A Beautiful Place To Die

• Hannah Piscopo, Grade 9
• Short Story
• 2013

The old leaves that had fallen for days crunched under Felice’s feet as she walked. Her only sight being the big, bright, luminous moon that hung in the velvet sky. The moon seamed to solely shine on her creating an eerie shadow that made it look like someone was following her. For the many times that she had wandered those woods something was unnaturally different, like someone had somehow changed everything, yet it all looked the same. Even the smell was different from what had always filled Felice’s nose. She had constantly smelled it her whole life. Pine tress and damp leaves. But this time there was a hint of something unusual.

She walked uncertain of where she was going. Felice stopped and observed her surroundings. The forest was not at all what she was use to. She had walked further than ever before. Felice was terrified, lost and afraid. But she willed herself to continue.

Out of nowhere her foot hit something firm and she fell to the floor. Even though she could see what is was yet, the smell told her a lot more than she wanted to know. It was revolting, like something was rotting. Felice franticly rummage through her pocket to find her phone and shone it around her feet to see what she had stumbled over. It was rotten all right. It was a dead deer and it wasn’t a pretty sight. The deer had claw and bite marks everywhere, not a single part of the body that wasn’t covered in blood. Before you even could examine it you could tell it had been sitting there for days. Just as Felice was about to dust herself off a terrifying, hair-rising sound echoed a round the woods, that you would know anywhere. A howl.

Panic stricken, Felice tripped over herself as she trying to get up. Through her panicking Felice’s blue nokia phone, slipped out of her small fingers and landed hard on the ground, switching it off, casting her into darkness once more. She dived onto the floor searching for it, but one small thing showed her that she was not alone. A leave crunched loudly and clearly. Felice’s hand hit something hard and cold she picked it up and forage for a button. A bright brilliant light burst out of the phone. Felice spun around shining the light everywhere to find what had made that noise. Her heart stopped. She found it. A wolf. Standing only a couple feet away, daring to come closer. It looked angry and hurt. He lunge forward snapping at her legs and growling. He kept trying again and again. Felice had never seen an animal so determined to kill. He lunged again tearing Felice’s baby soft skin. She collapsed on the ground too terrified to do anything. All she could see was mesmerizing, blue, glowing eyes above her. She breathed heavily, each breath growing softer and softer.
‘What a beautiful place to die’ she thought to herself.