Cross
12-13-2011, 04:02 PM
Sighing hard, I stood and looked out of the kitchen window into the darkness outside. All was still, all was quiet, all was sunken deep into the tar-like darkness of night. I moved slowly to the door, my boots sounding with a deep, hollow thud at each step across the dirty floor. The mess of the kitchen was hidden from view in the shroud of night, all I could see now was the small amount of light penetrating through the foggy glass of the window on the door from the dusk-dawn light outside.
Stepping to the door, I reached up and secured my bandana over my mouth and nose, with a hard knot, I tightened it down until it pressed uncomfortably against my face; it would loosen, I told myself as I pulled my stocking cap over my unkempt blonde hair. Reaching back, I pulled my hood up to cover my head. The strong, musty smell of my leather bandana filled my nose and I breathed deeply, pulling on my heavy brown gloves. Reaching out, I opened the door slowly, hearing it creak loudly in protest of being awoken at such an early hour.
The cold of winter enveloped me, swirling into the old house, making it shudder and creak. Papers rustled and fell to the floor somewhere in the background as I stepped through the doorway. The frosty wood of the porch crunched and snapped under my boots as I thudded my way down the ramp to the cement sidewalk where my bicycle sat, whitened by a light layer of snow and frost. It glistened eerily in the light from the full moon, casting a long, wicked shadow onto the lawn.
Brushing it off quickly, I walked it through the yard to the driveway, grass crunching as if I were walking on a layer of broken glass. Reaching the driveway, I looked down the steep hill and into the darkness that awaited me, large jagged rocks coated the most part of the hill, making it impossible to ride my bike down, so I walked, slowly, into the waiting arms of the forest. The trees casting long, twisted shadows in the pale moonlight, they seemed to move in the stillness of the night, as if a ghostly breeze moved only among the shadows.
Moving quickly down the hill, all I could hear was my heartbeat pounding in my ears and the loud crunch of the rocks shifting beneath my feet. Almost to the bottom of the quarter mile gravelly hill, my breath caught as I heard what sounded like a giggle from behind me. Spinning, I came to face the darkness, a small bit of motion caught the corner of my eye and I turned my head, only to glimpse what looked like a small girl in a pale white dress, lit by the moonlight, move behind a tree, her face enveloped quickly in the shadow was broken into a grin, not one of happiness and joy, but of a malevolent and darker origin. Shaking my head, I moved on, faster than before, my mind was playing tricks on me in the moonlight, I told myself.
Not soon enough, I reached the smoother part of the forest lined driveway and hopped onto my bike and pedaled hard, but had to slow almost immediately as the potholes were too many to ride like a maniac.
"Why are you ignoring me?" came a high voice from my left, just as I crossed a small wooden bridge about five feet above a flowing stream. Looking sharply, I could see something white on the surface of a still pool of water a short way down the creek. Straining against the dark, I could make out the evil grinning girl's face, just as a cloud covered the moon and I was plunged into complete darkness. Her pale face was burned into my vision and wherever I looked I saw her pale blue eyes. Careening off the driveway, I felt my bike hit something hard and I was thrown over the handlebars and into a tree. Falling hard, I landed on a rock and rolled almost twenty feet down a hill, where I came to rest, lying face up, my eyes squinted hard.
Opening my eyes slowly, I sat up and looked around. I knew these woods like the back of my hand, but the normally beautiful and warm forest was cold and grey, completely unrecognizable in this pitch blackness. Standing, I began staggering back up the small hill, grabbing trees and dead plants in front of me to keep from running into anything; when finally I kicked my bike and hauled it up onto its wheels. Turning it back toward the driveway, a small ball of yellow light darted behind a tree, disappearing. Rubbing my eyes, I looked again, the yellow had lit up the forest for a moment, revealing my surroundings, and showing that the driveway was only a short way off. As I began trudging in that direction, a small dot of blue darted in and out of my peripherals, but, like the yellow light, darted behind a tree when I looked at it. Becoming more disturbed, I was almost running up the driveway, now on an uphill tilt. More and more of these colorful orbs darted around, just behind and to the sides of me, just far enough that I could notice them, but not so close I could really see them.
They followed me all the way up the hill until I broke from the woods and into a field. Slowing, I looked back down the hill to see the orbs floating in a circle, ten of them in all, all different colors of red, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, cyan, orange, white and black. They hovered at the bottom of the hill, creating shadows in the trees, sending out a pulsating light, like so many satanic candles. In the middle of their circle, somehow shrouded in darkness, was the girl in the white dress, her hand raised as if it a goodbye wave, her grin turned into an unhappy frown, her eyes squinted almost shut.
Terrified, I didn't look back again until I made it through the field to the main road where I rode as hard as I could, trying to drive the terrifying images from my mind. After I made it to school, I calmed down a bit, knowing I was safe. And after a day of classes, I rode home, not worried in the least and humming a song. Along the way, I noted a white plastic bag caught on the limb of a tree, and a large rock sticking up from the surface of the water in the creek. I laughed, realizing how stupid I'd been. As I walked up the last hill though, I looked back down the driveway to see a small girl, her back to me, wearing a pure white dress with long blonde hair running down to her waist; walking away into the woods.
