest. Hang on.” She heard the soft click of his phone’s shutter and he held it in front of her face. “See, they were right there.”
He wasn’t lying. It was less than the length of her driveway away. How was that possible?
“Al, why did you come in here?”
“You were whispering and we couldn’t hear you. I thought something was wrong.”
“I wasn’t whispering, you were.”
As if right on cue they heard the faint sound of her brother calling to them, but could hardly make it out.
“See. What is he saying?”
“He seems to be asking what’s the hold-up.”
“I got your hold-up!” Miranda hollered back and held up her middle finger.
Al looked shocked and then started laughing. Miranda blushed wildly and then joined in, breaking the tense moment.
Their laughter seemed foreign in this place as if it hadn’t been heard in years.
The trees creaked and their laughter died instantly. A twig snapped and Miranda turned towards the right. She wasn’t sure she wanted to see that shadow again. ‘Hadn’t it been on the left before? There is no way it couldn’t have crossed sides without me knowing.’
A gust of wind blew through the canopy of trees and circled them. It whipped her auburn hair, brushing it against her face. She grabbed her hair to pull it back just as the wind stopped.
“Miranda…” Al started to speak and stopped as the trees swayed noisily.
He saw a shadow towards the top of one swaying tree and he stepped closer. “Miranda, do you see the shadow in the tree?” he whispered
“They aren’t in the trees Al, they are on the ground. Three of them.”
“What?” Al’s voice shook with fear and followed Miranda’s gaze.
At the base of the tree line were three distinct shadows. They appeared to sway with the trees. Al and Miranda watched in horror as one shadowed hand slid slowly out of the trees and into the edge of the clearing where the glowing green light enveloped it. They heard the trees groan in protest as the shadow snatched its hand back.
“A vampire with sunlight,” Miranda breathed.
“What?”
She leaned in close almost whispering in his ear, “I don’t think that was the trees moaning. I think the green light hurt it.”
“Miranda that’s crazy.”
“Is it? You saw what I saw and I don’t know if you’ve noticed but there are more of them on the left.”
Alfred turned his head slowly to the left and that is when he saw more shadows swaying with the trees. “What are they?” Al’s voice shook.
“I don’t know.”
Their conversation was interrupted by a soft chittering sound, followed immediately by the muffled sounds of an animal cry.
“What the-” Miranda started to ask, but that was when a small mound of feathers landed at her feet.
“Jesus!” they both cried and hopped back.
“Did they do that?” Al asked. His voice was soft and harsh, nothing like his normally calm one.
“Yes, I think so,” she hesitated. “Maybe. It could have hit a tree. Birds fall from the sky all the time.”
“You’re not stupid, Miranda. That was pretty weird timing, right?”
Miranda didn’t know what to say. She stood there staring at the bird and then scanned the treelines. Whatever was in there had stepped back a little and was no longer visible. ‘Had they done that to the bird to taunt me, or maybe to warn me?’ ’
“I just don’t know Al, but I think we had better hurry up, the sun is setting soon.” She opened her phone to check the time but the screen was blank except for a note saying “No Service”.
“I’m not going through this. Miranda, we have to turn around.”
“No. You can turn back, but I can’t. Kevin would never let me live it down.”
“Those shadow things may not let you live, period.”
“Al, no. I can’t turn around, but I understand if you need to.” She looked down at the bird, shook her head, took a deep breath, and straightened her spine. “Walk in, take the photo, and run out.”
Miranda faced forward to look at the fading light at the end of the tunnel. She didn’t know if Al would follow her or not, but she was not turning back. This wasn’t something boys would understand but as the girl of the group, she was constantly having to prove herself. Prove that she was just as tough, just as funny, and just as brave. She was terrified and part of her disliked her brother for making her do this, but there was no way she couldn’t.
“Have you noticed that our skin is not glowing as brightly as it did before?” Al asked startling her for a moment.
She took another long slow deep breath and closed her eyes. Where she felt dislike for her brother, she felt her love for Alfred grow. He had not abandoned her.
Miranda glanced at his face it looked as worried as she felt. “I think it’s the fading sun.”
“Is that what’s keeping them back?”
“D’know. I don’t even know what they are. I think so, but I really don’t want to test that theory, do you?”
“No way.”
They both gave a small smile of understanding and picked up the pace without running. That was against the rules.
The sounds of snapping twigs and creaking seemed to grow louder with each step they took. It no longer sounded like the normal pops and echoes of the forest. These sounds were more deliberate and to Miranda, it began to sound like talking. She had no idea what was being said but the sound came from everywhere in response to each other.
“They’re talking,” Al whispered in a raspy voice.
“I think so,” Miranda noted hers was just as raspy as his.
The light began to change, growing lighter and the bright green glow was back haloing them what she associated with safety.
She felt the gentle breeze and smelled the salty air. They were so close to the exit that the urge to run almost overtook her. “Walk in, take a photo, run out,” she chanted yet again.
“What?” Al’s voice was high and a little shaky, which went against how calm he looked on the outside.
“Walk in, take a photo, run out. It’s what I keep saying to remind me not to run.”
