Short Stories by M.S. Vol. 1

The Forest of Truth (Part 1)

 I woke up in the hospital with strange marks on my arms, and I had no memory of what had happened the day before. I looked to my left and saw a clipboard with a sheet of paper attached to it. I grabbed the clipboard and began to read through everything it said. At the very top, it said "patient name." Of course, it said Johnny Marks, I mean that was my name after all.

A couple lines down it said something about a facility, and how I was from a different area of the universe, but I didn't pay much attention to that note because people from all over the universe end up here. Something interesting it did say was about the marks on my arm. The file said that the marks on my arms had come from a simulation that I underwent while I was at Plox. Plox was only a planet over and it is a very pretty place to visit, but now I'm back home in Volox.

I few days passed by and the only time I saw a nurse was when it was time for me to eat. Eventually, I checked myself out of the hospital and I was super excited to finally go home. The walk home was a little weird though, I saw people throwing bricks across the street. I even saw one guy throw a stick of dynamite into his neighbor's window.

I don't really know where or how my mom is doing because we haven't seen each other since our trip to Plox. I got separated from her when the authorities took me to this secret facility. That was when I was twelve, and now I'm eighteen. I hope my mom recognizes me.

I finally reached the house and I took out the only key on my keychain and put it into the lock. One turn of the key and the door opened. I yelled my mom's name once I stepped inside, but I heard nothing back. I called her name out three times and each time I heard no response. I walked through every room in the house, I even walked into the attic to see if she was up there, but she was nowhere to be seen.

I walked to the kitchen which was the only room I hadn't searched when I noticed the glass door was completely gone. I could see two sets of footprints along with a line in between them. The line almost looked like someone was dragging their feet like they were being dragged away.

I quickly ran to my room and stuffed my backpack full of things that I thought I'd need to travel into the forest. I shoved bandages, a flashlight, my pocket knife, and a change of clothes. Once I was done gathering everything from my room, I went to the kitchen. I shoved a couple snacks into my bag and then I was off. I followed the footprints into the woods being very careful not to miss any of them since they were the only way to tell which way they went.

As I continued following the footprints I saw a piece of torn clothing with what looked to be blood. I almost passed out when I saw the blood, but I continued through the woods. The footprints began to fade out until there was nothing else to follow. Unfortunately, I was stuck, there was nothing I could do. Without the footprints, there was no way to know where they were going, and with it getting darker every minute I didn't have enough time to return home. That's when I got the feeling someone or something was watching me.

I gathered some stick and put them into a pile and tried to start a fire. At first, it didn't work, but after three attempts I finally got some sparks. No sooner I got the fire started I felt a hand on my shoulder, or rather a claw. I almost jumped out of my clothes, scurrying to the other side of the fire to get away from whatever had just touched me. When I looked over there was nothing there, but then I looked to my left and saw it. A werewolf that stood at least eight feet tall towering over me. I was terrified and I was all alone. However, instead of trying to attack me or eat me the werewolf simply just stared at me. He opened his huge mouth and I thought that he was going to eat me then and there, but he just said "hello." I was amazed at the fact that not only did he not eat me, he talked too!

I offered him to stay with me through the night and he kindly accepted. We chatted for a while until he started to tell a very interesting story about his time on planet "H."

"During my time on planet 'H', I had the most wonderful time. Every city was so clean, everyone was so friendly, and it was so beautiful. My favorite city was 'Yolk' it was gorgeous, and the people were so nice I couldn't believe it! One man even offered to let me stay in his house for free." He paused his story to explain why nobody was questioning him being a werewolf. "Of course I wasn't in this form, I was back to being a normal human, but every other week I turn into a werewolf for three days." He continued to tell his story. "Then I got to Plox and I was so scared every minute I was there. I couldn't believe all the creepy things that were happening right in front of everyone's faces. It was almost as if people were completely blind to everything that was happening."

"I have absolutely no idea what you're was talking about," I quickly interrupted. "During my time on Plox, it was amazing. There was nothing wrong and even during my..." I couldn't remember my time on Plox. I could only picture the town in my mind, but when I tried to think of anything I did there, I couldn't.

Maybe the werewolf was right Plox and everything that happened there was awful. Maybe that is why I can't recall anything that happened there, but could it be possible that a town which I thought was so beautiful could truly be that bad?