A Short Collection of Short Stories

Echo

Jane stood on top of the mountainside cliff beside her younger brother. They were taking a camping trip to the Shadow Mountains, named for their remarkable jet-black rock. Jane gazed out at the ravine below that produced a bowl-shaped valley thanks to the surrounding mountains. She watched a crystal waterfall cascade off an adjacent mountain into the rocky gorge far below.

"Echo!" her brother screamed, startling her.

"John, what are you doing?" she said. "The monster will come after you!" in the village they had passed, they were told about a creature made of shadows named Echo, who attacked any camper who dared to yell the word. The story told of a great beast that walked on its hind legs and had glowing red eyes.

"Oh, you don't really believe all that, do you?" John said, smirking. "That's

just a story that kept kids quiet. Besides, it's fun! Echo!" they listened as an impressive reverberation bounced back.

"I don't know John . . ." Jane said.

"Oh, come on, you know you want to." Jane gathered her courage.

"Echo!" she yelled. A moment passed.

"Echo!" the mountains replied. Jane couldn't help but smile.

"Echo!" John yelled.

"Echo!" the mountains repeated. Jane joined in, until it seemed the valley

was filled to the brim with the word. They yelled and laughed until the sun

began to sink into the mountain's toothy edge.

"Come on John, we need to get back before it gets too dark." Jane said,

her throat burning from yelling all day.

"Echo!" her brother yelled one last time. As the last faint "Echo!" faded into silence, Jane could've sworn it was accompanied by a roar and on the mountain across from them she thought she saw two glowing red eyes glaring at them from inside a cave. But when she blinked, they were gone, so she shook her head and dismissed it a reflecting sunlight playing tricks.

Jane woke up with a start. She'd thought she'd heard someone screaming. Jane reached over to see if John was still asleep. He wasn't in his sleeping bag. Jane grabbed her flashlight.

"Probably just went to the bathroom," she muttered to herself. She shone the flashlight at their supplies and her breath hitched. The toilet paper was still there. She tried to calm down. 

"He's probably just being forgetful. It is late." she muttered without conviction. She began to think about the legend and panic began to worm its way into her head and sank its nauseous claws into her stomach. She crawled out of her sleeping bag and crept outside. She shone the flashlight beam around the woods around her but saw nothing but the dying embers of their fire. 

"John," She whisper-yelled, feeling as though the darkness was closing in on her. There was no response. 

"John!" She whisper-yelled again. She was met by an eerie silence. A dead silence. No crickets chirped; no owls hooted. Her flashlight barely penetrated the darkness around her. 

"John!" She said louder, pushing her courage to the limit. "John, if you jump out and scare me I swear, I will throw you off the cliff!" She growled.

"Too late," a devilish voice replied. Jane whipped around. A creature that seemed to be made entirely of blackness standing behind her. Its legs weirdly thin with backward knees, its midsection a gnarled mass of twisting lines of darkness, and its gangly arms hung down so far it's messed up claws almost scraped the ground. Jane looked up at its face. Two glowing redeyes stared back.

"Echo," it whispered. Jane screamed and dropped the flashlight. It rolled away the light wheeling wildly. The creature roared and Jane took off sprinting blindly through the woods, stumbling through the dark woods. Behind she could hear it crashing through the woods yelling: "Echo . . . Echo . . . Echo . . .'' Jane ran then stopped as she found herself at the cliff she and her brother had been at. She turned around and saw the creature advancing. Jane walked back, and fell over a rock. She pushed herself away as the creature lumbered ever closer. Soon she was pushed up against the ledge. Glancing back she saw the dizzying height she was facing. The creature was almost to her, staring at her. There was no escape.

"What do you want?!" Jane screamed, sobbing. It came closer. "Who are

you?!" The creature stopped. It reached down, wrapped a clawed hand around her throat, and picked her up, until her feet hovered above the ground. Jane struggled to breathe, and the creature pulled her close until her face was inches away from it. The creature cocked its head to the side and looked at her, eyes blazing.

"Echo," it whispered. Then with one massive swing it threw Jane screaming over the edge. As she fell, she heard it laughing. She looked down and saw the lifeless face of her brother at the bottom. Right as she hit the ground, she heard it one last time.

"Echo!"