Once Upon a Paradox

Chapter 2: Grandma's House

"Grandma, I am coming." murmured Red dully.

With each step her anxiety grew, her previous hesitant steps now shaky.

Why? Thought Red.

The crunches of leaves and snaps of twigs echoed throughout the forest as Red slowly made her way to a semi cleared path to her grandmother's house. The distant open yet closed space of the forest felt discomforting.

The dark atmosphere with the occasional light peaking through cracks in the trees felt ominous.

And the silence of the forest only being interrupted by her footsteps was isolating. Like an insect creating ripples in still waters, as if her every move can easily be heard and seen from afar.

"It is so much darker than the last time I came," said Red to herself. "Is that even possible?"

The trees of the forest seemed suffocating, like flexible towering worms fighting for access to the light, denying anything beneath it. It was troubling why an old lady would live here.

"Grandma, why here?" Red asked herself.

What could it be that motivated my Grandma to live out here? Thought Red. Definitely not the atmosphere, nothing's inviting about this, thought Red, her eyes scattering to every dark corner in view.

"I mean, what could be more inviting than a huge, empty and dark forest?" asked Red in a soft tone. "What a hollowing, dark place to call a home."

"I wouldn't take the chances of living here."

As Red persisted through the array of tall slender trees with huge roofs of branches and leaves that light dared to penetrate, she wondered how her Grandma managed to locate anything in this forest.

Afterall, Red didn't even have a lamp with her, solely relying on her own two amber eyes to try and navigate this terrain like she always had since she was young. She has made this trip more times than she can remember and yet every time her tense, stomach rupturing feelings were similar.

Something was different though, after venturing this far into the woods her nervousness would usually begin to dissipate by now but a lingering sense of danger peaked throughout Red's body.

As the feeling rose, so did Red's legs as she picked up her pace tenfold. She wondered where this feeling was coming from.

It was as if a fear of inferiority nestled in Red's body, it was loosely unexplainable.

Red, now trampling through the forest at near running speeds, constantly looked behind her at every moment she got. What is this, she wondered.

Nevertheless, Red quickly followed the vaguely open path to her Grandma's house trying her best to not lose her focus.

Now, she could hear the sounds of distant insects whistling and chirping blissfully. But, wait, why within a certain radius was it complete and utter silence. What was the epicentre?

Immediately as Red stepped on a dry twig, the echo filled the forest with silence, only to speedily return back to the distant sounds of insects chirping. An uneasy sensation suddenly came over her as she began to remember her Grandmother's warnings and signs while travelling through the forest.

My little Red, she heard her Grandmother's voice say. Rule number one about travelling through the woods is: Always pay attention to your surroundings, spoke her Grandmother. Let your eyes be wild and search for any inconsistencies and patterns.

Rule Number 2: Always be prepared for any sudden surprises. You may never know when something as sudden as unforeseen as a strong gust of wind, a tree falling or worse...an animal attack.