Hello Beautiful!!

LEGEND OF IT

An eerie noise from the woods nearby prompted Scarlette to pause momentarily. "Raven" she called. "Did you hear that?"

Confused, Raven looked around but couldn't place a source to the sound. "Hear what?" he inquired. Scarlette shook her head as if to ward off the paranoid thoughts she was having. They had only walked a few meters when the noise rang out again. A sense of dread hung ominously in the air and surrounded the night. Chills wove through Scarlette's spine, goose bumps spread through her arms and the hair at her nape stood sharply.

Oblivious to Scarlette's distress, Raven whistled a merry tune and planned out witty remarks and sarcastic responses to dish out to the poor, unsuspecting members of the prose group chat he was in.

"Raven, are you sure you can't hear the cry of a child?" she asked shakily. "Don't sweat it, it's probably just a bush baby." He took her hands in his and tried reassuring her but that couldn't calm her down. She attempted to convince him that it might actually be a real child that had gotten separated from the parents but he wasn't agreeing with her.

Angrily, she decided to find out once and for all; if luck was on her side, she'd be able to save a poor infant's life. She managed to wade through the tall grasses which were moist from the light rain that fell earlier. As she moved closer, the shrill cry of a baby grew louder and louder but she still couldn't make out anything in the dark. She wished she had carried a torch as the moon was completely dwarfed by the clouds, therefore, her eyes were practically useless. She resorted to making use of her sense of hearing to locate the baby. She had gone farther into the forest when a rustle from the shrub next to her nearly made her jump out of her skin. "Good grief Scar, why are you getting so scared? It's probably the wind." She convinced herself and let out a deep breath.

Suddenly, a crow perched on a branch of the tree in front of her and began to caw loudly. She started to freak out, a crow was never a good sign. Immediately she turned to head back, a flock of crows flew over her head and perched on the same branch with the first crow and they all began to caw simultaneously. The sound was shrill and deafening and in the heat of that moment, she didn't realize that the wails had stopped a while ago. Petrified, she broke into a wild dash and tried calling out to Raven. She didn't care about the sharp branches tearing her face or the wet grasses slapping at her ankles. All she wanted was to get back to the safe arms of her boyfriend.

Tears streamed down her face in rivulets, she regretted venturing into the bushes. She wished she had minded her business and ignored the cry. She panted heavily as she ran at full speed. Terror clogged her senses, her belly pulsed with fear and the loud, joint cawing of the crows was too much for her to bear. She collapsed in a heap on the grassy lands. Soon as she caught her breath and managed to calm her wild senses to a minimum, she looked around and tried to gauge her location. It was still pitch-black but even at that, she realized with horror that instead of running back from whence she came, she had gone far into the thick woods. She was completely and utterly lost. Worse still, even if by some miracle, there was network coverage, she had left her purse containing her phone with Raven.

Her body sagged with exhaustion, her arms felt like jelly and her legs seemed to be melted chocolate. Through her foggy and tired senses, she suddenly realized that the woods had become quiet, way too quiet. Abruptly, a young child, roughly two years old appeared in front of her. She jolted and with a sigh of relief, thanked the stars that she wasn't going nuts and that the cries she heard was actually real. The child was shabbily dressed and looked hungry and weak. His clothes were torn in many places, his shoes were frayed at the tips, looking as if a rat had had its breakfast or dinner out of it, his hair was sticking up at different angles and there were a lot of scratches on his chubby face.

"What happened to you sweetie? Where are your parents? Did you come out here on your own or did you get separated from your parents?" she questioned the child but he didn't say a single word. Instead, he turned around and walked away. "Hey! Where are you going? Come back!" Scarlette exclaimed but the child kept on walking. She struggled to her feet and decided to follow the child but he had disappeared mysteriously. She became certain that she had gone mad.