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rainbowfic2016-04-22 05:33 pm
auguris) wrote in rainbowfic2016-04-22 05:33 pm
Dirt Brown 12, Zing 4
Name: auguris
'verse: The Underground
Story: April 2002
Colors: Dirt Brown 12. Mud, Zing 4. have you been helped?
Supplies and Styles: Canvas, Feathers (The speed of a typical raindrop is 17 miles per hour.)
Word Count: 1123
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Benjamin takes a strange trip through the woods and meets a very nice lady.
April 2002
Wet leaves slapped his face, some clinging to his skin as he jumped over the brush. He had found the best hiding place ever, Dani would never ever find him, and he's had to wait almost a month before she finally agreed to play with him.
Sophie might, but she cheated somehow. She said she could hear him breathing if she concentrated, but there was no way. She put a tracker in his shoe or something.
The rain started up again and he grinned; if it started to pour Dani wouldn't be able to follow his trail. He still planned to leave false trails near his hiding spot, just in case.
Further and further into the woods; the sky darkened and he slowed. If the weather got real bad Mom didn't want them too far from the house, but he listened hard and didn't hear anyone calling him, so he was probably okay. The trees looked a little different, like... he didn't know like. Dani would know. Maybe the shadows were different? It was almost a feeling, but feelings were inside, they didn't effect trees. They only effect how you looked at trees. And sisters, and moms, and shoes, and everything else.
He kept to a jog, in case they did call him back - until he heard the river. If he jumped across a bunch of times it would slow Dani down. He didn't... remember the river being in this part of the woods. He was really, really far out and way farther south than he should have been. Maybe the rain made a new river? Maybe that was why the trees were weird. The rain had changed stuff.
The river came into sight and he sprinted; he jumped it easily, landing--
--water rose up to meet him, enveloping him before he hit the ground. The bank had been there, it had, he was really good at jumping -- the river tossed him around, like it was angry, and he was a good swimmer too but the water was so dark, the surface was supposed to be lighter but he couldn't find it-- something grabbed him and he screamed and his mouth was full of water and he didn't mean to swallow and he was going to die, wasn't he, he was going to--
--hard on the other bank, knees slamming into the mud. He fell to his side and coughed up water until he threw up. He pushed himself away from his sick, wiped his face as he sat up. The mud was really thick and heavy, and it stuck to his clothes and skin. He tried to stand but fell back into the mud, and he got stuck so bad he couldn't lift his hands out of it. Rain fell harder, hitting his back like tiny ice cubes and he stated to cry, he tried not to but he couldn't help it. He yelled for Mom, or Dani, or even Sophie, but he was too far away and they couldn't hear him. No one could hear him. He was alone and he was-- he...
"Are you stuck, little Hunter?"
He looked up and the "yes" fell out of his mouth without making any noise. She, the woman, she was really tall, even crouching he could tell she was tall, and the top half of her face was covered in thick black makeup, but most importantly she had these huge deer antlers on her head, even though she was not a deer and definitely not a boy deer. Her eyes were green like the forest was green, not one single color but all different shades all at once. She stared at him, body still like she didn't even breath.
"Do you need help?" When he didn't answer right away she said, "Do you know what help is?" in that tone Dani got when she was starting to get annoyed, so he nodded really fast. She picked him up and held him on her hip, like he was still a baby. She set him down on a big rock so that they were almost the same height. She stood back and stared at him, and he started to cry again.
"Are you going to take my heart and eat it?"
"Am I going to what?"
He hugged himself, still muddy and starting to feel cold. "That's what happens to boy hunters who are bad. That's what happened to my Dad."
"I am not going to hurt you, little one." She removed her cloak and wrapped it around him; he instantly felt warmer. "I would never. You are one of mine. Tell me, what do you mean, that boy hunters are losing their hearts? Is this a story you are told to scare you into behaving?"
He shook his head. "It's real. That's how my Dad died, when I was a baby. Some others, too. Carlos's cousin in Utah and a bunch of Hunters in New England. I think there are more but my Mom doesn't let anyone talk to me about it."
"I see." The lady picked him up again and held him to her chest. "I will take you home. This is not a place for m... for children."
He must have fallen asleep because next thing he knew Mom was shaking him awake and he was on the back porch, clean and dry. It was really dark, and Mom hugged him so hard it sort of hurt, and then Dani and Sophie were hugging him too.
"Where were you?!" Mom wiped tears from her face and he felt bad for making her cry. "Your sisters and I searched the whole damned forest!"
She never, *ever* swore. He hunched in the cloak. "I don't know. I got lost, I thought I was at the river but it was the wrong river and it was bigger than I thought then I got stuck in the mud and I was really scared but the nice lady helped me out. Where did she go?"
Mom rubbed his shoulders. "What lady? You were asleep on the porch -- and where did you get this?" She touched the edged of the cloak. "Where did you find it?"
"She gave it to me. She was really nice. I think she was an angel."
"Angels aren't real." Dani rolled her eyes, but she still held his hand really tight. "Someone from the Village must have found him."
Mom picked him up and held him like the lady had held him, but she wasn't as tall. "No more going into the woods alone. Not for any reason, you understand me?"
