A Path in The Woods

The trees were bare in the oak forest where Henry Williams was running for his life. He was lost in a place he thought he knew but now he wasn't so sure. The only thing he was now sure of was something was after him. He didn't know from what direction but something was after him and closing in on him.

Henry kept running, snatching the branches out of his way as he ran, his lungs almost to the point of bursting, fervently looking around him, trying to see if the thing was getting any closer, even though he didn’t know where it was. The sun’s last reaching rays were beginning to go down behind the western mountains and the clouds were looking ominously like rain. Rain that had a chance of turning to snow after the darkness settled and the coldness started to clutch the hill sides.

Out of nowhere, a shrill, high pitched scream shattered the twilight air, urging the boy even faster along the forest floor. Has it seen me? he thought in terror. He went lunging headlong deeper into the forest and deeper into the gathering darkness, the winds just starting to stir and rain fell from the quilted skies.

His ears suddenly picked up a far, scuffling sound. He knew exactly what it was; it was the sound of the feet of the thing, running toward him as it had found his scent. As he took one more wild look around him he spotted a path. It was a path that just seemingly appeared out of nowhere so it was a path that he took. Henry kept running wildly and saw a light. As he went further he could make out a hut to go along with it. The sight gave him a little more courage and that courage gave him a little more speed. Henry slammed into the hut’s door, beating on it and crying,

“Let me in, please, let me in.”

As he turned and pressed his back into the door, he could barely make out a giant black shape bounding at him when the door suddenly opened and hands clutched him, dragging him inside the hovel. Or at least he thought that’s what it was. It sure looked like one from outside but now that he was inside, he wasn’t so sure.

It seemed he was inside some sort of a huge mansion type of house and not the small, dark looking shack he had seen outside on the path. A gigantic shimmering chandelier hung from a vaulted ceiling high above him and windows were from floor to almost the top with beautiful blue velvet drapes hanging upon them. A huge, sweeping staircase led up to what seemed like forever but then flared out to both sides of a balcony adorned with some sort of statues. Everything was marble and only one thing kept him from running back out the door. That was the thing that was chasing him, clawing and howling outside.

A noise made him jerk back around to a scene that wasn’t there a moment ago. What was now no more than a few feet in front of him was an old woman in a straight back chair, staring at him and smoking a self-rolled cigarette, the ashes slightly bent and pointing to the floor. The noise was a gasping cough coming from the old woman’s throat, though she hardly moved.

Henry now inched back to the door. What would he do? There was some sort of beast outside, desperately clawing the door trying to get in and shrieking so loud he thought it sounded like it was beside him and now, an old woman with tobacco stained fingers staring at him and coughing what seemed to be a lung up through her gargling throat.

And then came the really strange part. She raised a yellow finger, pointed it at Henry and said,

“It’s about time.”



***********

Henry looked at the old woman, his eyes wide and glaring.

“What the hell do you mean, ‘It’s about time?’ Who are you?”

The old woman coughed again, a low, rumbling cough that sounded like a death rattle. She looked at Henry through wrinkled, yellow eyes.

“I told you when you left that this would happen and I was right.”

“Right? You were right about what?” Henry said. “What is this place? What is that damned thing outside that was after me before I was dragged in here?”

The ole woman grinned a toothless grin and said, “That thing guards this house. If I told you everything right now you would never believe me so you must stay here for now.”

“Stay here? Where is here?” Henry said, glaring at the old woman.

“Here, where you were born.”

Henry suddenly felt weak in his knees as he realized that he was trapped as far as he could tell. He knew he couldn’t go back outside to face that creature and he had a shaky feeling about this old woman spouting off some nonsense about him being born here. Well, he thought, I’ll take my chances with the old woman. That thing outside will tear me to pieces for sure.

“Ok, let’s say you’re right,” Henry said as he slowly sat down on the floor, eying the old lady suspiciously, “Let’s say that I really was born here. Then tell me why I can’t remember anything about this place? And who are you?”

Slowly the woman took another drag from her cigarette and dropped it on the floor, crushing it out with her foot. Immediately she reached inside her wrap and took out the makings of another one. She took the paper in her shaky fingers and spread it out, then shook some tobacco onto it. Then yellow fingers wrapped it snugly and she licked the cigarette to keep it from falling apart and took it in her cracked lips and, striking a match to it, began smoking again.

Damn, Henry thought. It was the first time he had seen anything like that.

The old woman took a puff and looked Henry square in the eye and said,

“No, my arrogant friend. You tell me who you think you are.”



***********





Think I am?, Henry thought. I know who I am.

"My name is Henry WIlliams. I was born in Franklin Township, not in this house."

The old woman slightly shook her head, breathing another cloud of smoke into the air.

"It's a sad situation young man. It's sad that you don't know who you are because of your arrogance. Your name isn't Henry Williams and you were not born in Franklin Township. You OWN Franklin Township and Henry was your twin brother. It was your stupidity and pride that killed him. Your name is Aaron WIlliams and you are in punishment."

Numbness started to grip the young man, the young man that just had the wind knocked out of him.