Life Beyond the Trees

Chapter Five

Chapter Five

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I'm Real: Tell Me Who I Am

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David:

It was the girl again her shoulders were hunched forward in a way that her hair covered her face from his view, but he knew it was her. Her hands were loosely holding onto the chains as she used her feet to rock back and forth in the swing. Suddenly she stopped and raised her neck, the bones popping as she did, and with jerky movements she looked in his direction.

"You shouldn't have swung that high." Her statement was normal and simple, but her voice changed the tone to one that made his skin crawl.

She looked worse than she had the night before, he told himself. Her face was shrunken in and her skin looked rotted. She reminded him of something from a zombie movie. There were big patches with huge dark blotches covering almost every inch of her skin. And she seemed even more skinny now than she had before. And wrinkles crunched up her once silky skin.

He jumped to his feet and tried to put on a confident stance. He held his chin up and arched his shoulders back, even if it felt completely unnatural.

"You don't scare me. You're not real." He said, trying his hardest to keep his voice steady and unwavering.

She rose from her sitting position and tilted her head. She began to walk towards him slowly moving one leg in front of the other at an alarmingly painful rate. She seemed to be having trouble walking, but that only made it more scary.

"Oh, but I am. I'm real. You're the one who's not, David." Her voice was filled with hate and disgust when she said his name. Like it physically hurt her to utter such a word.

He moved back slightly as she got closer.

"And you can't deny you're scared. I can see it all over your pathetic face. You can act as tough as you want, but that's all it is, an act. It's not the truth, nothing about you is the truth."

He moved back further as she gained more confidence. His tough persona slowly dwindling.

"You're a coward who can't even remember the horrible deed you've committed." He furrowed his brow. What did she mean horrible deed? He opened his mouth to ask her but she cut him off.

"Tell me my name. Tell me who I am." She said. His mouth opened and closed as his breathing quickened.

"I don't know, I-" He started to say, he stopped when she grew more angry.

"Say my name." She clenched her fists. He threw his hands up in defense as if it would do something to stop her from interrogating him.

"I- I don't know, I can't tell you something I don't know." He hurriedly said, his confidence gone completely as he cowardly shrank back.

"Say it!" She screamed, her voice echoing through the park. The swings began to shake and he felt his own anger grow at what she demanded of him. His confidence coming back ever so slightly and he stood his ground again and prepared to fight fire with fire.

"I told you, Angelia, I don't know!" The words tumbled out of his mouth, and he didn't register what he had said until he saw the delighted look on her face.

Then it hit him.

The beach, the first time they ever met.

His eyes widened

The Ferris Wheel, their first kiss.

Horror filled every part of his body.

The swings, he told himself, it was their hang out.

He began to walk backwards and

The forest, he remembered, it was where he had murdered her.

stumbled to the ground. Then he looked up at her.

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