The Long Road into Night #10

On the 10^th day, this one realizes that you aren’t dead yet.  This still seems likely to be only a temporary thing.  If you wish otherwise, then this one might suggest that you… WAKE UP!

 

Your head is throbbing.  It feels like your brain is trying to leap free of your skull.  Slowly and painfully, you open your eyes.  The world you see is upside down, or rather you still are.  You can hear that woman’s scratchy voice.  It’s humming the most annoying of tunes, and that doesn’t help the pain in your head at all.  A low groan escapes your lips.

 

“So… you’re awake,” The woman said in surprise.  Then she steps into view for the first time.

 

Maybe “woman” was too much of a conclusion to jump to.  You believe human might not be too accurate as well.  This “woman’s” putrid green skin looked as if it were melting from her heavy set body.  Her nose was larger than your big toe, and the puss filled wart at the end of it, wasn’t much smaller.  To each side of this bulbous nose sat eyes of red, that almost glowed with hunger. 

 

“I wish not to be rude.  My name is Gelda,” the monstrous woman said.  Gelda smiled with the few teeth she had, and only a few of those were even pointing close to the direction they should.  “It has been so long, since I have had a guest for dinner,” she licked her lips. 

You then notice the large bubbling pot, wondering where it had come from, and how long you’d been out. 

“The one and his pet dog rarely allow me guests,” Gelda sneered.  At least she attempted a sneer.  Her melting flesh did not appear to be well attached, and slid free of the changing expression. 

“Oh, yes,” she bent over to pick something up.  “I almost forgot that you already met my last guest.”

Gelda held up the Femur bone and rib pieces that you had carried as weapons.  She slid one of the ribs under her nose for a sniff, and smiled beneath her melting skin.

“I remember him well,” Gelda reminisced.  She slowly walks over to the cauldron.  “He was a quiet one too, but he made an excellent stew.”  She tosses one of the ribs into the bubbling pot and begins a slow strut back toward you.  “A very excellent stew, the best I ever had,” she whispered wickedly, and a light cackle followed.

There are only 21 more days until Halloween.

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.

The Long Road into Night #8

It is the 8^th day, and you are not where you are supposed to be.  You––or at least a good chunk of you, should have been passing through the wolf’s lower intestine by now.  That appointment has not been kept, and someone is going to have to answer for that.  This of course could all be cleared up, if you just agreed to step back onto the road.  You however, don’t seem to want to make this or the wolf’s dietary needs, easy for us.  For that reason, we shall just leave that account open for now.  That is, if you decide to change your mind.  Though, you really haven’t been listening, have you? 

 

That poor soul, whose remains you fell beside, appears to have offered you some assistance.  It doesn’t even complain when you pull free its well cleaned femur.  You swing it about a few times like a club, and then use it to smash the deceased’s ribcage.  Respect for the dead seems low on your priorities, as you pick through the broken ribs for the longest, straightest pieces.  Using strips torn from your own clothing, you wrap the ends of a couple of selected shards.  They are a bit crude, but if you get the pointy end of these knives into something, pain will most certainly be felt.

 

Feeling somewhat prepare for what you might face next, you turn toward the wolf, still waiting by the road’s edge.  It shakes its head at you again.  One really should wonder a bit longer, about why it didn’t follow you into the woods.  You however, simply tip your head to the beast in salute, and turn.  Stepping past the skeleton, you head further into the forest.  There is a soft cackling of laughter that seems pleased with your decision.

 

There are only 23 more days until Halloween.

The Long Road into Night #7

On the 7th day one would assume that there would be rest.  If this is your belief, then by all means, feel free to rest, while the wolf eats you.  It is good then, that you have decided against rest at this time.  This was of course one of your better choices in life.  However, leaving the road was probably more toward the other end of that scale.

 

You stumble through the forest which is darker than even the road was.  At least on the road you didn’t have to worry about hitting your head on a tree limb, which you just did.  That’s going to leave a dreadful mark, but so will the wolf’s teeth, so hurry on.  Then again, falling flat on your face is another option.  Your inability to see in the dark is really slowing things down.

 

One must ask, “How is it, that you aren’t dead yet?”  Well at least you’re doing better than that poor chap.

 

Lifting your face from the mud, the pale moonlight allows you notice the human skull.  Partially covered in leaves, you see the whole of the skeleton laying right next to where you fell.  Next you realize you might be joining whoever that was.  You roll, looking back the way you came.  The wolf had not struck.  It hadn’t even followed you into the forest.  Though in your stumbling, you really didn’t get very far in the first place.  The beast was just standing there at the road’s edge.  It seemed to be smiling at you.  The wolf shakes its head, and sits down to wait.

 

There are only 24 more days until Halloween.

The Long Road into Night #6

We have reached the 6^th day.  That troublesome thing called life may not be a concern for you much longer.  The dark road passes quickly beneath your feet, as your heart races, and you urge your legs to move even faster. 

 

You heard the howl, right before you glimpsed the massive beast stepping onto the road.  The monster’s pelt was darker than the night, and its huge padded paws fell like thunder upon road, as it came for you.  The wolf’s panting breath fogged in the cool air, and its long teeth gleamed in the moonlight.  In its eyes was a reflection of only you.

How far have you run now?  You can still hear it behind you.  The wolf’s hot breath is right on your neck.  Its teeth will soon be tearing into your flesh.  The long straight road narrows, as the surrounding forest closes in.  How far can you run?  You know you are out of options.  You will never outrun it.  So instead, you do something that was not expected.  You step off the road, and head into the forest.  Then again, maybe this was expected.  On the wind, there is a soft cackle of laughter.

There are only 25 more days until Halloween.

The Long Road into Night #5

It is the 5^th day on the dark road, and finally you ask, “How did I get here?” 

That is probably a very good question, and another might be, “Where am I?” 

Oddly, most usually ask those things on the first day, but you waited until the fifth.  This would be quite interesting, for those who find such things interesting.  Unfortunately, answers to your questions will not be provided this day, for that would most certainly be telling.  Telling, by the way is frowned upon here, and you really don’t want to be frowned upon here.  

So with that in mind, this one does not expect an answer, but this one must ask, “What are you going to do about the wolf?”  He is quite close now.  If this one might suggest, then this one might say, “Run!”

There are only 26 more days until Halloween.

The Long Road into Night #4

End of the 4^th day on the dark road and you’re still alive.  Some might be impressed, but you can’t help wondering who they might be, just as you are now wondering who you might be.  You have a name don’t you?  Such a silly question, for everyone has a name… but what is yours?  It is on the tip of your tongue.  You know it, but the syllables slip away before you can utter them.  You glance back the way you came, but know in your heart, there is nothing is back there for you.  Down the dark road you realize you must travel, into night, and toward the answers you seek.  By the way…, did you notice the wolf when you glanced back?  There are 27 more days until Halloween.