(Page 1 of 2) A Spine-Tingling Tale of Blood-Chilling Horror by Michael AaronSUMMARY: April flash fiction contest entry "Hold on a minute. I'm going into the trees."
"It's not allowed. And I don't like walking out here on my own."
"You're not alone, you have Maya."
Maya looked up from the buggy and beamed a toothy grin at her parents.
"You know what I mean."
"Ah yes, the park is a well known den of thieves and brigands, waiting to ambush the unwary traveller."
"Shut up and go pee."
"Well, if you're sure you'll be safe while I'm gone..."
Andrew left the path and stepped into the trees. In a few seconds he was back and they continued downhill.
"I don't know why you had to go then. There's a toilet just a bit further on."
"I happen to like relieving myself as nature intended. More environmentally friendly, too."
"Anything could have happened to you. Or us."
"Like a bear or a wolf attacking me?"
Mary pursed her lips.
"Or Robin Hood and his merry men robbing me?"
Mary made sure Maya was safely tucked in.
"Daddy doesn't realise that bad things can happen to good people, Maya," Mary told her daughter.
Andrew put on a deep, gravelly voice and announced, in film-trailer style: "Andrew and Mary thought they were going for a quiet trip to the park..."
"Stop that."
"Little did they know, they were about to enter a world...of terror!"
"You know I hate that."
"Tremble as an ancient evil awakens to destroy mankind!"
"Yes," said Mary. "Womankind."
Andrew continued in his normal voice. "Picture the scene: A young couple with a baby – not unlike ourselves – in the middle of a beautiful forest. The man leaves the trail while the woman and child wait. And wait. The music changes. He's taking too long. She calls his name – no answer."
"Daddy has a very strange sense of humour, Maya."
"She calls and shouts, but still no answer. Should she follow him?"
"I wouldn't."
"Well Maya, it's a good thing our heroine is made of stronger stuff than your mother. We follow as she struggles through, the low branches whipping her face, all the time shouting for her husband."
"She sounds stupid."
"She hears some rustling in the bushes ahead. Something big is coming."
"Please shut up."
"We hear the awful panting, branches snapping, we see her face turn from happiness to horror – then...!"
Andrew checked his daughter was safely strapped in. He chucked her chin and she giggled. "...Then we switch to a shot of the forest from further away, seeing only the treetops. In the distance we hear an unearthly growl, a woman screaming, then a baby crying. Then the forest is silent."
Mary and Andrew walked on. After a while, Mary said:
"Why do you have to do that, you know I can't stand it."
Andrew laughed. "Oh come on – it's just a story. And a terribly clichéd one at that."
"And a stupid one, if they all get killed at the start."
"Oh that's just the set-up! See, we've got to show a teaser for the monster, or whatever-it-is, right at the start. What better way than have it kill a sweet innocent family with a little baby? So when our hero is exposed to the danger for the first time, there's dramatic tension.
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