Gnaw

a "scary" story I did.

Esther gnawed on the dry, hard bone.  She knew there was no meat left, she couldn’t help it.  Sifting through bone heaps was no way for a twelve year old girl to act, but what could she do?  Even the fact that the bones were human had never stopped her.  She was just so hungry.  that’s how life was, in the camp�"you had to scrap and fight for whatever she could get.  It was a hard world for a twelve year old girl.

The policemen came, their feet crunch-crunch-crunching on the bones.   She dropped whatever she held and collapsed on the heap.  They would just think that she had passed out here, and that would be fine.  If she were awake, she would have to run laps, or go more days without food, or something more terrible than her present situation.  When all else failed, playing dead was your best option.

Esther Grace.  Esther Grace, come with me!

The chilly, cheery voice gave her shivers, but she stifled them.  Someone was calling to her, from the other side of the bones.  The other women in the camp often told her that the ghosts would get her if she didn’t do as she was told, but she had never quite believed them.  That was the first thing that came to mind.  The second was the story she’d heard her father tell, about a man who cried out in a valley full of dry bones.

Esther Grace, I know you hear me.  Come with me.

He was calling urgently now, and the police were getting closer.  Where could she go?  She was only sitting atop a large pile of bones.  If she wasn’t careful, she’d fall through and suffocate.  The uncertainty of the policemen’s intentions was worse, though.  She had to choose!

You won’t regret it!

For a moment, Esther was bewildered.  Suddenly, darkness surrounded her.  The stench of bones was overwhelmingly nauseating, but she was moving too fast to care.  The hand latched to her wrist pulled her deeper and deeper into the darkness, and she started to panic.  What was happening? 

Finally the darkness was gone, replaced by a bright light.  Ravens circled overhead, their cries hollow and deathly-sounding against the bleak sky.

“Hello, Esther Grace.”

She started and spun around. 

        

        “I’m the man of your story.”

         

“Ezekiel?  The prophet…?

       

“That’s me.  Have a seat, make yourself at home.”

                

Esther Grace looked around.  She was in a valley of dry bones, like the story had said.  Up above, on a jut out from the cliff, there was a cave.  Strangled trees, barely surviving the desert heat, were scattered her and there.  The raven’s call echoed.

            

The man named Ezekiel sat down pleasantly, and she did the same.  Out of habit, she picked up a bone and started to gnaw on it.  There was no flesh on it; it was dry. brittle, and hard. She closed her eyes to try and remember the taste of delicious lamb.  The taste was just beyond her grasp; she could smell the tender meat and feel it on her lips.  From out of nowhere, screaming came. 

                

Esther’s eyes snapped open, and she was astonished to see a man’s bloody leg before her�"it was the man who was screaming.  She hurried back and looked around frantically, and was met with the shocked eyes of a whole army.  But how could there be a whole army?  It was only a valley of bones!

Ezekiel put a hand on her shoulder, and said softy,

“Just as this army of men came from bones, an army of angels will rescue you from bones.”

Several nights later, everyone was sound asleep.  For many hours she had contemplated on the words that Ezekiel had said in her vision, but she finally fell asleep too.  When she woke up next, it was to the sound of the policemen screaming madly.  Someone was shaking her, and she awoke from atop the pile.

“Come, Esther.  We cannot hide here.”

Ruth, a girl and friend about her own age, was shaking her violently.

“What’s going on?”

“The Angels have come.”

“What angels…?” Esther asked, bewildered.

“Don’t question, just come on.  There’s no time for talking,” Ruth countered, tugging her.

Esther stuffed a few bones into her ragged striped pajamas and hurried off.  Ruth led her behind barns, through buildings, and under a fence.  They ran for what seemed like hours, until sirens and gunshots brought them to a halt.  Two of the Angels came close to them, put their guns down, and picked them up.

“He told me they would come,” she whispered quietly to herself.  “The Angels have come.”

 

Author's Note

i know it's kind of rough, but what do you guys think? i need help on my short stories.