Rarl: Just Think Positive

4.1 ♜ Easy Jog In The Evergreens

[ i listened to this song and thought about this book and the lyrics kinda fits, too. ]

Carl left for a piss somewhere amidst the trees and out of his paranoia Ron was close, very close, to ask him if he could tag along, but then he decided against it since that would just be really odd. Even for him.

The forest was quiet, just the soft bouncing of leaves in the wind made the only movements in the enclosed space and the very sound of the wind moving it was all he could hear.

Ron held himself as he shot glances into all directions, flinches whenever a bird would make any noise in the bushes and almost had a heart attack when a stick fell out of one spectacularly huge tree standing one feet away from him, and thought Ron was about to lean against exactly that one, he changed his mind in an instant and made a invisible barricade between himself and the tree, taking a couple steps backwards.

There was nothing to be scared of, just a short walk through the woods with a quick pee break on Carl's account.

Ron squirmed and walked circles into the ground, trying his nerves to calm down but all the infinite waiting did to him was increase it.

It was like all the nightmares stored in his head found a way out and turned the forest into something haunted, gloomy with all its shadows and crippled trees. The roots didn't seem to grow right, swivelled in weird angles at the ground and trees sported sickly-green leaves, rendered in brown that crackled in the hot breeze. It wasn't even fall, the leaves just gave that impression to it.

But then, after around twenty, Ron found peace by a tree as he leaned with his back against it, trying to breath regularly which was hard in the humidity of the air that seemed to collect water inside his lungs vessels.

Carl is gonna come back and we'll leave the forrest in no time, don't worry. just keep your chill. Ron tried to reassure himself. The voice at the store was nothing more than an imagination, just the result of his paranoia shinning through. Yes, it was exactly that, nothing more.

A smile wrestled itself over Ron's lips at his own stupidity, but as he looked up it washed off slowly. He didn't notice it at first because it looked like a regular shadow, but as he kept his gaze fixated on it the black matter next to a tree seemed to gain in size in front of his very eyes.

It looked like a normal shadow, up until it sprouted out of the tree and wreathed it in a dark blanket. Coating it from up down till it was erased from the forest.

Ron pushed himself off the tree he was leaning against and stumbled a few steps, planning on running to Carl no matter how weird it would be to crash into him mid pissing but as he made it towards the path he left, he bumped into Carl.

"Everything good?" Carl faltered, zipping up his pants with a confused look over his face.

Ron's mind was swimming and it didn't help the words that ran his mouth, twisted around his tongue into utter nonsense "Th-we, uh-- have to-- monster!"

Carl pulled his eyebrows together and studied Ron's face before his eye jumped to the right and widened as it saw something behind Ron from over his shoulder.

"Shit-- run!" He yelled, but they were already running, battering the forest floor with their worn shoes and working distance between them and the black matter that gained in size rapidly and it seemed to eat away from the landscape wherever it spread out.

It was a terrifying view and Ron had to contain himself not to look back and have a glance at the floating hole in the space.

"What the frick's that!??" Ron yelled between heavy breaths