Ice Cream - You Scream! ONC 2023

CHAPTER 3

The girls were now ready to go back home. Their stomachs grumbled as the sweet smell of bread and milk wafted through the air.

"Let's go, Mina!"

They walked down the same path they had taken to get to the village. They noticed the vastness of the surrounding forest. The leaves rustling in the wind and the chirping of birds in the distance. As the sky darkened, they could already make out the ominous shapes of storm clouds forming and the sound of thunder rumbling in the distance.

"Let's pick up the pace, sister," Helena said, her feet crunching the fallen leaves as she hurried.

Mina often found herself on the brink of tears, while Helena had a strength and courage that was unshakable.

As the rain poured, the storm gaining strength with each passing moment. Mina and Helena quickened their steps, trying to make it home in time. The trees on each side of the small, quick road created a feeling of seclusion. The girls run past the entrance to the dark forest, its towering trees blocking out any sunlight. They'd heard that anyone who enters the forest meets a fate of never returning alive.

"That part of the forest is so scary," Helena whispered, feeling a chill run down her spine as she looked up at the tall, dark trees.

People had reported seeing a dazzlingly attractive man in the woods, who lures people in with his charm and causes them to vanish without a trace.

Both twins kept running, their little legs feeling heavier with each step as the hunger took its toll. 

With an almighty, resounding boom of thunder, it filled the air with shock and the two girls found their path blocked by a fallen tree. With no other way to go, they had to return and try to find their way through the dark and daunting forest.

"Nooooo!" Mina wailed, her hands shaking, the fear radiating off her like an icy wind.

Helena embraced her sister tightly, her voice steady as she whispered, " It's alright, I'm here. I won't let anything hurt you."

"But now, the only route is through the gloomy forest and I'm scared, so I don't want to go, sis!" Mina was trembling uncontrollably, her body shuddering from the cold and the fear that coursed through her.

The girls pivoted, and a gust of wind came up, stirring the trees of the dark forest in the direction they were headed.

Mina hugged her sister tightly, trembling with fear. Helena was trying to remain composed, knowing that if Mina saw any fear in her, her sister's anxiety would only grow. 

As they made their way through the dark forest, the eerie silence was palpable. The darkness was almost suffocating, and the rain had nearly stopped. Despite their exhaustion, they trudged on. The young sisters were in awe of the towering trees, with their long, snaking twigs that almost seemed to have creepy faces and arms, making the forest a bit more spooky.

"What if we can't find our house ever again? I don't want to die!" Mina questioned Helena.

The girls were familiar with death, having had an older brother who died after falling from a tree right in front of them, so they had seen suffering and death.

"We won't die. I will protect you. I'm strong, remember?"

As Helena spoke, her left eye glistened with a tear that blended with the rain still dripping from her face.

The girls were getting more and more scared as the wind howled and shrieked around them. Despite their legs being weak from exhaustion, they carried on, their shoes crunching against the ground.