Don’t Go into The Forest

“They’re fighting,” Edith cried out to the others. A small stampede came over the hill to watch as Hakeem wrestled Andre to the ground.

“I dare you!” Andre growled to his older brother. Hakeem, eldest of the group, stood over him triumphantly.

“I said, ‘I dare you!” A smile appeared on Andre’s dirt-covered face as fresh streaks ran from his eyes, over his chubby cheeks to his chin.

“You’re crazy, Andre. Just be a man and accept that you lost.” Edith and the others stared and waited to see if Hakeem would back down from Andre’s dare. Instead, Hakeem marched away from Andre.

“It’s okay if you’re afraid. Who wouldn’t be? Springs almost here, and the sun is going down.” Edith saw Hakeem’s shoulders tighten and halt at this challenge. Andre might not have been the strongest, but he knew how to get under his brother’s skin.

“Are you calling me a chicken, Andre?”

“I’m not, I promise. But… if it clucks like a…”

“Finish that sentence, Andre… I dare you” Andre playfully threw up his hands at this threat.

“But big brother, it's not me who has been dared; it's you.” Edith could hear his buttery voice lock him in place by appealing to his title of the eldest brother. “I dared you to go into the forest at sunset, but I still haven’t heard an answer.” The two glared at each other while the others stood around—the heartbeat of anxiety and a waking forest hanging in the air.

Edith stood shaking with anticipation like a new flower against an erratic wind. She held her sister's hand tightly, and Gloria reluctantly held Edith's back. She’s never been so close to the forest. Its giant red oaks towered over any houses in the settlement. The trees were sparse, with new budding leaves ready to unfurl. It was a sign of spring.

Next to them was Elijah, the youngest of the group at only seven, and Imani, Gloria’s best friend. Imani and Gloria, both liked it when the brothers competed.

“Do you think Hakeem will really do it? I mean, it’s almost spring, and you know what the elders say,” Gloria said.

“Hakeem is not afraid,” Imani whispered loud enough for the whole circle to hear but still cuffed her mouth like a secret. Everyone’s attention fell on Imani, and she looked at Hakeem with a soft but firm gaze.

“You’re not scared, right, Hakeem?” Hakeem’s and Imani’s eyes spoke a language that the others couldn’t hear, but everyone knew it was decided. They were going to the forest. Edith gripped Gloria’s hand tighter, making Gloria click her tongue at her.

“What is it now?” Gloria whispered to Edith.

“I’m scared. You know we aren’t supposed to go into the forest, especially at the beginning of spring. Mom says…” Gloria raised her hand and cut her off.

“Mom’s not here.”

“But Gloria…”

“Stop. Just stop.” She pulled her other hand away, and her voice took on a tone of obvious annoyance.

“Go home if you are scared. You aren’t even the one who was dared.” Gloria stood up and walked closer to the others. “If we are going to do this, we should do it soon. The suns about to go down, and we are about twenty minutes away from the settlement. If we hurry, we can get to the forest edge and be back in time.” Imani, Andre, and Hakeem all smiled and nodded as they started for the forest edge.

Edith whispered after them, “But when spring starts, it's when they are most hungry.”

Only Elijah, who was standing back with her, heard her. He held his body to stop a winter-like shiver from ripping through his spine.

“You, you, you have to say it louder. No, no one heard you but me.” Elijah and Edith both began to walk, but both shook as the chill of an early spring wind whispered warnings across their delicate ears.

The children started their march for the forest and laughed about the tales of the ugly ones.

“I heard that they could fly through the forest tops and capture their prey with only its hair,” Imani started.

“I heard it can hear your heartbeat from five miles away,” teased Gloria.

“I heard the things are super skinny but huge like this” Hakeem spread his arm as wide as he could to show the enormity of the beast.

“No, this big!” Andre pushed Hakeem to show the group a larger size. This started a ‘who can make the creature larger’ competition. The four of them laughed as they were only a minute away from the forest edge. The two youngest hung back.

“P-p-please. Say something,” Elijah begged. “You listen to all the stories and know the most. They won’t listen to me.”

