The Long Road into Night #9

Do you remember what happened on the 9^th day?  Do you remember anything? 

You should at least know that the wolf was smarter than you… much smarter. 

How far did you get?  How far did you think you would get?

Only fools entered the forest, but how could you know that.  Still… never before has a fool made it past the third day.  The wisest of men have been known to perish barely into the first.  Now it would seem that a truly exceptional fool has made it much further.  That is… until she found you. 

You had planned to circle back to the road, far away from the wolf.  It might have worked, but you were blind in the forest.  The moon barely lit your way.  Also it was a constant struggle to keep your own feet under you.  They tried to stumble with every step on the uneven ground.  Exhaustion now chased you with even more determination than the wolf had.  Maybe if you weren’t so tired, you would have noticed that at some point your long left turn, you made a right. 

It appears that someone should have gotten a little rest.

By the time you realized that you were lost, it was too late.  The ground exploded around you, with leaves and debris shooting up into the air.  Then you were falling.  You felt the smack earth, and then you were dragged from it.  The trap had been sprung, and with both legs tied, you found yourself dangling upside down from a tree.

“My… what a precious thing has come our way,” said a scratchy woman’s voice, from somewhere in the dark woods.  Direction was a difficult thing to judge when upside down, and swinging from a rope.  “Very precious indeed,” she cackled lightly. 

You suddenly recall that laughter, now thrice heard.

“Sleep,” the scratchy voice says, and a deep darkness fell over your eyes. 

Nine days… How did you make it nine days?

 

There are only 22 more days until Halloween.