Hiding in the shadows

Chapter 2

"Mommy, Mommy! Look, this leaf is even bigger than that one!"

It was a Friday night and every teenager was out at the local fair, well, everyone but me. I was walking along one of the quieter streets in our busy little town Tula. It was early autumn and all the golden ash trees that line the streets were turning all sorts of beautiful oranges and yellows and losing their leaves. Their skeletal bare wooden structures never failed to captivate and amaze me. The little girl who I decided looked like an Emily, kicked a small pile of leaves she just created in her front yard. Their little white picket fence was covered by a sweeping storm of autumnal colors and a flash of bright pink tights, light pink tutu and yellow wellingtons. The mother stood on the porch and smiled at her little girl, holding a steaming cup of coffee, watching as she embraced the seasons as she slowly grew older and explored the wonders of the world.

I was wandering down to the forest at the bottom of Tula, it's where I liked to go when I had a lot on my mind. The past week was catching up on me and I felt like I had a pit of confusion and unknowledgeable questions stacking up inside me. My dad was always on me about something, no matter how big or small so I told him I was going out for a walk, all he said was "As long as you're not going to her place." which infuriated me even more and resulted me in slamming the door and not even bothering to stop and tie up the laces on my Converses. I stormed out of our front garden and down the little dirt road that went down to the small creek near the neighbor's house. Over the years I had created a small worn path that led to the street that I was currently on. I plugged in my headphones and started listening to some music to lose my mind in. it wasn't until I was nearing the edge of the forest that I realized that I was mindlessly singing, "I am tired of this place of how people change" and how true the lyrics felt to me. I walked into the forest and didn't stop until I was at least in a kilometer deep. I tried to stop walking only to realize that I was running and that I was out of breath. I spotted a fallen tree and near that, a boulder, on which I sat. I sat in the sunniest spot possible. I always loved the sun, there was something so calming and safe about it. Out of my backpack I grabbed my thought journal and a pencil. I had a collection of these books. All I did was write down my thoughts but it always seemed to help. In a sudden furious outburst I wrote down how much I was pissed off at my dad and how I wish that he let me see her. 'Her' was my best friend who just happened to be into the same things as I was and was Pansexual, and my father of course, was homophobic, and absolutely hated what we were both into. I have always felt pressured by my parents to be the perfect golden child, which was okay...until I got into year 10. I have never felt comfortable in my own body but the pressure of my parents constantly made me feel like I couldn't be me, because despite all the times where they said 'be you, no matter what people think' they always managed to make me feel shit for dressing how I want by giving me a dirty look or straight out telling me. Jas was my best friend of four years. No matter what happened or how many fights we had, we always made up and somehow always made each other feel better. She was basically my savior, as I was hers, and we both made sure each other knew it. She was my rock and I could always count on her to take my mind off of shit, even if she was going through her own stuff, and I always done the same for her. I was so preoccupied with my thought journal that I didn't notice that the sun was setting and that shadows were being cast. As a wave of panic washed over me, I shoved my book into my bag and grabbed out the flashlight that I kept in my pack. I stood up on my rock and slowly observed my surroundings. For what? The Shagara's. You probably think that I'm making this up to sound cool but trust me, I'm not. These beasts will do anything to destroy you're life. Seeing that there are none around I jump of the boulder and run for the opening of the forest, when I hear a crunch of a footstep behind me, I glance around to see how big it is, but as I do so, I trip on the root of a tree and fall face first into the ground. I whip my face around and just as I feel the space between us closing in. Feeling the pressure building and my claustrophobia kick in, I scrambled around in the rotted leaves for my flash light but I couldn't find it. Looking back at the Shagara, I saw its blackened teeth and its hollow eyes. Opening its mouth I feel its breath on my face, my hand still searching for the torch.