“And you think they will listen to me, Elijah!” She snapped. The two of them walked in silence while the others raced towards the darkening tree line.

“Maybe it will be alright,” Edith said, trying to comfort herself more than Elijah. The two of them exchanged a falsely confident look with wavering eyes but continued forward. Elijah took Edith’s hand tightly and stood taller. He did this to comfort himself more than Edith.

They had made it, standing only feet away from the entrance of the forest. The sun danced between the trees and was on its last rays of light.

It will be night soon. We’ve got time. We will be alright. Edith thought.

“I think it will be fine,” Edith turned to Elijah. “I think we will be fine.” They blinked through the early twilight as their brown eyes lit up like fire from a conversation, they wish they could be brave enough to have.

“Okay, it's going to be dark soon. So, let’s do this” Andre looked at Hakeem devilishly. He salivated over the idea that Hakeem wouldn’t go into the forest. Not being able to complete the dare would mean his victory.

“Andre, shut up. I know. I’m not afraid like you are”

Andre’s smile turned, and he pointed at the forest. “Go then. We don’t have all day.”

Everyone looked on as Hakeem stomped off towards the forest. The thick branches of the red oaks waved in the wind sending him off on his trip. The horizon of the tree’s darkened, and they could only see five rows of trees in. Hakeem had only taken one step into the forest when Edith screamed.

“Hakeem, run!” Edith dropped Elijah’s hand but was frozen in place as she saw the straw hair and cream skin come into view.

How could we not see it? We are so close to the forest. It materialized out of nowhere.

Its needle-like hair punctured Hakeem’s body, wrapping and contorting it into its spider-like arms. And like a flash, the ugly one and Hakeem were gone.

*********

“We have to go after him!” Imani screamed while running towards where they last saw Hakeem. Gloria shot forward and swung her round like a baseball bat.

“Don’t...!” The two of their eyes locked together; Imani’s on fire and Gloria's frigid cold. They began to form words on their quivering lips, but like a flash, Andre had flown past their peripheral vision.

“Hakeem!” Andre was disappearing into the forest. Imani ripped away from Gloria and was darted deeper and deeper into the ugly one’s territory. Gloria snapped her head back towards Edith and Elijah, tears swelling like bruised limbs. Edith reached out, but it was like there was an expansive universe between her and her sister. Gloria had started to run when Edith yelled after her.

“Stay together! The ugly ones pick their targets because they are alone!” Gloria was gone, and only the ragged breath of the forest remained. One after another, Andre’s then Imani’s, and finally, Gloria’s voices faded, but it still clanged in Edith and Elijah’s ears. Edith started to heave in all the air around her, and her eyes were wide enough to see all the stars in the sky. She couldn’t move.

Her panic calmed as Elijah’s warm, clammy hand took hers.

“I-i-if we go together, we’ll be f-f-fine.” He shook like a tambourine, and his teeth clattered just as loud. “We’ve g-g-got t-t-to do something.” Edith squeezed his hand back and took one final breath from the field. The rest of her breaths would be borrowed from the forest lungs. They were almost in complete darkness. Their tiny feet kicked forward and pattered along the path left behind by the others. Into the forest, they went.

The two small bodies could move quicker in the cramped forest than the others, so they made good time. Edith knew how to track; she had learned it from the village elders. But with such an obvious path, these skills weren’t necessary; broken branches, crushed leaves, scraps of clothing, and specks of blood gave clear clues. While dragging Elijah behind her, Edith confidently said, “We’ll be okay… we’ll all be fine.” Elijah held her hand tighter as they moved forward.

That hope disappeared as soon as it arrived. The distinctive path that she was following stopped in a small clearing. She slammed her body and Elijah’s down to the ground.

Left. Right. Up. Down. The forest was strangling her lungs. She fought to get control of her breathing as she assessed. This type of clearing was a hunting ground for them. And there are no disturbances on the other side of the clearing. We have to hide.

Elijah’s eyes were fixed and unblinking as he held one hand over his mouth and the other tightly in Edith’s hand. Edith pushed him towards a tree burrow just on the outskirts of the clearing and just as they slid into safety, they heard the shredding of bark. A tell-tale sign that they were close. They were silent otherwise.

