Board Thread:Writer's Workshop/@comment-27629228-20160615232538

The town was a small one, nothing more than a town hall, few stores, a school, and fewer houses. The town was surrounded by hills and was so strangled placed that the sound of a gunshot would echo throughout the entire town. This little town is where Janice and Elliot Smith lived.

This couple were due to go camping in a nearby forest for the weekend, and were packing their car with the camping materials.

“Ready dear.” Elliot asked, closing the trunk of the car. Janice nodded to her husband, smiling, opened the door and sat in the passenger seat of the car. “Let's be off then.”

They drove for almost an hour, until reaching the campsite, parked their car, and hiked until they were deep in the forest. As they set up their tent, a strange noise poked at the ears of Janice.

“Did you hear that.” She asked her husband.

“No, what is it.” He replied, confused.

“I heard a faint rustling somewhere.”

“I didn't hear it. Plus you have better hearing than me.”

“What do you think it was.”

“I'm not sure, probably a squirrel or something.” That was enough for Janice. After they finished setting up their tent, Elliot decided to take Janice to watch the sunset on a hill a mile away. They zipped up the tent flap and walked.

The air was cold, little bugs buzzed around their faces as they walked at a slow pace. The trees rose spectacularly into the sky, with large branches practically making a rooftop over Janice and Elliot as they walked.

“Wow!” Janice exclaimed, taking a moment to admire the wildlife. Elliot took her hand and they kept walking. As they approached the hill, the sun had already began to set. The sky was painted with various shades of pink, purple, and blue.

“It’s so beautiful.” Elliot muttered, captivated by the scene. Janice nodded in agreement. The sun, now just half of a yellow circle, seemed to be slowly crawling down the sky as if the moon was a soldier chasing a fatally wounded enemy. When they decided to go back to their tent, the sun was gone, the light in the sky replaced by the light of the moon and flashlights held by Janice and Elliot.

The forest, once beautiful and filled with life, had now gone dark and quiet. The bugs had left, only the sounds of crickets filled the night.

“Kinda spooky right?” Janice asked.

“A little, but nothing I can’t handle.” Elliot replied, trying to sound tough. They kept walking and when they reached where they had pitched their tent, they stopped in their tracks.

The flap of the tent was open. It was open, just in the slightest amount, but open. They both swore it was closed, but somehow it was open. Fear was slowly building up in their stomachs when they saw it.

It was hunched behind their tent, barely visible, but visible to note its features. It was standing on small, thin legs. The form had a human like abdomin, but had arms of such lengths that they rivaled the length of the trees surrounding it. On the ends of the creatures long arms, it had sharp claws, almost half the size of its arms, that seemed sharp enough to cut down the trees in a single swipe. It's face was of a bald human, but had black piercing eyes. It's pale skin illuminated by the moonlight. The creature was sporting a huge, toothy, and a seemingly happy grin. Very large teeth filled its mouth. It's teeth looked so huge it seemed to be almost the size of its head, an odd assumption to make given from its small mouth. The creature stood there, eying them both.

Janice started to back away, Elliot as well, and the creature just stayed there. Staring at them with its cold black eyes. It moved slightly towards them, causing Janice and Elliot to make a full sprint to their car where they drove away, criminally fast on the surface streets, back home. After rushing inside and locking every door in the house, they sat down and pondered if they should call the cops or not. Surely there was a rational way to explain what happened? That's what Elliot thought, but Janice thought otherwise.

Quietly, but certainly, Janice started to laugh. Her laugh was like the laugh one would use in a near death experience. An experience where you'd think, “Did that really just happen?!” This surprised Elliot, as he did not expect her to act like this. Then, suddenly, she bolted for the door. Elliot chased after her, asking for her to slow down, to stop, to explain to him what she was doing.

“Janice!” Elliot screamed, “Where are you going? Janice?” But his words yielded no response. Janice ran outside, with Elliot following, and ran to the car. She threw open the car door, started the car, and drove off. Leaving a confused and worried Elliot in her wake. While Elliot ran to the other car in the garage, Janice was driving down the road and laughing all the while. She was driving to the forest, she was going back. Back to the horrible creature they first sighted.

“I’m here!” She yelled hysterically as she got out of her car and ran into the woods. She ran and ran, looking for the thing with such long arms. She eventually came to a large cave surrounded by an even larger clearing. Dead animals were scattered all around. She knew it lived here.

Elliot was speeding down the street, passing car after car in near misses as he went to the forest. He got out and tried to look, but to no avail, as the forest was so loud with life Elliot couldn’t even hear himself think. He ran and ran, trying to see if he could find his wife.

Janice inched closer and closer to the cave, a low growl was heard from within.

“Treeman! I have arrived!” She yelled into the dark cave, her voice echoing. A louder growl was heard and the monster, the one Janice referred to as the Treeman, stepped out. With its long arms dragging behind it. She was clearly insane at this point, but she still had her sense of fear, and slowly backed away when the Treeman inched closer.

Elliot heard Janice remark about the Treeman, and was following the sound until he came to the ledge of a huge cliff. Below the cliff, he saw Janice and the creature mere inches away from each other. Elliot didn’t know if he should scream Janice’s name or to try to make a safe way down. Either way, his efforts would of ended in nothing, as the Treeman slashed Janice with his huge claws. Janice’s body was torn to shreds and all Elliot could do was watch. Then, the Treeman leaped. A huge leap, to the top of the cliff, Elliot screamed and ran, but the Treeman was swift, and was able to catch up to Elliot, slashing him up as well.

Then, the Treeman made its way to the entrance to the forest and, before wreaking havoc on the poor souls who lived there, let out a huge roar that echoed throughout the entire town. 