Short Stories

Short Story - The Betrayal

Near a cliff edge - miles and miles of unwavering space below him - a young boy was trapped and terrified for his life.   He could not run any further.  Shaking like a frightened little lamb, the boy ever so slowly turned  around and with a small cry, peeked up through his eyelashes... Luck was not on his side; the melted face of a night walker was still there, staring directly at him. All crusty grey and mutilated and - a glint of fear sparked in the child's wide eyes as the dreadful realisation finally dawned on him... the creature was hungry.

"I don't want to find someone else to talk to!" I screamed, "I don't want to get over it!"
Slamming the front door with all my might, I stormed out of the house, leaving my mother stunned and at a loss for words after yet another heated argument.
  Of course I was wrong to be so hurtful, but my best and only friend had just abandoned me and I was expected to move on just like that!  Jack was like a brother to me, and now he was gone, he betrayed me, left my trust in ashes.  He walked away and never came back.  With fresh tears blazing down my cheeks, I trudged, dejected, into the night.

Wandering aimlessly, I found myself straying from the main pathway and, instead, heading towards the top of the cliffs.  There was no fence here so I'd have to be careful - especially in the growing darkness.   I suppose I liked it up on the cliffs; I welcomed the freedom and the contrast to the crowded city from where I had briefly found a respite.
  A chilling wind snapped me out of my restless thoughts, it brought crisp clean air into my lungs and I almost forgot where I was because the cold was so refreshing.  But, I just couldn't shake the feeling that something up on these cliff tops wasn't quite right.  Wasn't it a little out of place for the wind to be so bitterly cold? Even as exposed to the elements as I was, it was the end of winter now...the ruinous frosts had come and gone...there was not supposed to be another until next year!
  Another gale blew across the open cliff tops, even colder than the last, this time it chilled me to the bone.  Whatever had caused this, was not natural.  Whatever had caused this, was something from any person's worst nightmares. I knew why Jack had disappeared now.  He hadn't betrayed me; he had endured the same fate as I would.  I didn't even get to say my goodbyes... there, towering above my defenceless form, was a night walker. Crusty grey skin, mutilated, melted and... hungry.