Fancy

Deeksha

"I know things now, many valuable things, that I hadn't known before."

Deeksha knew she wasn't allowed to go into the woods, but the temptation was too strong to resist. She could practically hear the trees calling out to her. So she grabbed her favourite red cloak and a basket filled with food and crept out of her house. Her parents had fortunately not noticed and she knew she could enjoy a few hours of exploring before anybody came looking for her.

She had, of course, heard the stories. "The woods are haunted.", the villagers would say. "The wolf will eat any child who enters." But Deeksha knew it was just a story told to keep children out of the woods. She knew, better than anyone, how easy it was to get lost amidst the dense foliage. Her older brother, Vikram, had fallen victim to the wood's perils over two years ago. So she had come prepared. She had brought with her two loaves of bread to mark her path. She would not make the same mistake her brother had.

Deeksha entered the woods and was instantly awestruck. How had she stayed away for so long? It was absolutely enchanting. She felt like she had finally come home. As she moved further into the woods, the trees moved aside, welcoming her, and she felt herself undergoing a change. And that was when she finally understood. The myths were true. There was something haunting the forest. 

What they didn't know, what they would never know, was that the thing in the woods was her.

She raised her head and howled up at the moon. It was time to hunt.