“Oh,” is all Al said and pointed to the bright light. “We are almost there.”
Miranda heard shuffling behind her and wanted to turn around, but instead, took a step forward.
“Did you hear that?” Al whispered.
‘I did, but my papa told us one time when you’re out in the woods and you think you heard something, no you didn’t. So no we didn’t. Don’t turn around anymore Alfred.”
“Why?” he asked and moved as if to turn.
Miranda grabbed his arm and looked over at him. “Al, please.”
That’s when they heard it. It sounded old and unused, a grating sound. It reminded Miranda of that time a kid at school had slid his fingers across the chalkboard, but it clearly said. “Walk in, take a photo, run out.”
This was followed back another on the other side of the path. “Walk in, take a photo, run out.”
“Miranda?”
“I hear it. The shadows are mocking me.”
She caught a glimpse of one squatting down just out of the green glow. “Walk in, take a photo, run out.” This was followed by a soft little screech that could have been laughter and thought for one brief second she saw razor-sharp teeth set behind a snarling mouth.
“Faster, Al,” she whispered and felt the panic rising up her throat threatening to take her breath. They quickened their pace and Miranda kept her hand on his arm to remind them both not to run.
Her foot stepped into the start of the sun’s reach and she felt a sense of relief overwhelm her. That is when she noticed it felt like she was walking through sludge. Each step took an effort to lift her foot and then the next.
“Miranda…”
“I feel it, but we can’t stop.”
She froze when she thought she felt breath on her neck and heard echoing out of the trees in a gloppy tone, “Run out.” It sounded as if it had a mouth full of mud. It triggered her flight or fight and she wanted to run.
“No!” Al screamed and tugged Miranda completely into the sunlight.
The sea air washed over her face and eased her tension completely. They faintly heard screeches from inside the tunnel and her knees buckled under the fear she just experienced.
She rolled over and looked back at the canopy of trees. “Al, do you see what I see?”
“No way, we were in there for a lot longer than that. That’s pretty much home plate to center field and that’s nothing.”
He was right. Standing roughly five hundred feet away were Kevin and Corey. They were waving their arms and jumping up and down, but neither Miranda nor Alfred could make out what they were saying.
“Screw this,” she grumbled, got to her feet, and took out her phone. Miranda felt her courage come back now that she could feel the warmth of the sun.
She stepped close to the edge without letting her feet touch the actual tunnel. Miranda quickly snapped two pictures and then thought she should probably use the flash. So with that on, she took a few more.
“We gotta go, Miranda, the sun is starting to go down and I’m scared to be in there once it gets dark. What was that thing at your back?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.” She waved her hand as if wiping the topic out of existence. “In all the horror movies, if you acknowledge it, it becomes real.”
Al nodded his head in agreement, then squatted down to retie his shoes. “Fix your one shoe. We do not want to trip running out.”
“Good idea.”
They were both down on one knee when Miranda looked up at Alfred. To her, at that moment, he was the most beautiful person she had ever seen. The sunlight seemed to dance through his ginger hair and play along his pale skin and freckles. It reminded her of a poem her teacher had read to them, ‘She Walks in Beauty’ by Lord something or another. She knew in her young heart, a certainty that she had never felt before. She would love him forever.
He looked up and gave her a grin. It was easy to feel this sense of giddy excitement here where the waves were crashing and the wind was blowing fresh air. Not the stagnant musty, rotting smell of the canopy. The well-maintained path visible on the opposite end dissolved into what felt like a swamp. Even though her sneakers were clean so she knew she didn’t walk through mud, her legs ached.
“Are you ready?” she asked, not feeling ready at all.
“No, but let’s do it.” He stood up tall and walked over to stand beside her.
“Al, you are the fastest ball player I know, don’t leave me, okay?”
Alfred did something no boy had ever done before. He slid his fingers through hers and gave them a gentle squeeze. “I won’t leave you.”
They faced the low green light of the trees and the ever-growing darkness.
“One.” His hand tightened onto hers. “Two.” They both took the running stance he used when he was on the plate and ready for home. “Three!” she yelled and they shot inside the tunnel.
It started out fine but as the dark green light overtook them so did the feeling of heaviness and dread. Miranda felt the tug in her gut trying to pull her back. She felt as if she was wearing that giant elastic band she wore at the carnival last summer. You strap it around your waist and see how far you can go before it yanks you back.
The rustling sounds followed by creaks and groans grew louder. The canopy seemed to be shrinking as if it were closing in on them trying to swallow them whole.
Miranda’s legs were starting to ache and her lungs were beginning to burn. Her body showed signs compared to running the mile but that was impossible.
Al’s grip tightened and he pulled her. Everything was muffled again and she barely heard him yell at her. “Miranda, run faster, we are almost there.”
The green light was fading and the darkness around them began to grow. Something brushed against her back and she screamed. She wanted to turn around but was afraid it would get her if she looked at it. Her papa’s voice flowed through her head as a warning, “If you hear something behind you at night in the woods, no you didn’t.”
“It’s behind us!” she tried to yell, but the air was so thick, there was hardly any sound.