He didn't like it but Mom was still crying a little so he said, "okay."
auguris'verse: The Underground
Story: April 2002
Colors: Dirt Brown 12. Mud, Zing 4. have you been helped?
Supplies and Styles: Canvas, Feathers (The speed of a typical raindrop is 17 miles per hour.)
Word Count: 1123
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Benjamin takes a strange trip through the woods and meets a very nice lady.
April 2002
Wet leaves slapped his face, some clinging to his skin as he jumped over the brush. He had found the best hiding place ever, Dani would never ever find him, and he's had to wait almost a month before she finally agreed to play with him.
Sophie might, but she cheated somehow. She said she could hear him breathing if she concentrated, but there was no way. She put a tracker in his shoe or something.
The rain started up again and he grinned; if it started to pour Dani wouldn't be able to follow his trail. He still planned to leave false trails near his hiding spot, just in case.
Further and further into the woods; the sky darkened and he slowed. If the weather got real bad Mom didn't want them too far from the house, but he listened hard and didn't hear anyone calling him, so he was probably okay. The trees looked a little different, like... he didn't know like. Dani would know. Maybe the shadows were different? It was almost a feeling, but feelings were inside, they didn't effect trees. They only effect how you looked at trees. And sisters, and moms, and shoes, and everything else.
He kept to a jog, in case they did call him back - until he heard the river. If he jumped across a bunch of times it would slow Dani down. He didn't... remember the river being in this part of the woods. He was really, really far out and way farther south than he should have been. Maybe the rain made a new river? Maybe that was why the trees were weird. The rain had changed stuff.
The river came into sight and he sprinted; he jumped it easily, landing--
--water rose up to meet him, enveloping him before he hit the ground. The bank had been there, it had, he was really good at jumping -- the river tossed him around, like it was angry, and he was a good swimmer too but the water was so dark, the surface was supposed to be lighter but he couldn't find it-- something grabbed him and he screamed and his mouth was full of water and he didn't mean to swallow and he was going to die, wasn't he, he was going to--
--hard on the other bank, knees slamming into the mud. He fell to his side and coughed up water until he threw up. He pushed himself away from his sick, wiped his face as he sat up. The mud was really thick and heavy, and it stuck to his clothes and skin. He tried to stand but fell back into the mud, and he got stuck so bad he couldn't lift his hands out of it. Rain fell harder, hitting his back like tiny ice cubes and he stated to cry, he tried not to but he couldn't help it. He yelled for Mom, or Dani, or even Sophie, but he was too far away and they couldn't hear him. No one could hear him. He was alone and he was-- he...
"Are you stuck, little Hunter?"
He looked up and the "yes" fell out of his mouth without making any noise. She, the woman, she was really tall, even crouching he could tell she was tall, and the top half of her face was covered in thick black makeup, but most importantly she had these huge deer antlers on her head, even though she was not a deer and definitely not a boy deer. Her eyes were green like the forest was green, not one single color but all different shades all at once. She stared at him, body still like she didn't even breath.
"Do you need help?" When he didn't answer right away she said, "Do you know what help is?" in that tone Dani got when she was starting to get annoyed, so he nodded really fast. She picked him up and held him on her hip, like he was still a baby. She set him down on a big rock so that they were almost the same height. She stood back and stared at him, and he started to cry again.
"Are you going to take my heart and eat it?"
"Am I going to what?"
He hugged himself, still muddy and starting to feel cold. "That's what happens to boy hunters who are bad. That's what happened to my Dad."
"I am not going to hurt you, little one." She removed her cloak and wrapped it around him; he instantly felt warmer. "I would never. You are one of mine. Tell me, what do you mean, that boy hunters are losing their hearts? Is this a story you are told to scare you into behaving?"
He shook his head. "It's real. That's how my Dad died, when I was a baby. Some others, too. Carlos's cousin in Utah and a bunch of Hunters in New England. I think there are more but my Mom doesn't let anyone talk to me about it."
"I see." The lady picked him up again and held him to her chest. "I will take you home. This is not a place for m... for children."
He must have fallen asleep because next thing he knew Mom was shaking him awake and he was on the back porch, clean and dry. It was really dark, and Mom hugged him so hard it sort of hurt, and then Dani and Sophie were hugging him too.
"Where were you?!" Mom wiped tears from her face and he felt bad for making her cry. "Your sisters and I searched the whole damned forest!"
She never, *ever* swore. He hunched in the cloak. "I don't know. I got lost, I thought I was at the river but it was the wrong river and it was bigger than I thought then I got stuck in the mud and I was really scared but the nice lady helped me out. Where did she go?"
Mom rubbed his shoulders. "What lady? You were asleep on the porch -- and where did you get this?" She touched the edged of the cloak. "Where did you find it?"
"She gave it to me. She was really nice. I think she was an angel."
"Angels aren't real." Dani rolled her eyes, but she still held his hand really tight. "Someone from the Village must have found him."
Mom picked him up and held him like the lady had held him, but she wasn't as tall. "No more going into the woods alone. Not for any reason, you understand me?"
He didn't like it but Mom was still crying a little so he said, "okay."
no subject
And yeah, I think maybe staying out of the woods for now would be for the best... but I am really intrigued by that lady.
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Thank you!
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I do have to wonder what fate has in store for him when he is older.
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Thank you!
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no subject