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The trees' tower over me. I see a cliff just a matter of feet away on the left through the occasional gap between the trunks. But my goal is not the cliff. My goal is far, in the distance. So far, I cannot even hope to see it yet. My goal is a distant town. I hope to make it before nightfall, but I fear that hope is going to be futile. I can already feel the day getting cooler. I can already see the shadows getting darker. I cannot *see* the progress of the sun...the branches of the trees block out all glimpse of the sky. I am lucky to see what glimpses of the cliff I have seen.
The forest is unusually quiet. Or, at least I assume it is unusual. This is the first time I have been in these woods....any woodland really. It is imperative that I reach this town, or I would avoid these woods at all cost. Unfortunately, going through these trees is the only way to reach the settlement.
But, I will go into that in a moment. First, the forest. Looking around, I see no sign of life anywhere, not even a twitter of a bird. I always thought that woods would be rife with sounds. Maybe not mammals like deer and foxes. But squirrels and birds, those I thought I would see plenty of...but I am not seeing any of those at all.
Come to think of it, I have not even heard any rustle of leaves except for those crunching under my feet. No wind whistling through the branches. The *only* sounds I have heard are the ones that I, myself, have made. Odd. Very odd.
Now, the reason that I have to go to this god-forsaken town. And it is forsaken. For all I knew, there is no living being here, from the rumors, it was abandoned some fifteen years ago. An illness had ravaged the town and the survivors, what few there were, had left as soon as they were able. I don't think there were many. Maybe a dozen, maybe less. And their stories were...strange. Some said it was a fever that took the citizens of the town. Some say a monster. All agree it came from the fog.
Typical. I laughed when I heard it. Yeah, typical.
The story went that it came on Halloween night...All Hallow's Eve. The fog blanketed the town and then the screams started. This is where the story became confusing. And became a typical Halloween tale. Yet, my superiors are sending me out here, to verify it. Come on now. This is all insane. How typical, how Hollywood-ish is this going to get. A Fog. Screams. Next you are going to tell me that vampires or werewolves are going to come rushing out at me. Yeah, and I will believe it. I roll my eyes as I plod through the forest.
The silence of the woods *is* grating on my nerves though. It is like it is holding its breath for something.
The air is getting even chillier...and the light darker. I look up, but still can't see anything, the trees are so dense. How could anyone in their right mind *want* to live out here? I am *definitely* not a nature child. Nope, give me a big bustling city any day. But...it does seem to be getting dark awfully fast.
I look at my watch. Shit. The damn thing has stopped. Just like the car, just stopping for no reason. What is with *that*?
(to be continued…)
©2009,CherryDumas
