The Amateurs Collection: Short Stories

Dry Lands

Dry Lands

Oozy, brown mud squished in between my bare toes. Remnants of black dirt stuck to my little feet as I raised them from the ground. The funk of earth whiffed through the low air. Dark red streaks brushed the sky, warning of coming darkness. Fat toads began their reverberating croak, while night time crickets rang their harmonious humm. Massive wooden monsters danced around me in amber light. I crunched low to the dirt, keeping my space safe.

Pa was just tending to Ma after one of her ol' episodes back at home. It was just like all the times before. She's her playful self one moment and the next, she's gone-just lost. Pa rushes Timmy and I out of the bedroom before it gets too bad. He mumbles over and over that she's perfectly fine, and only needs more rest to straighten herself. I knew the truth though, that wasn't my Ma. I knew something strange took over her in those moments, and it grew in power the more Pa locked her away. He'd never had listened though, I was only a kid.

A massive summer storm blew by, and I decided to go huntin for critters in the woodlands with nutin' else to do. Course Timmy wanted to tag along, but I just doned this hunt into wilderness too dangerous for anyone under twelve. He was only eleven, so sadly I could not take him. He whined and cried that "If it's too dangerous for me, then you sure shouldn't be going neither."  Course I could take it though, I'm thirteen years old. And ain't no monster, beast, demon, danger, or nothin' gonna take Chris Bensly out.

I searched a good part of the woodlands already, and knew I'd need to turn back soon. Night started to sneak up on me, and I didn't like to make Pa or Ma worry much. Then, twigs snipped to my hind left. When I turned, a couple of crisp old leaves fell from a mostly naked bush. Sticks jut out far. A couple droplets of water left behind by the thunderstorm still dripped from the shrub's few leaves.

Scratches sawed from high up a looming, grey tree trunk behind the old bush. Only two or three withered, damp leaves trampled down. Something moved up that tree. I slid back a couple feet, beginning to assess my surroundings. Stuck. Stuck smack in the middle of open space. Shit. The woodland barrier seemed to circle out around me purposefully. Night captured me, the void of the moonless night hung low. Pa was definitely gonna be expecting me home any second now. I did the only thing a boy could do in that situation, in the eye of the villain. I mustered the adrenaline throbbing my blood, clinched a huge stick I found as a weapon, and shot to the fight.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!"

Only a tiny, curled ball of fur spiraled from the branches. I still regrettably jumped. He chirped a high pitch war cry, and retreated away as quick as can be. His ability to dash branch to branch created an honorable enemy out of him. The squirrelly bastard could never get away from me though, I had to make Pa proud. I scurried after his trail to another tree, and another, and another, and another.

Soon it became a long parade of faint, brown monster's faces baring down on me. I continued to move along, not knowing exactly where I was going or where I came from. I was bolting, afraid to stop for so long. Damp wind, much more musty than before, flew up my nostrils. Animals made curious noises in shadows, and in the midst Ma's voice sung out. Her gentle moan startled me, and I slipped. My head cracked on the ground.

A deep bellow barely echoed around me as I laid dizzy. The urge to cry struck hard where my chest and throat met, but it would not escape. The ball was too large to leave my little body. Eventually it came out in quick, hurried breathes. Gasp, Puff  In, and out. Gasp, puff.  In, and out. Gasp, puff.  In, and out.  My head started to feel blank when I looked high, and saw a crack in the ceiling made of leaves.

Stars hovered in the black sky, I stared long enough to where I saw millions. Stars upon stars, and I among them. I swam free in the deep infinity. My deep yawning began propelling me calmly forward, and soon I was rolling like a ball faintly through space. I closed my eyes and found peace.