Prologue

Prologue

How the forest took her alive

                                                              *

    The streetlights outside the windows flickered, I listened to my sister, playing the violin beautifully-- so beautiful that if she wanted to, particularly charm the birds in the sky.

    When she had finished her last note she stood up curtsied and came up to me.

    "How did you like that Ash? I did my best--as usual." I have to admit, even though 5 years older than me, her voice sounded childish.

    "It was awesome, as usual of course." It was true, she might even be able to charm the fish in the sea.

    "I knew I could always count on you!" Diana laughed, pinching me during her laughter.

It was dark outside, almost night time, I wondered if we'll make it home in time for Diana's celebration. While wondering, I saw that Diana had stopped, gazing out at the short-cut next to the forest that no one bothered to walk in anymore.

    "Hey, Ash, let's walk on the short-cut instead," Diana started walking along the path of the short-cut.

    "Diana, wait--wait up! I-- are you sure you want to walk on the short-cut--?" Before I even got to finish my sentence Diana crossed the road and said, "Come on Ashley! Don't be such a scaredy-cat, there’s nothing in the forest except for trees and leaves, everything is completely safe. Besides, I don't want to miss the celebration of my success!"

    We walked along the short-cut, side by side in silence. After a few minutes, Diana started to play her violin, such sweet music would melt the heart of even the coldest being on earth.

    Every one of my family was musical, take a look, my father plays the drums, my mother plays the piano and violin, my sister plays the cello and violin, and I would've been able to play all of those instruments-- but the problem is that I couldn't count time, I either went to fast or too slow and that would mostly ruin the music that I’m playing.

I had my flute with me, the only instrument that I was able to play properly-- after 2 years of painful music.

I decided to follow along, I played Messiaen: Le Merle Noir with my flute. With Diana’s violin and my flute, I had to admit, we were awesome.

“Huh, you’ve improved a lot, Ash! I really like your flute,” she stopped playing her violin just to watch me play my flute that our parents didn’t know about… I wonder if I should tell my parents or keep this a secret between me and Diana.

“Thanks, Diana, I wonder if I should tell mother,” she stopped for a second-- looking scared and then quickly shrugged it off.

    I looked ahead of us, something lurching next to the trees… something green glowed there too, creepy. I looked behind us, the streetlight now, nowhere in sight.

    That’s when Ashley noticed that they’d walked into the forest while playing their instruments.

    At her left, one part of the ground was higher than the rest, It was rising slowly-- so slow Ashley wouldn’t have noticed if she hadn’t been staring at it for a few minutes.

    Diana must have seen her uneasiness, otherwise, she wouldn’t have picked up her violin and started to play Bach - Partita No. 2, Chaconne from memory-- or maybe it’s just because she could.

    Ashley let the music flow through her, letting her forget almost all her worries, warmth filling her, a beautiful moment in this unnerving forest. The wind picked up, letting the trees sway almost in time to sister’s music, and like magic, all because of Diana’s music, the trees seemed more alive than ever before.

    Diana stopped sharply, and with a sigh, the trees seemed to recoil around her, her magic with music gone. Warmth gone, everything went cold and tense.

    It must have been her imagination, trees can’t move like that, Mother had always said so.

    Except for the fact that I knew I wasn’t imagining it.

    There was an unexpected rustle behind them and I jumped in alarm. “Did you hear that Diana?” I asked.

    “Hear what?” she was trying to be the brave one, the confident one like she had always been. She walked on leaving me behind, I stared into the dark forest ahead of us, I wondered how we would get out of the forest. There was no light illuminating the edge anymore, I became worried.

    I peered at the forest ahead of me… something was moving.

    There.

    Something moved quickly amid the trees, but even though fast, it seemed to be floating, graceful even. It was made of earth and leaves, root and vines-- something not human.

    I realized that I couldn’t find Diana anymore, “Diana? Where...where are you?” my voice was barely a whisper.

    The creature turned at the sound of her unheard voice, how did it hear her at such a distance?

    Diana tugged on my sleeves, she was pale-- so pale that she looked ill.

    Then that’s when I realized that the creature was looking right at us, it had ruby-red eyes, thorns and vines covered where hair should have been. The body was made up of moss and bark, every part of the creature’s body was composed of lying things, of the elements of nature. It lurched forward, heading for Diana-- no, heading for her.

    I gasped and fell, the world spinning in front of me, Diana called my name.

    I felt vines and earth crawling up at me, clutching at my flesh, tearing it apart.

    Diana grabbed me and the forest recoiled like a rubber band being snapped. The trees went after my sister. Vines whipped out, snapping, crawling on my sister, tangling on her arms. Roots came up to trip her, she fell, losing consciousness for a second and screaming her name the next.

    “Ashley, run!” Diana shouted, digging her finger down the vines that prisoned her there. Diana tore out the dark earth beneath him and screamed, “Run Ashley!” and moaning, “save your life…”

    But I couldn’t, I was glued there, my eyes never leaving Diana.

    Then, like thousands of leaves scraping the forest floor, the ground opened up, pulling Diana from me and swallowing my sister into the forest’s embrace

    Then the trees started for me, only when it started climbing on my foot when I did run. But I somehow couldn’t, it was too strong, blood trickling down on my ankles and legs, I screamed.

    Something stepped up to the edge of those trees, then, twisted an ancient bog oak, and everything became still.

    The creature looked at me for a moment, then it turned away and was gone, back into the frozen woods.

    I ran, I was crying, I was heart-broken. The trees took Diana, my sister.

    Come on Ashley! Don't be such a scaredy-cat, there’s nothing in the forest except for trees and leaves, everything is completely safe. And the trees swallowed you whole.

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