Board Thread:Writer's Workshop/@comment-27628405-20160131223214

Nika turned her head and picked up the flowers her boyfriend left her. “Good to be home,” she said. She turned her key and smelt the sweet honey scent of her house. Her dog ran to her and licked her face. “Did you miss me, huh? Well, let’s wait for Alex, ok?” The dog barked in approval. He just walked in. “Speak of the devil,” she muttered under her breath.

“Hey babe,” Nika started “how was work?”

“David’s really beating my ass. How about you?”

“Good. What is he making you do now?”

“Extra paperwork, add me to the hotline, and he’s been hustling me lately.”

“Oh that’s too bad. Did you say hi to Maxine?”

“No, not yet,” Alex walked over to Maxine “Hey max, were you good?”

She barked in response.

“Hey Alex,” Nika called from the couch, “do you want to go camping this weekend?”

“I’ll use my vacation days, but how long do you want the trip to be?”

“I don’t know, like 3 days. Is that ok?”

“Yes, just long enough.”

“Let’s go pack.”

The two walked upstairs getting ready to pack. They packed enough clothes for three days, their toothbrushes, and food for their little vacation. Alex called their neighbor to see if they could watch Maxine for the next few days. They said they would be at her house immediately. Alex answered the door, and the neighbors took the dog, guaranteeing she’ll be back when they get back.

“Babe, you ready to leave?”

“Yeah Alex. You got the keys?”

“Yep.”

“Let’s go.” Nica said.

The two got in the car and started driving. They didn’t live far from the highway, so it didn’t take too long to drive to the exit for the nearest campground.

“Nica, wanna listen to a CD? J-Lo?”

“Yeah, it’ll make this drive much less boring.”

“Alright.”

When Alex opened the cd holder, all the cd’s fell out.

“Damn it!”

“I’ll pick ‘em up. Just keep looking at the road.” The J-Lo CD was right on top. Nika popped it in before picking up the rest, luckily, she only owned a few.

Shortly after they arrived at the gate to the grounds, the ranger stopped them telling them to leave. That there was something in the woods. Alex agreed to drive back. He turned the car around and he told Nica they were going on a little hike through the woods. Nica agreed to sneak in, and they agreed to come back at night. They turned onto the nearest exit, and parked in front of a gas station, near the woods they can sneak through. They did enter the gas station to get snacks and for the bathroom. When they were done in the rest stop, they began the hike through the woods.

“Nica, watch out for snakes.”

“Not cool. You know I’m terrified of snakes!”

“No I’m serious, there are snakes in this forest.”

“Okay.”

After a short hike, they found the perfect spot to camp. It was a nice clearing, enough wood nearby, not too much vegetation, and huge rocks they could use as chairs.

“This is the perfect spot!” Nica said.

“Yes it is.”

They began building the tents, fire, then got their fishing poles out. Right at that moment, Alex remembered the thing that was out here.

“Nica, do you remember the creature that ranger told us about?”

Nica became wax. She got the chills once Alex brought that back up.

“Alex, will you protect me from it?”

“Yes, as long as we meet up with it, I will watch over you.”

“Do you want to go fishing?” Alex asked.

“I’m worried about that creature.”

“Fine, let’s just go to bed, it’s already getting late.”

She nodded. They both climbed into their tents and changed. Nica felt the sweet sensation of sleep coming up. Her eyes drifted closed, until she saw something sprint past her tent. “Alex? Is that you?” She didn’t know why, but that thing out there reminded her about the creature. She felt absolutely foolish for calling out to it, it obviously wasn’t Alex.

She decided to leave the tent to sleep in Alex’s tent with him. She ran to his tent, across the clearing, trying to avoid the shadow that she saw. She unzipped the tent, and climbed in. Alex was dead asleep, yet not snoring, like he usually did when he was tired. She checked his pulse, and it was beating. With the tent zipped and her sleeping bag in her tent, she cuddled in his sleeping bag with him.

Suddenly, she felt cold, clammy hands on her shoulders. They weren’t Alex’s hands and she knew it. She screamed and groped around the floor to see if she can use anything as a weapon. She grabbed something, but it was the car key. She felt helpless, like at the mercy of this thing. Luckily, Alex shot up at this moment and tackled the creature. He was quickly overpowered by the thing. Nica finally thought of something she could do with the key. She snuck up behind the creature, and stabbed it in the eye with the key. It squealed as loud as ever and retreated into the woods.

Alex and Nica ran to the rest stop they parked at, and called the cops. They were there right away. They took the statement on the creature. And they inspected Alex and Nica. Nica had a long slash on her back, and Alex had a deep bite mark on his leg. The police told them to go home, and that they would look for the creature. Before the cops left, they gave Nica bandage and wrapped it around her torso.

“Alex?” “What?” “I can’t help but wonder, what would have happened to me if I hadn’t gone into your tent?” “I’m not sure, but I’m just happy you’re alive” The car ride back was completely silent the whole way back.

Epilogue: The campsite has been covered over in concrete and the forest has been cut down. The city of Amani has planned on adding the area to the nearest highway. 