Lesson Learned

I just felt like walking today; otherwise, I could have caught a ride with one of my friends. As I walk home through the woods separating my house from the rest of the neighborhood, I notice a strange shadow walking behind me. I keep going, thinking it may just be one of my friends trying to prank me. I pick up my pace, slowly at first, but then at a brisk run. I run for a while, glancing behind my shoulder every so often to see if the shadow is still following me. Sure enough, it's there, keeping up with the brisk pace I had set. However, its feet didn't seem to be touching the ground. It must just be my imagination playing tricks on me, I think.

I keep running, and every time I look back, he seems to be getting closer. I can't run much longer. I stop, trying to catch my breath and get rid of the stitch in my side. When I turn around to meet whomever had been chasing me, there's no one there. OK, that's weird. I turn around to continue walking home, and bump into something solid. I scream.

"No, no, no. It's fine. I didn't mean to scare you, but then you started running, so I took off after you," I hear someone say from above. I look up to see a young man. He couldn't have been much older than me, with dark hair and dark clothes. He was certainly cute, but I had never seen him before.

"Why were you following me?" I ask indignantly. I wasn't about to let some boy try to follow me and then get away with it when I didn't know why.

"Because I was told to."

"By whom?"

"Someone. I can't tell you their name."

"Oh boy, a secret," I say, dripping with sarcasm. "Are you allowed to tell me your name, or is that a secret, too?"

"No, that's not a secret," the boy says, either ignoring or entirely missing my sarcasm. "It's Sam."

"Okay. Nice to meet you Sam, I'm Asley, but you probably already knew that," I say, before turning abruptly and walking towards my house.

I hear the crunching of fallen leaves on the floor as he follows me and calls out my name. I keep walking. He was able to keep up with me when I was running, he should be able to do the same if I'm running. As I walk, softly because I've walked these woods for several years, I listen to the racket the boy is making behind me. For how silently he was when he ran after me, he seemed to be very clumsy now, and I laughed softly when I heard him 'oomph' after tripping over something. I turned around just in time to see him get up, only to hit his head on a low-hanging tree branch. I burst out laughing. I couldn't help it. It's just so funny to see someone who had been following me get injured. That's karma for ya. When I finally stop laughing, I look up to see that Sam hasn't moved from where I last saw him. He mumbles something, but I'm far enough away from him that I don't hear what he says. He's probably just cursing my name. Suddenly, I feel myself change. My whole body shrinks, my clothes disappear, and I am suddenly very thirsty. I don't hear so much as feel the footsteps of Sam walking towards me. I have this strange urge to disappear, but I don't want to retreat. So I just stand there craning my neck up at Sam, who is now a giant. He reaches down and picks me up.

"Hello turtle Asley," he says, putting me in a Tupperware full of water that I could've sworn wasn't there a minute ago. As he walks, I can't see anything because of the vibrations from his footsteps. I don't know where he's taking me, but the next time he tries to touch me, I'm biting him.

Finally, we get to our destination, but I'm confused. I look up at Sam, having finally gotten used to the bouncing of his footsteps, before looking back at the house curiously. Sam stops at the front door, and pulls out a set of keys, unlocking the door. He steps inside and closes the door. He reaches into the Tupperware dish and grabs me. I crane my neck around and bite his finger. He yelps and drops me back into the dish. I collide with the dish and the sudden jar of the fall knocks the wind out of me. As I try to regain my breath, Sam lets out a few choice words, before looking down at me.