A blink and three ugly ones appeared in the clearing. They sucked in the air through their slitted nostrils. Their gangly hair punctured the earth where ever it swept. Their claws scratched the ground like a dry dandruff-filled scalp. They moved around like adolescent children at recess, but the slightest sound made them alert like a tiger hunting its prey.

Elijah tapped Edith and motioned his mouth to move, but Edith covered it quickly. She shook her head slowly and turned her attention back to an empty clearing. They were gone.

Elijah had started to move, and like a flash, one of them was back and closer. They both froze like the first frost of winter. It sniffed closer and closer. The two could see the ghostly blue eyes scanning, searching the area. Its adolescence movements, now tiger-like.

With a huff of air, it glided back into the treetops. Edith and Elijah both sat quietly, listening for the grinding of bark and silent movements that might or might not be there. The clearing was getting darker and darker. Neither of them could bring themselves to move. Their time was up.

Both of their faces were wet, Edith with a sticky, sickly sweat and Elijah’s with a hopeless stream of tears. Edith racked her brain on her next moves. Everything the elders taught her kept coming in, bombarding her with information; it was hard to keep track of what was practical.

Breathe. Edith thought. This is what I’ve been studying for. I have to protect Elijah and try to save the others if they are… stop it. They are.

All her thoughts then came quickly, being put together like a puzzle. The lessons on the ugly ones popped up like bubbles in a stream.

The ugly ones are hungriest when they awake during the spring. That means they act more irrationally. If we can get the others back and avoid the clearings, the ugly ones might be less tempted to attack us. One on six, even if weakened or wounded, won’t be favorable for them. But their irrational hunger might change that. Edith breathes again, trying to fight the weight of the forest breath in her lungs. We’ll have to chance it. It’s the only way.

The plan was set in Edith’s mind; find the nest, somehow rescue the taken and run back to the village or hide out until daybreak and then stay in the lit parts of the forest until they could exit. Light would have a harsher effect on the nutrition-deprived ugly ones. Edith, with newfound vigor, turned to see Elijah petrified in place.

“We-e-e have to go home,” Elijah said. “May-ay-maybe everything will be alright.”

“Elijah… we have to do something” the two of the children looked into each other’s eyes. The smell of a sleeping forest and drying blood hung in the air. The plan was a gamble, Edith thought. A large one at that. It would be safer to move during the day.

“We wait until the day, and then we go and find them,” Elijah whimpered at Edith’s firm statement. They shifted down further into the burrow and breathed the mildew and sweet earth that was ripped up just feet from them. The night had many sounds, and Elijah jumped at all of them. Sometimes Edith thought the ugly ones had come back but had mistaken their silent movement for the forest’s restless sleeping.

***********

Edith woke to rays of light peeking into their burrow. She jumped up, mimicking the creatures, silent and efficient. They had to move quickly to save the others. She reached for Elijah, but he was gone. She looked out into the clearing and saw nothing. No sound; No smell; Only a blank canvas ready to be dyed with her entrails. She was alone.

You must go home, Edith thought. If you make it home, then you can find help. You have to make it home. Edith pushed against the earth and flew out of the burrow into the forest. The grating of tree bark began. They were onto her.

She sprang from bright spot to bright spot in the forest, dodging razor wire hair and knife-like claws. She flew through the woods, following the old path closely. And finally, she was at the forest edge when she heard Elijah.

“Edith…. Help me.” Edith snapped around as she entered the field. The treetops were casting a shadow that just tickled her feet. “Please… Edith… Help me.”

Edith held out her hand but feared the shadows. Only light could deter them. The forest took a colossal breath and swayed towards her. The shade of the tree engulfed her, and the ugly one sprang forward. The top of Elijah’s body was strung up in the razor wire hair like a marionette. Her flesh tore as it touched her, and icy blue eyes pulled her own into the shadows. The forest deflated its last breath, and the sun cradled Edith in its glow. The ugly one’s hand still hanging there singeing in the sun.