Tree Whisperer

Chapter 22: Nathan

Chapter 22: Nathan

When I was finally home, I went straight to the couch. I needed a break from life. Moments later, I was snoring.

            A dream started to form. I was standing in front of a garden gnome. Yes, a garden gnome. It had a blue hat and a cheerful smile. It was holding a shovel that was about as tall as itself. All of a sudden, it started to rain. I was shivering, wondering when the storm would stop. Then I looked at the garden gnome. Instead of a cheerful smile, its hands were clenched around the shovel as if it were about to swing a baseball bat. And I was the baseball.

            That was when the terror that only can happen when a nightmare arrives set in. The garden gnome’s skin had turned blue, and the black eyes stared at me in envy. Except it wasn’t quite looking at me. It was looking at something behind me.

            I turned my head to see what it was glaring at. Brenda. That was my first mistake, taking my gaze off of the thing. It swung the shovel at me like a baseball bat and everything turned dark.

            Now, I didn’t wake up shouting bloody murder like they do in movies. But I did sit up so abruptly that I fell off the couch with a large oomph. I blinked.

I didn’t really remember the dream, which was weird. I can usually remember a few tidbits. The only thing I remembered from the dream was how tangible the fear was. And Brenda. Wait. Brenda! I have to meet her at seven tonight at the school. Wha-what time was it?

I checked the clock in the kitchen. It was 6:44. Shoot. Alright, what do I need? My stomach growled. Food. I needed food, stat. I grabbed a bag of chips from the cabinet and poured them in my mouth. I then found a draw string bag in the kitchen which I quickly used to shove about five more bags of food in there. Then I grabbed my phone, a bottled waters, and two walky-talky’s.

I checked the time again. It was five minutes to seven. I barreled through the kitchen and yelled, “MOM, DAD, MICHAEL! I’M GOING TO A FRIENDS HOUSE. BE BACK LATER! LOVE YA!” 

When I arrived at the front door, I shoved it open. I was about to hop in the car, but soon realized that I wouldn’t be allowed to take the car. I started running towards where the school was. It took about two minutes to drive there, so it I should be there at around seven walking.

I slowed down from the run and walked, with my hands in my pockets the rest of the way there. The bag was slung over my shoulder and I was wearing my winter coat, though I’m not sure why of all coats, I decided to grab this one.  In the corner of my eye, I saw a small vegetable garden. I glanced at it. There was a cursed garden gnome. I glared at it, but started walking faster anyway so as to get away from the creepy thing. I don’t remember garden gnomes being so creepy before now.

I swear, the little fiend had been glaring at me.

When I finally arrived at the school, I saw Brenda tapping her foot nervously. I walked towards her, but she was still staring intently at the ground.

I waved and said, “Hey. I’m here.”  

            “So what did you bring?” Brenda asked. I had to answer this carefully, Brenda looked like she was ready to punch the nearest object in sight. Besides a bush, I was closest to her.

            I started shuffling through my bag, naming all of the snacks I had brought along. I smiled, seeing Brenda’s face relax as I told her the supplies.

            “That sounds good. But two things? One, what in the world is a walky-talky’s?”

            How do you explain a walky-talky? Everybody knew what they were… I replied as best I could, describing the walky-talky as similar to a phone. I tried showing her using one of the walky-talky’s.

            “Okay… I sort of understand. And two, why in the world did you bring so much food? Do you think we’re gonna be here for week or something?” Brenda exclaimed dramatically.

            “I get hungry really easily. Anyway, let’s go. Come on, this’ll be fun.” I hope that would remind her we weren’t supposed to be here, but at the tree.

            “Okay… So where’s the tree?”

            I guess I got my point across.

            I led the way to the tree, wondering what her reaction could possibly be. Will she even remember the last time we were here?

            By the time we made it there, there were flies everywhere. You know, those really annoying ones that fly in swarms. I slapped my neck, hoping that would get rid the flies.

            “This is it. The tree is over there.” I then motioned to where the tree stood. The library was about a hundred feet away from it.

            “How do you suppose we get to the other side?” Brenda questioned curiously.

            “I don’t know. I thought you might think of something.” Actually, I hadn’t even thought about that, but I guess we would have to figure something out.

“Maybe you could do that flashy-light thing when you turn into a tree?” I blurted out. Whoa, where did that come from?

Brenda smiled. “You’re a genius Nathan!”

“Well, I know that, but what exactly was so genius about that statement?” I questioned. To be honest, I thought it was the obvious thing to do in this situation.

She snatched my hand and led me away from the tree. Then she started racing towards the tree at full force. Was she crazy? I would die if I hit the tree at the pace I was going. I tried pulling my hand away. This is it. She’s officially lost it. And I’m going to die.

“JUMP!” She shouted, digging her nails into my skin as she dragged me into the air. I sailed alongside her. Her hand reached out and brushed one of the leaves. There was a bright flash of light.

            For a moment I wondered if I was dead. But then a weird sensation passed through my limbs. They were being stretched. I was growing out of my sockets. But then I was shrinking. I was shrinking right back into them and they felt numbed. They felt cold yet warm. Stretched but normal. Different but… the same?

*****

            I blinked. Was that a dream? I glanced at my surroundings. My legs were still numb and my body was exhausted. I felt a tug on my arm and glanced up to see Brenda.

            Brenda motioned for me to stand up again.

            “What do those things look like?” she asked me, clearly frightened. I glanced at them and my eyes widened.

            There they were, in all their twisted glory. Dark, navy blue skin. Pointed arms. No ears. And they looked just like the damned garden gnomes. There were three of them. One of them turned around. And their eyes were the murkiest, hollow black that they were told to be. They had odd markings all across their skin.

            Before I knew it, there was a loud piercing scream. I looked at Brenda, petrified.

            “Narchichi’s,” she whispered.

            With that, I grabbed her hand. And we ran for our lives.

A/N: YAY! Even though I'm having a crummy day, here's another chapter updated only three days after the last chapter! Hope you enjoy this :) Happy reading and garden gnomes. Comment when you want the next update! Don't forget to Vote, Comment, Follow