The Boy of the Wood

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Monica was seriously regretting the stupid bet she made with her friend, Rachel. Apparently writing your name on a tree in the forest was good, as long as it was'nt midnight. And now it was. The woods were scary, and many people had reportedly gone missing. The full moon's light barely made it to the floor, and where it did, it had a beautiful yet creepy ghostly aura. The leafless trees of fall reminded her of the bony hands of the witches she saw in Disney movies. She might have laughed then, but now it was the last thing she wanted to do. So, not even daring to breathe, she slowly made her way down the leaf covered path, the leaves crunching under her feet.

It was not long before she realised she was lost. The path was no where to be seen. Great. Just what she needed. As if the situation could'nt get worse, she heard a rustling close by behind her. She turned, and her face turned pale. There was a glowing object moving towards her slowly. At that point, Monica did'nt even care to look back. She just ran, forgetting everything, as fast as her legs could take her. Her heart was pounding in her chest. She had heard of bears in these woods before, but bears dont glow! What was this?

She did'nt care, whatever it was. For all she knew, it could be an alien from outer space. She was too scared to turn back, but she was also apparently too scared to see where she was going, because she triped and fell. For a second, she lay there, disoriented. Her head was throbbing with pain, and try as she might, she couldnt get up. She turned; the glowing thing was still moving towards her. Slowly and steadily it came. Finally, the leaves of the bushes close to her rustled, and the glow was out in the open. In the dark, the light was almost blinding. But as soon as it appeared, the light died down. In its place stood a young boy, around her age, looking at her carefully.

He was as tall as her, maybe slightly taller, and had neatly combed brown hair. He wore a white shirt under a leather jacket, and black pants. His face was like any other boy's but the thing that caught Monica's attention was his eyes. It kept changing colours. One minute it was a beautiful blue, the next minute a refreshing green, and the next, a lovely hazel. The eyes made the whole face unreal.

He stood for sometime, looking at her. She was too scared to speak or get up, and her head still throbbed. She sat there, just hoping this was'nt some sort of alien disguised as a human. After what seemed like an eternity, He stretched out his hand, and she heard his voice for the first time, "Are you okay?"

His voice was calm, slightly concerned, and felt like music in a dark and scary wood. In a minute, all her fears and worries melted away

"I'm fine, thanks" she said as she took his hand and finally got up. The throbbing in her head suddenly stopped. "Who are you and what are you doing here?"

He smiled and replied:

"I'm Somnus. I was walking through the woods when I heard your footsteps. But when I came closer to investigate, you took off."

"But the glow... What was it?"

He laughed, and said through many chortles

"My flashlight! What did you think it was?"

"I dont know. Some sort of alien glow."

He smiled, and just looked at her. They stood in the darkness of the night, in a glen, just looking at each other. Finally, Somnus broke the silence.

"Sorry, I forgot to ask your name!"

"Monica." she said, blushing slightly.

"So where do you live, Monica?"

"Just on the outskirts of the wood, in a small cottage with my parents. Where do you live?"

"Hmmm... Just in and around the woods."