Quick Death

• Lilliarna Ferguson, Grade 8
• Short Story
• 2017

I been running for weeks now and I still couldn't get away from the THING that chased me. I had seen it once and it was horrible, the white body, twisted, the jutting bones, the deep black leaking eyes. It was a thing of nightmares. I think it may have once been human, maybe. It had given me a chance to run, hard and fast, away from it. I had to be clever to avoid it but I could never lose it. Maybe it was toying with me or herding me to something. Why am I even thinking of these things? Focus!
I swerved another tree. The thing was finally bored of hunting, now it was hungry. My foot hit a root and I stumbled, nearly falling, only just regaining my balance. The thing behind me growled and started to speed up. We were in some kind of forest. I had to swerve trees, dodge vines, jump over rocks and roots as well as keeping ahead of the thing.
I ran all the way through the forest, the thing behind me. Maybe it was time to give up? To lay down my life? Tears started to run down my face as I left the forest to see a grassy plain in front of me, with nothing to slow it down I would die. Then I was tired, hungry and thirsty... I couldn't take it my knees buckled and I dropped onto the grass accepting my fate.
I looked back to the trees to find out why I wasn't dead yet, I saw nothing, no monster, nothing. Then I felt something on my shoulder, I swung to see the beast. It's mouth hung open, letting me stare at the broken, jagged teeth and it long, forked tongue. My gaze flew up to it's eyes. Sadness mixed with anger flash through its pitch black eyes, making it seem, even for a second, human. I think that it was fighting something. I stopped my tears, it would hunt me down no matter what. I bowed my head letting words escape my lips, "Just make it quick".

I tried so hard to fight it, the monster inside me. I clawed at it and managed to buy time for the girl to run. Then it took over again and started its hunt, I could only watch. It chased her for weeks, never giving up. The girl was clever but not enough to loose it, but it was getting slower. It was herding her to the plains.
When it got her there I fought for control again, I didn't want her to suffer the slow death it would give her. I touched her and she span, but she must have know I was in control. She asked me for the one thing I could give. A quick death. So I did it. The monster took over again, and fed. I couldn't watch. So I left it knowing that I had saved someone. Freedom took me.