Cold fingers brushed her neck only they felt more like tree branches. She pushed herself harder, digging deeper. ‘Why are we not out yet?’ her mind raced. ‘This makes no sense.’
Something snaked around her ankle and tried to pull her down. If Al had not still been holding her hand she would have fallen. He yanked her to her feet and they continued to run. The light ahead of them was growing brighter and she thought she heard Kevin yelling for her to run, but that might have been Alfred.
The branch-like fingers slipped through her ponytail and tugged her hair causing her to stumble backward. Al’s grip on her hand slipped and she fell hard on her backside. “Alfred!” she screamed and scrambled to her feet trying to free her hair, but only causing it to knot worse. Another vine slid around her ankle, tugging her back down. The light that had seemed so close a second before was slipping further away.
Miranda was fighting, kicking, and screaming to free herself when suddenly Alfred stood overtop of her pulling her to her feet.
“Kevin, Casey help me!” he screamed and pulled her into him stomping on the vine until it released her ankle.
Her heart was pounding out of her chest and she was starting to cry, but she ran the rest of the way. She ran hard and fast pushing her body to its limit as the darkness and the canopy of trees tried to consume them.
“I’m not going to make it,” she cried.
Al’s feet hit the now dim light at the entrance and he set his footing, grabbed Miranda by her arms, and hurled her from the tunnel. She flew forward and rolled out into the open, slamming into her brother.
“Jesus Miranda,” he complained and jumped back away from her.
“Help him!” she cried and leaped forward running to Al as he ran out to meet her. To her, he wasn’t moving, barely taking steps to get out of the tunnel. He was right on the edge. “Just step into the light, Al!” she screamed at him. Tears burned her eyes and rolled down her cheeks at the thought of losing him after he had saved her.
Miranda reached Al, grabbed his outstretched hands, and yanked him to her. She saw the bony branch-like fingers grip his jacket and pull him back. “No!” Miranda screamed and pulled harder. It was no use, her feet were sliding in the dirt, and the hands were pulling him back into the tunnel.
“What the-” Kevin started, but Miranda cut him off.
“Kevin help me, I’m slipping. Get him into the light.”
Miranda saw the fear in Al’s eyes and he held tightly onto her. A second later she felt her brother’s arms around her waist and Casey grabbed Al’s arm and pulled.
“What’s got him, man? What is that?” Casey’s voice was high and panicked.
“It’s got my jacket,” Al said.
Miranda let go of him long enough to unzip his jacket. “Casey let go, grab his waist.”
“Wh-”
“Grab his waist, Casey!” Miranda screamed and wrapped her own arms around Al’s waist. She dug her feet in as Casey’s arms wrapped around their friend and tugged.
Al leaned into his friends and held his arms backward allowing the shadow to pull the jacket from his body as his friends pulled him into the light. The four of them fell into a crumpled heap.
Miranda and Al were the first on their feet. They stumbled further away from the entrance and Al hugged her tightly.
“Mom’s going to kill me for losing my jacket,” Alfred mumbled in a slightly hysterical tone.
The canopy creaked and shook in outrage at the loss of its prey. “Jesus!” both Casey and Kevin cried getting to their feet.
“Guys, we gotta go. I don’t want to be here at dark.”
“What’s in there Miranda?”
Miranda climbed on her bike. “I’ll tell you at home,” is all she said and rode off for home.
~
“No. I just don’t buy it,” Kevin said again. For the last two hours that had been his go-to response.
Al held Miranda’s phone up and shook it at him. “Then what is this on your sister’s phone, Kevin? Do you think we faked this?”
Kevin just shrugged and rolled over onto his side. He may have seemed nonchalant in his reply, but Miranda saw that he pulled his sleeping bag a little higher and that his baseball bat was tucked close to him.
“You don’t think it can get us, do you?” Casey asked, his voice soft and frightened.
“I don’t know,” Al said.
“Yeah,” Casey mumbled and rolled over.
Miranda watched as Al looked out the basement window and then laid down himself.
The silence was thick in the air. Each one was lost in thought as they tried to find a way to sort out the events of the day.
Once their breathing seemed to be a soft steady rhythm Miranda opened her phone.
Staring back at her was a monster she never could have dreamt of on her own. It did remind her of an Ent from Lord of The Rings, but smaller, probably not much taller than her brother, and by the size of those teeth a lot more hungry. Its body was wispy, rootlike with little twigs and a few brown leaves coming off its spindly arms and head.
The creature was black as tar. ‘That would explain why I thought it was shadows moving,’ she thought.
It appeared to be crouching as if ready to spring forward. Its jagged teeth were exposed as its lips curled back in a snarl of rage. The monster's eyes were milky white and she had a second to think that they were like that because of the darkened forest.
Her mind was whirling with questions about where the creatures came from, the green mist, the muffled sound, how time seemed to slow, and how the tunnel seemed to grow. None of it made sense to her.
Alfred’s sleeping bag rustled and she felt his cool fingers on hers. He pulled the phone from her hand and laid it screen down on the floor between them. “Stop looking at it, Miranda. We got out and will never go back.”
At his kindness, she finally began to cry. Alfred didn’t speak, instead, he held her hand and silently cried with her
