The Forest

A class of second grade students meet their fate amidst the forest.

 

Pale blue eyes of a child scanned the sky, a white blanket of clouds preventing any of the blue sky from peaking through them. As his gaze lowered, his eyes went from the tops of the pine trees to their stumps. The forest was thick with shadows almost as dark or darker than his hair.

            He turned away from the forest and looked around as if making his last look upon the lighter world. The horizon was flat and treeless except the brick school building and playground. His second grade class was happily playing; no one had even noticed his disappearance—a thought at which he cringed a bit, taking a few steps away from them. After turning back to the forest, he took a deep breath and began walking slowly through the trees, into the darkness of the forest.

            Meanwhile, crows, vultures, and other carrion birds began silently landing in the branches of the trees.

 

            Minutes later, recess for the children ended. The teacher called the class to line up before trudging back to the school building. She counted their heads twice to make sure nobody had gone missing, but a puzzled look crossed her face as each count was incorrect. After recounting once more, she called out a reminder that recess was over in hopes one more children would come running, but none came.

            She then brought the children inside to the classroom, still wondering where the missing student could be, but seeing the only possible place a child would not be visible was in the forest, she decided she was responsible and had to go after him. She had only, after all, been teaching for two years now and believed the choice critical, for the wrong decision could destroy her career.

            And so, she left, telling the children to make macaroni noodle sculptures or color until she returned. They watched her leave, all crowded at the window, until she disappeared into the darkness of the forest. Uneasy in her absence, the children quietly worked on the small projects she had given them.

 

            Time passed, but neither the teacher nor the missing student had returned. The bell rang, dismissing the students to go home, but without a teacher designating the students’ actions, they hesitated before exiting the classroom. They did leave though, returning home, but not without the curiosity of what had happened to their fellow colleague and beloved teacher.

 

            The teacher and the boy were not there the next day. The faculty assumed her to be sick and got a substitute teacher to replace her for the time being; the student was just marked absent. The day went on as usual, until the class was brought outside for recess.

            The day was pretty bleak, like the day before, which was usual for the season, though the children weren’t at as much ease as the previous day. After about ten minutes, the substitute got an urgent call to return to the building. The children secretly watched her return to the school, and as soon as she was completely out of sight, they all gathered as if something had been previously planned. No sound was produced by any mouth, and they appeared to be sending and receiving messages through their minds to each other. Then, nodding, as though they had come to a consensus, began slowly trudging towards the forest. Even when they came to the edge of the forest, they continued walking almost as if a supernatural force was carrying them. No eerie sound or rustle of leaves stopped them. Sticks snapped under their feet and animals scurried at the sight of them. No light shone through the trees at this point, and though the normal person would have fallen, stumbled, or hit any of the many trees, the children did none of these.

            Finally, they abruptly stopped somewhere deep in the forest where the canopy had allowed sunlight onto a small area of the forest floor. Lying on this plot of ground, sprinkled with light, were the carcasses of the teacher and child who had disappeared the prior day. A puddle of blood lay around them. Their skulls were crushed with their brains trying to squeeze through the cracks in their head. There were gashes all over their skin and their bodies lay in an unnatural position with bones poking out in some area. Their countenance wore a look of horror though the skin had been scratched off their faces.

At this sight, the children finally came back to their senses and began to feel fear enveloping them. They huddled together, crouched behind the foliage, far enough away from the bodies, but not too far as to be unable to see the light. Though the darkness disabled them from seeing much, the children heard many birds begin to land in the treetops above them. Seconds after the birds began gathering, wind began blowing through the trees adding greatly to the sound of many flapping wings and chilling the children to their souls. Gradually the natural light began fading away for the multitude of birds filled the treetops. From the ground the trees appeared to be swaying closer and closer. Soon the children were enveloped in almost total darkness. The exception to the darkness was, not specks of light escaping through the trees from the sky as one may expect, but from a slight glow emitting from the dismembered bodies.

            The children, not knowing what to do now, began inching, almost out of curiosity, closer to the bodies, but as they did, the began fading away until it was gone. The sounds of birds continued growing, almost to a deafening decibel. The children reached into the darkness hoping to find the body of another, so as to hopefully somehow return to the school accompanied by a friend. Though before any child was able to feel the warmth of another’s body, their senses were suddenly deadened and their lives were gone forever. 

 

Author's Note

This is the first story I've ever actually taken the time to finish (It's actually really easy to start things, and then you get bored so don't ever get back to them).. so yeah, I guess tell me how I could improve on it.

[March 24, 2009] The work posted has things edited from the original based on the input I received on improving my writing.

Reviews

[Casper Cross]

LeAnne you should definitely continue writing stories because you have a gift for story telling. Riveting story and a great flow to your work.

You do a great job of telling the story, but you have a definite chance to bring the reader into the story.
Here is an example: Lying on this plot of ground covered with were the torn up carcasses of the teacher and the child who had disappeared the previous day

Possible rewrite with more descriptive language: They walked through the forest, leaves and broken twigs snapping under their feet. Light pierced the treetops littering the forest floor with small beads of light fixed in spots across the scattered leaves and patches of dry brown grass. Along this spotted plot lay dismembered body parts so scattered about that only dental records could identify them. Blood soaked the ground in the places where they lay, bone shards and flesh dripping from each part. Bits of leaves and dirt packed into the reddened mass of muscle and tendons. The children did not need dental records they knew to whom these pieces belonged.

You can do better than what I did but that would be my only suggestion for making your work better. If you ever write a story again remember to show it instead of say it.

Thanks for sharing your work, I enjoyed reading it very much

[Sarah Hawkinson]

I loved the plot it was a great read. I would give it one more edit, just a few gramittical errors and such, maybe add a few more details, more matured wording things of that sort. But I would say you are up to good things here.