Just a Bite

Camping

The trees towered over me as I crept deeper into the forest, camera in hand. This area was so beautiful in the summer and it made for great pictures. Smoke came into view while I was walking and, eager for a nice candid shot, I walked closer.

As I navigated through the trees, a group of tents and people came into view. There were two young children, a woman, two men, and an older woman. The children were running around while one of the women chased them. It was a heartwarming sight, until my eyes landed on one of the men. He was sitting apart from everyone else in the group. My first instinct was to get a better look, so I zoomed in using my camera. The man looked deep in thought, pained even. The stark difference between him and the others would be captivating on camera. I snapped a few pictures of him and the rest of the family, then made a mental note to ask for their permission later, in the least creepy way possible. Darkness began to descend, much quicker than it did back home, so I went back to my tent. 

It was late when a noise woke me from my sleep. To be sure it wasn't just part of my dream, I waited a couple seconds and heard it again, it was a scream. The scream was far away but I could hear the pain in it. I wanted to help, but I didn't know where it was coming from or even what was causing it. Fear wracked through my body as I sank back into the blankets of my tent. Hours passed as I lied awake, the screams had only just died down. They were spread throughout those hours, each one hurting me as if it were my own. When it felt like the silence was about to swallow me, one last scream broke through. This scream was much different from the rest. It was full of anguish and pulled pain from deep inside me.

When the sun peered through the trees, I began to pack up my stuff. I no longer felt safe in this forest and needed to get out. As I was walking, I stumbled upon the campsite from the previous day. It was a gruesome sight. Patches of the bright green grass that once covered the area were now a deep red. Scattered around the camp were bones. Some broken clean in half, as if split in a fit of rage. Bile worked its way up my throat, burning on its way. The sight was just too horrifying to bear, it was like a scene from hell. I started to back away from it all but I stumbled and fell. Scrambling to get up, my hand landed on something sharp and wet. On the ground was small, almost childlike, bones in a puddle of blood. Fear overcame me and I couldn't bear to look at my hand. Holding in my screams, I got up and hurried out of the forest. I didn't want to stick around long enough for whatever that did that to come back.