Gothic Short Story co-written with Janae Bigcraft
My mummy tucked me into bed. It’s the last time I get to see her until summer, because tomorrow’s the first day of winter. I start tearing up and she wraps her hands around me and I ask her, “Why do you leave for so long?” She says I’m too young to understand, so she tells me a story instead.
“Now, don’t interrupt this story sweetheart. It’s an important tale, and it’s scary!” I giggle when she says this. She never tells me scary stories!
“It starts on a dark and stormy night, where there is a little boy who is sitting in his room. This little boy is bored. So he decides to go on an adventure. He puts on his rain coat and yellow boots, and walks out of his warm and safe house, where his parents are sleeping. He goes deep into the forest outside his home. Deep in the forest the snow covers everything, and he realizes he’s lost! Then … CRACK! The boy is pushed into the ground by some figure. And then it starts eating him! He starts screaming for his mommy. But no one can hear him. Because he is deep in the dangerous, dark woods.” I stopped smiling.
“Is this why you never want me going into the forest, mommy?”
“Yes my sweet little boy, the forest, I warn you, is very dangerous.”
“Then why do you go during the entire winter if you will die?”
“Because sweety, mommy is being protected and knows how to navigate the forest. And little boys do not. This is why you must not go.”
“Did daddy die in the forest? Is this why some of my classmates have gone missing?”
Mommy suddenly stops smiling. She tells me goodnight, and turns off the lights. I am left alone in my bedroom. I can barely fall asleep, I hear the door slam.
I want to make sure that mommy will be okay. What if she gets lost and a bad guy eats her? I won’t go into the forest, I only want to make sure she gets to the edge safely. I guide myself by following her red coat against the snow. My breath starts forming trails of white. The house lights no longer reach me. Did I miss the edge? It’s pitch black now since the stars cannot shine through the thick leaves of the trees. I am in darkness. I can’t tell if I am in the forest or not. All the trees near home and here look the same.
I hear this long, staggered shriek. The sound gets closer and I turn around to squint through the fog to barely see this form in the distance. I hear mommy. A chill runs through my body, everything turns blurry. I try running back but I trip over a root. My left knee snaps and very bad pain and numbness comes over my body. Mommy gains speed. She is not mommy. Her eyes are stretched and I can see all her teeth with her crazy smile.
“Honey, I told you not to come into the forest.” I close my eyes and wish I was back in my warm bed, with my mommy telling me a soothing bedtime story. I smell blood from my left knee. I open my eyes to see her figure move back and forth still creeping towards me as if she’s fighting something but holding back. “You must run now!” she screeches. I can’t move but I still listen. “I have a curse boy and I will kill you.” She gets closer. I barely could make out what she says, “I killed your father and will kill you too if you don’t leave. Please son, please I can’t control it much longer!”
My mommy would never hurt me. This is just a dream, I tell myself. My left knee doesn’t let me get up. I struggle to move but she’s hovering over me. “I’m sorry sweetheart.” I can hear her voice tearing, “just close your eyes, just close your eyes. It’ll go by fast.”
Leave a Reply