A Short Collection of Short Stories

Deer Mask (Unfinished)

Deep in the forests of North America a figure walks through the woods. Sometimes it is alone. Sometimes there is a young child with it. Sometimes it walks behind a tree and vanishes. Sometimes it walks out from behind trees too skinny to hide it. Perhaps it is a man who has lost both his way and his sanity. Perhaps it is a demon. Perhaps it is simply a creature unknown to science. A creature Mother Nature has tucked away far in the woods so it may never meet her other children and set an unspoken rule that none were to venture near it. But humans were never good at listening to Mother Nature's rules.

Chloe sat in the tent listening. She could've sworn she heard something outside. Something laughing. Or maybe crying? She strained her ears to listen, but she just could not make it out. She was beginning to doubt she even heard anything at all. Then the noise stopped, and it became very clear that there had been a noise. The silence was so disturbing, so abrupt, so deafening Chloe wished the sound would start up again. Anything to stop the unnatural silence. She was in the middle of the woods. Where were the bugs, the crickets, whatever else lived out in the woods? There had been plenty of noise the previous night. There had been plenty of noise an hour earlier. There had been an owl so loud Chloe hadn't been able to sleep. She hated the owl then. She wished for it now. Just something to break the silence. Then something did. A twig behind her snapped. She pointed the flashlight at the wall of the tent as if she would be able to see through it. She sat perfectly still, not daring to move. Afraid that if she did, she would miss any sounds.