Newspaper Cuttings

Don't Close Your Eyes...

Ellie White was nervous.

Ellie White was always nervous.

Gulping a little, she rubbed her icy hands up and down her jeans in the vain hope of relaxing. The forest creaked eerily around her, the trees leaning in closer, as though to hear the chatter of the Guides as they sat around their dying camp fire, shoulders hunched like dying leaves, curled and dark. October is generally not the best time for camping, but Halloween night was just plain mad.

The wild whistling of the wind made it almost impossible to hear someone at the other side of the circle, but it didn't take a genius to tell what the others were talking about. Their sly sidelong glances were fooling no one.

Jo, perched delicately on a damp log to avoid the equally damp grass, placed her hand on Ellie's shaking pair, stopping the frantic rubbing for a moment.

The look on her face said it all before she even opened her mouth. "Ellie, what's the panic? There's nothing to worry about, and that," she muttered, shaking her head and gesturing at her friend's legs, "starts to get irritating pretty quickly."

Ellie nodded briskly, and stared into the embers of the fire, subconsciously starting the frenzied action once more.

Jo's objection was cut short by the flurried arrival of Katrina, not a hair out of place or a makeup smudge in sight, despite her rush.

Just in time, she slid into her predetermined spot in the very centre of the group as Ann, the group's leader, shuffled out of her tent, wearing her usual fluffy slippers. It was a running joke among her Guides that she was never seen without them, or wearing anything other than her strict uniform from a time long past: a time when she was a young woman with dreams of her own. Ann was a strange mixture between past and present, although she was clinging to those days.

"Right, girls. Who wants to sing?" The excitement in Ann's voice was clear, but the girls were somewhat less enthusiastic.

Katrina put up her hand with a smirk, simpering in a way that made Jo squirm noticeably.

"Don't we need the campfire song book? I know the words, but some others don't!" The girl glanced meaningfully at Jo, who just stuck out her tongue as Ellie bit her chapped lip. For once, her rival didn't protest at Jo's reaction, but smiled sickeningly at Ann's retreating back as she shuffled off to find the book.

The second she was out of sight, Katrina turned to the others, leaning in close as the dying embers of the fire cast strange flickering shadows onto her too-perfect face. Ellie shivered, wrapping her coat tighter around herself as her friend rolled her eyes, but to who she wasn't certain.

"Now it's time for some real fun," Katrina whispered, gazing around at her captive audience. "Scary stories! It is Halloween after all..." She dragged her makeshift stool closer to the others, who looked on in silence.

No one dared to object. Ann was a lot easier to deal with than Katrina, and soon forgot your mistakes. Rumour had it that Katrina remembered people who had crossed her in nursery school. Ellie could confirm that. She had always been clumsy, but it hadn't been her fault that someone had left the paint pot at the edge of the table...There were other incidents of course, but Ellie didn't wish to think about them.

As Katrina cleared her throat, a drop of rain fell onto Ellie's head, followed by a second that ran slowly down her back. This sent her tingling all over before the story even began...

"Once," the other girl began in a strange sort of stage whisper, "there was a forest. In that forest was a glade, and in that glade stood a girl. Her name was Ellie, and she was lost. Again. Everyone had left her behind. Again." Katrina grinned in a way that showed all her flawless teeth, shining slightly in the darkness that no fire could penetrate. "She was alone, she was hungry, and she was tired. But her first big mistake was to close her eyes. It was just a blink. What harm could it do?