Stepping to the door, I reached up and secured my bandana over my mouth and nose, with a hard knot, I tightened it down until it pressed uncomfortably against my face; it would loosen, I told myself as I pulled my stocking cap over my unkempt blonde hair. Reaching back, I pulled my hood up to cover my head. The strong, musty smell of my leather bandana filled my nose and I breathed deeply, pulling on my heavy brown gloves. Reaching out, I opened the door slowly, hearing it creak loudly in protest of being awoken at such an early hour.
The cold of winter enveloped me, swirling into the old house, making it shudder and creak. Papers rustled and fell to the floor somewhere in the background as I stepped through the doorway. The frosty wood of the porch crunched and snapped under my boots as I thudded my way down the ramp to the cement sidewalk where my bicycle sat, whitened by a light layer of snow and frost. It glistened eerily in the light from the full moon, casting a long, wicked shadow onto the lawn.
Brushing it off quickly, I walked it through the yard to the driveway, grass crunching as if I were walking on a layer of broken glass. Reaching the driveway, I looked down the steep hill and into the darkness that awaited me, large jagged rocks coated the most part of the hill, making it impossible to ride my bike down, so I walked, slowly, into the waiting arms of the forest. The trees casting long, twisted shadows in the pale moonlight, they seemed to move in the stillness of the night, as if a ghostly breeze moved only among the shadows.
Moving quickly down the hill, all I could hear was my heartbeat pounding in my ears and the loud crunch of the rocks shifting beneath my feet. Almost to the bottom of the quarter mile gravelly hill, my breath caught as I heard what sounded like a giggle from behind me. Spinning, I came to face the darkness, a small bit of motion caught the corner of my eye and I turned my head, only to glimpse what looked like a small girl in a pale white dress, lit by the moonlight, move behind a tree, her face enveloped quickly in the shadow was broken into a grin, not one of happiness and joy, but of a malevolent and darker origin. Shaking my head, I moved on, faster than before, my mind was playing tricks on me in the moonlight, I told myself.
Not soon enough, I reached the smoother part of the forest lined driveway and hopped onto my bike and pedaled hard, but had to slow almost immediately as the potholes were too many to ride like a maniac.
"Why are you ignoring me?" came a high voice from my left, just as I crossed a small wooden bridge about five feet above a flowing stream. Looking sharply, I could see something white on the surface of a still pool of water a short way down the creek. Straining against the dark, I could make out the evil grinning girl's face, just as a cloud covered the moon and I was plunged into complete darkness. Her pale face was burned into my vision and wherever I looked I saw her pale blue eyes. Careening off the driveway, I felt my bike hit something hard and I was thrown over the handlebars and into a tree. Falling hard, I landed on a rock and rolled almost twenty feet down a hill, where I came to rest, lying face up, my eyes squinted hard.
Opening my eyes slowly, I sat up and looked around. I knew these woods like the back of my hand, but the normally beautiful and warm forest was cold and grey, completely unrecognizable in this pitch blackness. Standing, I began staggering back up the small hill, grabbing trees and dead plants in front of me to keep from running into anything; when finally I kicked my bike and hauled it up onto its wheels. Turning it back toward the driveway, a small ball of yellow light darted behind a tree, disappearing. Rubbing my eyes, I looked again, the yellow had lit up the forest for a moment, revealing my surroundings, and showing that the driveway was only a short way off. As I began trudging in that direction, a small dot of blue darted in and out of my peripherals, but, like the yellow light, darted behind a tree when I looked at it. Becoming more disturbed, I was almost running up the driveway, now on an uphill tilt. More and more of these colorful orbs darted around, just behind and to the sides of me, just far enough that I could notice them, but not so close I could really see them.
They followed me all the way up the hill until I broke from the woods and into a field. Slowing, I looked back down the hill to see the orbs floating in a circle, ten of them in all, all different colors of red, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, cyan, orange, white and black. They hovered at the bottom of the hill, creating shadows in the trees, sending out a pulsating light, like so many satanic candles. In the middle of their circle, somehow shrouded in darkness, was the girl in the white dress, her hand raised as if it a goodbye wave, her grin turned into an unhappy frown, her eyes squinted almost shut.
Terrified, I didn't look back again until I made it through the field to the main road where I rode as hard as I could, trying to drive the terrifying images from my mind. After I made it to school, I calmed down a bit, knowing I was safe. And after a day of classes, I rode home, not worried in the least and humming a song. Along the way, I noted a white plastic bag caught on the limb of a tree, and a large rock sticking up from the surface of the water in the creek. I laughed, realizing how stupid I'd been. As I walked up the last hill though, I looked back down the driveway to see a small girl, her back to me, wearing a pure white dress with long blonde hair running down to her waist; walking away into the woods.