A Collection of Very Short Fiction

#7 Forest

"Don't go too far." said Jenny's mom, "And put your coat on darling."

"Yes Moma." said Jenny. She put on her lilac boots and her matching coat.

"Take good care of your little sister, " Jenny's mother said to her eldest, Carol.

"Yes Moma," said Carol.

"Oh, and kids, it is very important you are here before nightfall, you never know what monsters you meet. If you do meet one, be nice to it. Ask it to take you back home, should you get lost." said Jenny and Carol's mother. Everyone knew monsters didn't exist. The doctors gave Jenny and Carol's mom some medicine, so she would stop talking about monsters. They said it was some sort of trauma from when they had lived in a different country, where a war was going on. People said she was crazy, but the kids thought she was nice and loved her no matter what people thought. Even though the other kids weren't her own, she loved them and they loved her. They even called her Moma sometimes.

It got dark. They had stayed in the forest too long and night had fallen faster than they had expected. "Let's go home" squeaked Carlotta, the smallest girl. Her pigtails bouncing up and down as she bobbed her head from side to side.

"We better go home now," agreed Jonah, "Before Moma gets worried. You know she's afraid that we disturb the monsters."

"Okay" said Carol and took Jenny's hand. He and Jenny started to lead the way home.

"You know monsters don't exist." said Beatrice with a shaky voice. They walked for ten minutes and it was getting dark so fast that soon even her pale blond hair, which now shone brightly, wouldn't be visible anymore.

"Don't be daft, of course monsters don't exist" said Jonah, sensing Trice's nervousness. The kids fell silent after that, only Jonah's cart and Carlotta's singing was heard.

"Why are you all so silent?" asked Carlotta after a short time, "Are you scared? You know, you don't have to be scared. Because you've never seen a monster, doesn't mean you have to be scared. Maybe monsters don't want to be scary. Maybe they're lonely and want someone to play with."

"We're not scared" said Jenny. The truth was, none of the children were scared of monsters. Moma told them monsters didn't kill you of you were nice to them and didn't hurt them. Also, everyone said monsters don't exist. But the kids were scared of the dark. By now, it was so dark they could hardly see the path. They were scared of the loneliness the dark seemed to spread. Scares of things they couldn't see.

Suddenly, when the clouds let the moon shine it's light for a split second, the kids could see the path was blocked by a monster. It looked gruesome and horribly deformed. Each one of the four legs was at least three times as tall as Jonah, who was the tallest of the kids. Most of the children were terrified when the monster let out an unearthly screech, that turned into a high-pitched wail. But not Jenny. She and her family had grown up in a country ruined by war and pestilence. She had seen the blood and heard the cries of true fear. And she understood.

The children started screaming and the monsters wail turned even more scary.

Jenny looked concerned, almost upset. "Stop scaring it!" she cried. "Stop! Stop!" She repeated a few more times, until the children fell silent. "Can't you see, it's scared of us." said Jenny, in a soft voice. "Don't be afraid." she said turned to the monster. She carefully took a few steps towards the monster.

"Wait." said Carol, taking Jenny's hand. "I told Moma I would always look after you." He squeezed Jenny's hand gently. Jenny smiled up at her brother. More confident now, she took a few more tentative steps towards the creature that was still wailing. The creature tried back up, still screeching. It tripped on it's long legs and fell with a scream. Jenny and Carol now reached the monster, that was huddled on the ground, looking like a black heap of pure fear. It let out small whimpers of panic. Jenny stood before the once so fearsome looking creature with her hands on her hips. She looked at the hideous creature with her head tilted. Then she crouched down and touched one of the monster's legs. It sobbed in fear, scrambling backwards. Carol pulled Jenny to her feet. Together they walked towards the head of the monster.

"Don't be afraid," said Carol, to everyone including himself and the monster. Jenny crouched down again. She bent down close to the monsters head.

"We don't want to hurt you. We are lost, can you help us to get back home?" she whispered to the monster's head, since it was hard to tell were its ear was. The monster looked at her through its coal black eyes. It seemed to be a young monster and it was trembling in fear lime an abused dog.
"Please," Jenny begged, "We're scared of the dark and we are lost, can you help us find our way back to Moma?" At the word Moma, the monster's head perked up slightly. The fear in its eyes had been replaced by the pain of loss. It whimpered again, but it was not of fear. It was a sound of pure agony, the sound of a loss, which no human could ever comprehend. It came from deep down in the soul of the monster. Jenny placed her hand on the monster's head and gently stroked it.
"Maybe," Jonah reasoned," humans killed its parents. Maybe that is why it is scares if us."
"Yes, I think you are right." Said Beatrice. She thoughtfully looked at the monster and said, "But why would anyone try to kill it? It doesn't look like it would hurt anyone."
But that was the thing with monsters. Everyone thought they were the evil in this world, but they only were because if they would show their compassion and their true nature, they would be captured and tortured to help the humans like slaves. Their fearsomeness gave them their freedom. They would rather be seen as evil than to be tortured and enslaved by the true monsters in this world.

Carlotta asked again if the monster could bring them home. She was only four years old saw the world for what it was and not for what anyone had told her how it was. And now she saw a creature that was scared. And if there was one thing she knew it was that she wanted to help the monster.

A/N

I decided to end it here. Why? I don't know. Because it felt like I should end it here. The picture was on a site, I don't remember where. The challenge was to come up with a story for it. So I decided I would.

I always appreciate comments, votes and feedback :)