Time fillers

The Leaves Whisper

                         That damned forest was at fault for all my problems. I should have listened to everyone else, telling me "Stay away from the forest, it's nothing but evil!". But I'm me, and I'm always right. Or so I thought. That was when the storm hit. My dog, Gerard, ran into the forest, trying to get away from the storm. Me, being the amazing owner I was, chased after him. How in the hell was I supposed to know the legend was true? The forest was like no other forest I'd ever seen, and the country side is covered in forests. Light had no home in the forest, everything in the forest was dead, but it never rotted away. That should have been the biggest push to make me stay in the town. I thought it was just suffering from some sort of later summer thing. 

                          Back to my dog, I chased that damn beast through the forest, stumbling through underbrush and constantly getting smacked by low hanging branches that seemed to always hit me. I held out my hands to make sure I wouldn't run into a tree. Little did I know how useless would that prove to be. Every bark seemed quieter, almost like my dog was still running away. I though once he got out of the rain, he would have been fine and just stopped. Not my dog, my dog always had to prove me wrong, damn mongrel. I kept pushing through, not knowing where I was even going at this point. It was then that I encountered Them. They flooded the area around me with voices, unlike any I'd ever heard before. Some were smooth like silk, while others sound like their throats were choking on gravel. The voices faded after a second or two, but I was stopped dead in my trail, listening to the darkness, trying to find anything that even remotely sounded like a voice. I heard nothing and just kept forward in the direction I felt my dog had run off into. I couldn't even hear the fucking mongrel anymore, but I kept running, hoping I could find him. 

                          "Forward, forward" I said to myself, urging my self even further into the darkness. But like a lance from the great lord himself, light struck the ground, striking back the darkness that had held me back. I ran forward, no longer afraid of the darkness, that seemed to be retreating all around me. Rain, lighter than before, still fell heavy around me, covering my clothes and making them to stick to my thin figure. I ran forward, and turned around instantly.

                           I had not been quick enough, and the ground gave out beneath me, sliding down the side of the hill, like a mud slide. I slid down with it, my torso, legs, and face getting splashed by mud as I slid down. I attempted to turn, but I only continued to slide down the slope. It was then again, when I heard Them. The voices swarmed around me again, like locusts, with their annoying voices. I heard one clear word "Grasp!" Almost on pure reflex I grasped to my left and right, only to catch a log that somehow been lodged. I pulled myself towards it, and waited for I don't know how long. All I know is, that by the time the ground was still, the mud had dried on me, back into dirt. I let go, and slid down the hill, very slowly on my butt. Again, though, I was stuck in darkness, I could not see anything not even my hands right in front of me.

                               But I could hear it, panting, growling, and the sounds of twigs snapping and leaves breaking. The sounded circled around me, and with a ferocious roar, seeming to fly at me. I fell back as a large mass crashed into my chest, knocking the wind out of me. I pushed against it as I fell, but I could only feel hair. I tried to let out a scream, but nothing came out. My voice was gone, just like my breath. The beast jumped back, or I assume it did at least, because I was left on the ground, with the greatest pain on my chest. I reached down to check out myself and I winced with the greatest pain I'd ever felt. My chest was ripped to shreds, strands of flesh hanging on by mere strands of skin. Blood gathered on the tips of my fingers, pooling out beside me. That damn monster, I could hear it sniffing. I could hear I coming at me!

                         NO! Not any more!

                         "REACH!" 

                         Not even questioning myself, I reached to the right where I heard the voice, and combed the ground. Something hard hit my hand and I grasped at it with all my might. My fingers curled around a good sized rock, my only weapon! I had to live, I needed to get out of here. I see why they say this forest was cursed, how you don't think straight.  

                         The beast ran at me, I could hear the rapid breaking of twigs snapping again, I turned around. Something urged me forward, forcing me to get up and forget my pain. I stood up, and almost slipped on my own blood. I caught myself, when I fell to my knees, and burst off at a run. I could see a small area, maybe a couple feet around, and ran to it. That damned beast caught me first, smashed into my back. I could feel and hear my ribs cracking as it put it's weight against me. As I fell I twisted and grabbed the damn beast, and swung at it with the rock. I missed, but we fell, rolling towards the light. I kept swinging, and kept missing.

                            We rolled closer and closer, and the beast kept trying to run, but I had a good handful of hair. I wasn't letting go. I would never let this thing get away with killing me unless I died first. I swung, and to my surprise, I mad contact, A liquid sprayed my face, warm and sticky, blood. I spit out the small amount that had flown into my mouth, and kept swinging. It stopped resisting, and we finally stopped rolling. Looking straight up, I wiped away the blood from my face, using the last of my strength wipe it away. I saw it, the beautiful moon, and the rain was now just a drizzle. My chest and back were crying out in pain as blood flooded the ground. My attacker was another story, it made not even a sound, not even breathing by the sound of it. I needed to know what it was that had attacked me. I wanted to know what secret this forest held. I sat up and started crying from the pain. What I saw at my feet brought even more tears to me, because at my feet was my attacker. My dog.