Roses and Dreams: A Collection of Short Fantasy Stories

Red

I knew the woods well. Humans were warned to stay away, for the dark beasts and unsettled souls of the past roamed freely beneath the heavy canopies and drifted between shadows. Every now and then, there would be trespassers into our world, either foolhardy teenagers with bravado through sheer ignorance or drunk adults, all oblivious to the dangers they'd put themselves in. Their loved ones would never hear their screams, devoured by the heavy mist drowning the woods, nor would they see the bodies snapped like branches after a heavy storm, overwhelmed in strength and in numbers by my pack.

A flash of red caught my half-opened eyes one afternoon. I dozed atop a pile of rocks, bathing in the streak of sunlight that escaped the layers of thick leaves overhead, my belly full of the fresh, half-butchered deer lying on the ground, likely left by another member of my pack only a few hours prior. Blearily, I squinted through the branches, wondering if I was hallucinating. No, I wasn't wrong. A young girl, wearing a scarlet cape, delicately stepped through the forest without a care in the world, as if she were merely going for a casual stroll. I almost rolled my eyes and went back to sleep, but something about her slender figure and graceful movement made it impossible to look away.

I was mesmerised. Her arm reached forward to push away a branch and open her path further. Slung at her elbow was a basket. She hummed a light tune, the cheerfulness a stark contrast to her soon-to-come concrete and abrupt fate. So innocent. So naive. I found myself on my feet, trailing after her, keeping enough of a distance away not to be detected. She didn't glance back. Birds screeched overhead, their shrill warnings echoing in the empty woods. Other shadows flitted about as sunset neared; other members of my pack no doubt had sensed the trespasser.

I was the closest – I would be the one taking the honour for the kill. My breaths came in quick, shallow, my eyes unblinking, my paws making no sounds over the layers of dead leaves and fallen branches. Red continued to wander ahead, whistling. Even though my heart pumped with the excitement of another kill, my blinks slowed, my eyelids moving like syrup, and my paws fell with less care despite my intentions.

To my surprise, my brothers, who were mere feet away from me, disappeared. Red stopped. The whistling died away. She swivelled around, eyes bright, a broad smile stretching across her face. From her basket, she whipped out a gleaming, long dagger. My body froze at the sight of the shining metal, but when I tensed my muscles to pounce, to my horror, I collapsed onto the ground.

She advanced, head tilted, a cheerful smile on her young face. Humanoid shadows approached from all directions.

"Always so easy to draw you lot out. Hope that deer tasted good, werewolf," she said softly, raising the dagger.

Word count: 493

Written for 's The Woods prompt