The aroma of fresh wood and new paint drifted into my nose, and I paused in the doorway of the house, slowly breathing in the smell of my new home. The silence was overwhelming. The sounds of cars honking, children laughing, and adults yelling were gone, replaced by the quiet noises of the country. Wind rustling gently through the branches and birds chirping melodious harmonies in the maple trees were all I heard, foreign compared with the sounds of the city.

“Kira,” my mom whispered behind me, carrying a heavy cardboard box, “why don’t you go outside? The forest is beautiful, and you can explore it to your heart’s content.”

She beamed at me a little too brightly, obviously trying to make me smile in return, but I only nodded back, my face blank. This was all her fault. Without saying another word, I turned, slipped around her, shouldering her slightly, and headed outside. I never looked back.

Closing the garden gate behind me, I gazed at the tall, ancient trees that towered at the fringes of the yard, casting pools of shadow onto the lush, green grass. Although I had been bursting with excitement to see the forest ever since we bought this house, now that I was here, I decided it was nothing compared with what I had lost. I would trade it all ­­ the forest, our house, my new school ­­ in a heartbeat just to go back home, to see my friends again.

As I thought of my friends, my grey eyes blurred with tears and I stumbled on a tree root as I trudged through the deep, leafy forest undergrowth. Out of all the things I had left behind, they were what I missed the most. Smiling sadly, I thought of the last day I had seen them.

It had been sunset, and the sky was alight with colors, blending together to create a collage of red, yellow, and orange. Huddled together, we sat on a park bench with our feet dangling in the pond, watching as swans glided gracefully across the glassy surface of the water. We had said all there was to say, and now we sat in silence, unwilling to face the moment when we would have say the word I had been dreading ever since I had discovered I was moving: “goodbye.” Beside me, Luke, one of my closest friends, reached into his black leather jacket and rummaged in one of its pockets. Carefully, he drew out a photo album made of waxed, navy blue leather and covered in silver stars. On the cover was a picture of all us with our arms around each other, laughing. I was exactly in the center, surrounded by my friends on either side. [Read more…]

            “Are you trying to say something to me? ” she demanded. Her voice struck my feeble wall of resistance and it failed, causing it to crumble into miniscule pieces.

            “No,” I quietly whispered. I hung my head, not in shame, but in hope that she would take my submissiveness as a signal to leave.


            “What did you say?” she threatened, bending down to come to my height.

            I shuddered and forced my head up. The sight of her terrifying face hit me like a punch to the gut; a frightful mix of emotions rose in me as I glanced at her hideous features. Though dark, her eyes weren’t mysterious and intriguing like the velvety atmosphere of the ebony night or warm and welcoming as the hue of honey brown. Her hawk-like eyes reached into the darkest corners of my soul, and they resembled the appearance of slime that seemed to ooze out of every swamp, and her nose, lips, and ears were all abnormally large and tinted red. “Terrifying,” I whispered under my breath. My eyes were unable to tear themselves away from her repulsive features.

            “I still can’t hear you,” she screeched into my ear. The sudden sound made me jump, and my ears were ringing for what seemed like years later.

            Baring her jagged teeth, she moved her face directly in front of mine and released an inhuman sound, almost as if she was laughing. I shrunk back and winced; her breath reeked of rotten fish. She heard me, she definitely heard me. She heard me and she was going to make me pay.

            “Look at me,” she threatened. When she failed to elicit a response, she bared her teeth and roared, “Look at me, you fool! Look me straight in the eye and tell me what you did!” Her huge hands grabbed both my shoulders, and her sharp nails sank into my sensitive flesh.

            I squealed and immediately bit my lip to avoid any more noise.


            “Say it, you twit!” she hollered. “Say it!” Spit flew past her lips and hit my throbbing cheek. “I’m sorry! I’ll never do anything you don’t like again!” I screamed, half sobbing.
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