the clearing in the woods

You are walking through the woods. <img src="https://thumbs.gfycat.com/NeedyBelatedHerculesbeetle-size_restricted.gif" width="500" height="300" alt="Two foxes"> You pass tree after tree and they begin to [[blend together]] in your mind.

It has been a long day at the end of a long week. You came into the woods with friends to give yourself a break and breathe in some fresh air. It was much needed. But now you are ready to go home and the trees are starting to blend together. Behind you your friends are [[bickering]] about how to get back to the main path.

// "What kind of shortcut is this?" "I know where I'm going, trust me." "Trust you? You're the one that got us off the path in the first place!" "I'm just trying to get us home." "By marching us deeper into the woods?" // You realize you are [[lost]].

You push ahead of your friends and try to drown them out. You can't think with their voices in your ears. You aren't sure how long you've been walking but you are sure the sun will set soon. You know you have to do something before it's too dark to find your way out. You look around for any sign that may be of help. [[What do you see?]]

Trees Dirt Grass More trees More dirt More grass [[What else do you see?]]

A clearing in the woods. <img src="https://i.gifer.com/2qPK.gif" width="500" height="300" alt="Two foxes"> Straight ahead the trees break and give way to a pouring of sunlight. It washes over the grass ahead. It's the only break in trees you've seen in an hour. You move toward it and your friends follow, desperate for an [[exit]]. <img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/wsy5meoskcVMs/giphy.gif" width="500" height="300" alt="Two foxes">

You enter to the clearing and find yourself stopping in your tracks. You are suddenly enveloped in silence. Ahead of you are a dozen deer, undistributed by your abrupt entry. They stare at you, eyes wide and watchful. It unnerves you how little they are moved. <img src="https://media1.tenor.com/images/3d56d5f3619a31568f8827e1a6ae7056/tenor.gif?itemid=3413663" width="300" height="500" alt="Two foxes"> [[You turn to your friends.]]

Your friends look past you to the clearning. The color has drained from their face and expressions are fixed. You open your mouth to say their named and find that you cannot. A chill washes over you. You hear a voice whisper in your ear. (colour: red)["Turn around."] You do not want to [[turn]] but your body does so anyway.

Your eyes meet the clearning again and your mind begins to reel. <img src="https://data.whicdn.com/images/46050476/original.gif" width="500" height="300" alt="Two foxes"> You know that you are still standing there, lost in the woods, but you feel that you are sinking[[...]]

Sinking Sinking Sinking Sinking Sinking Sinking Sinking Sinking Sinking Sinking Sinking Sinking Sinking Sinking Sinking Sinking Sinking Sinking [[Sinking]]

<img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/78GeRAjnwZymI/giphy.gif" width="500" height="300" alt="Two foxes"> The trees rush at you. Your breath catches in your throat. Behind you you hear your friends screaming. You wonder faintly if you are as well. The clearing is [[swallowing you whole.]]

Until is it [[not]].

As fast as the panic comes, it goes. The clearing stills and you are left with your heart racing. You realize that the deers that greeted you are no longer there. You wonder if they ever were. [[Were they a trick of the mind?]]

Girl comes to you tells you to run you dont understand. she touches you and an image flashes in your mind. you see her running. she pulls away and mouths again "run" you blink and she's gone the clearing begins to glow, you hear a voice this time menacing in your ear "lost souls come to die" you brace yourself for the chaos but this time your feel cool "lost souls come to die" DESCRIBE THE FEELING Sinking Sinking Sinking... GIF the end

Before you have too much to catch your breath and regain your footing, you see something [[across the clearing]] that draws your eyes. <img src="https://66.media.tumblr.com/9f52da53ea84e44ee6e233d2e98f8d0d/tumblr_inline_osja4s3ZfZ1u6fxp0_540.gif" width="500" height="300" alt="Two foxes">

It's a little girl, no older than seven. Her eyes lock onto yours as she approaches you. She opens her mouth to speak and when she does you hear her voice in your mind. [["Run."]]

You recognize the word but you do not understand. The girl raises her hand slowly to your own and when she locks her fingers around yours, an image forces itself onto you. <img src="https://data.whicdn.com/images/292196243/original.gif" width="500" height="300" alt="Two foxes"> She pulls her hand away, taking the image with her. Her eyes do not move from your own. She speaks again. "Run." This time you try but again, [[you cannot move.]]

You blink and the girl is [[gone.]]

The clearing lies before you again. This time it is cast in a glow. <img src="https://66.media.tumblr.com/6fe3cf81b791614b38e515d3f471c685/tumblr_okzj0idccq1w3utj6o1_640.gif" width="500" height="300" alt="Two foxes"> You cannot understand how or why but you [[forget your fear]].

You hear the voice that told you to turn around. This time it surrounds you as if it's caught in the wind. (colour: red)["Lost souls come to die."] You turn the words over in your mind...[[Lost souls come to die.]]

You brace yourself to feel that panic again but this time you are strangly calm. The voice repeats itself over and over. (colour: red)["Lost souls come to die."] (colour: red)["Lost souls come to die."] (colour: red)["Lost souls come to die."] (colour: red)["Lost souls come to die."] (colour: red)["Lost souls come to die."] (colour: red)["Lost souls come to die."] [[Your mind goes numb.]]

You let the chill wash over you. A cold presence wraps itself around your mind like clenched hands around a throat. You feel your own throat ache as you choke out a scream. You cannot think. You forget your friends. [[You are sinking]].

Sinking Sinking Sinking Sinking Sinking Sinking Sinking Sinking Sinking Sinking Sinking Sinking Sinking Sinking Sinking Sinking Sinking Sinking [[Sinking ]]

<img src="https://media1.tenor.com/images/9bfd687d937f8f625620d0e1349716df/tenor.gif?itemid=9087137" width="700" height="500" alt="Two foxes"> [[The end.]]

''THE CLEARING IN THE WOODS'' // by Zipporah Osei// <img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/wiS1c0RuQB7Gw/source.gif" width="700" height="500" alt="Two foxes"> [[Begin.]]