Edward the Strange

Once upon a time, there was a strange town on a hill. The people were strange. The pets were strange. The cars, the buildings, and the sky were strange. And in the strange town, on a strange hill, on a strange corner of the street, was a house. The boy who lived there never came out, never played with the other children, never said a word to the people the that passed, not even the mailman. You might say that this was strange but the people of the strange little town, on the strange little hill, never even batted an eyelash.

His mother and father tried to get him to go out of the house and play with the other chldren. He just looked up from his strange toys and gave them a wide eyed glance before continuing to play. They tried to get him to play with the fat, black cat that they had bought him, but the cat just continued to get fatter an fatter until it rolled over and died of a strange disease.

The strange boy never went out. He never said a word. This boy was named Edward, and Edward was quite fond of silence and spiders and his top hat with a red band around it's middle. He didn't like the sun because he quite liked being paper white, and he always had a steaming cup of peppermint tea by his side. He loved the strange town, he just loved to stay at home. Edward was strange, but the people never batted an eyelash.

But the day came when Edward would have to venture outside, into the strange little town and then out of it.

This day happened to be September the twenty-first. Heavy grey clouds hung low over the strange town of Grepleton, but the people still went out and about. The weatherman predicted rain at some point during the evening, but the children still played in the streets. Edward looked out of his small bedroom window and smilled, holding his favorite pet spider, Thicket. Thicket smiled a spider kind of smile and looked up at his boy.

"It's a nice day, Edward," Thicket said. Edward smiled and nodded. He looked down at Thicket and then back outside, thinking over the words he would say.

"I like the clouds, Thicket. I like the way the town looks dark," he said, admiring the dark town. Edward had a quiet, shy voice that never quite got above a whisper.

"Yes, the town looks lovely today..." Thicket said before stopping and squinting his eyes as he looked out into the distance. "Say... what's that?"

Out past the cemetery, in the grey sky, was a shape. A black, flying shape. It was too big to be a bird, and it was too small to be an airplane. Edward and Thicket squinted and squinted, until finally, it got closer. Thicket's eyes grew wide in horror.

"What is it, Thicket?" Edward asked, and Thicket's eight, hairy legs shivered and shook in fear.

"It's the Frillweb, Edward... The scariest thing to walk the earth.. It comes from a cave deep in the mountains to the west... The Woods, Edward... The Forbidden Woods!"

Thicket hurriedly crawled into the safety of Edward's sleeve and stayed there, looking out at the Frillweb as it drew ever so closer.

It flew closer... and closer... until it was right upon the srange hill. Then it dived. It dived down, down to the bottom of the strange hill, until in opened it's giant, monsterous wings and flew up, perching upon the town hall.

"Edward, hurry! You must leave!" cried Thicket from Edward's sleeve. Edward couldn't move just yet, though.

He wanted to stare. Stare into the large, yellow eyes of the Frillweb. It's black skin glistened in the dim light like wet snakes' skin, and it's underbelly was a deep, deep dark green. It looked like a dragony snake, with fat cheeks and a wide mouth that was home to fifty-seven sharp teeth. It's nose was flat and flared, and it's arms and legs were short and fat, adorned with very long and very sharp claws. It's tail was three times as long as it's body, with five long black feathers at the end to stablize it. The wings were black and webbed-like, with sharp points were the joints ended. It was a ferocious looking beast, and Edward was scared.

Edward turned, tripped over his own feet, but caught himself. He ran down the hall, down the stairs, and through the empty living room, as his parents were both working. He stopped at the front door.

"Thicket, I've never been outside before! Frankly, I don't want to go..." Edward said, looking out of the window at the people frantically running down the street.

"Edward, we must go. Please, hurry!" Thicket said with a very worried tone. Edward looked behind him and saw his top hat on the table.

He took it, put it on his head, and closed his eyes. He drew in a breath, puffed out his cheeks, and pushed open the door. In one swift jump, he was outside.

"Thicket... I made it!" Edward said, smiling. He was quickly interrupted by the roar of the Frillweb and the frantic screams of the townsfolk.

"Quick, Edward! Take a left, get us out of Grepleton and towards the Crystal Forest!" Thicket cried as he crawled under Edward's hat. Edward had only seen Crystal Forest on maps, and he knew it was five miles out of Grepleton. Five miles seemed like a long way for legs that had only walked as far as the west wing of a strange house. But Edward was running, with Thicket under his hat.

He ran pased the barber's, passed the landry mat, the butcher's, and the town cat shop. Finally, e ran down the hill and over the creek, and was out of Grepleton for good. He stopped, breathing heavily with his hands on his thin, bony knees, and looked back. Thicket crawled out from under the hat and sat on the brim.

"We made it, Edward. We made it out," Thicket said, looking sorrowfully back at the burning town of Grepleton.

"But Thicket... I've never been out. I don't know how to live out..." said Edward with a worried look on his face. Thicket smiled a spider kind of smile and laughed a spider kind of laugh.

"We are out, and I will show you the way to live out," concluded the spider, and Edward smiled and nodded and with that, they left the strange little hill, home to the strange little town, what used to be home to many strange people with strange cars, houses, and pets behind, and they made their way into the unknown world ahead.