The Woods

• Georgia Lim, Grade 5
• Short Story
• 2017

Arooo! Sam shivered with fear. He just couldn't get to sleep. "Why did it have to be the woods?", he whined.
Arooo! Sam gasped, pulling his blanket closer to his pale face, gripping it so tight that his knuckles were white. He was very shaky. The ground was rocky and uncomfortable, it was freezing cold. He wished that he could just fall asleep. Sam never wanted to do the dare but he couldn't bear the thought of being called a wimp.
Soon it was morning. Everything was covered in dew and there was a gentle morning breeze. He'd been in the tent for four days and while he wanted to stay in the safety of his tent, his curiosity got the better of him and he decided to go out to explore.
As he walked he thought about the day when he accepted the dare. A big kid called Ben looked around the playground trying to find the smallest skinniest kid. He walked up to me with everyone watching.
"Hey you, I dare you to go into the woods for a week", he said. I didn't say anything.
"Sam's a wimp!" he shouted loud enough for everyone to hear. People started whispering and I knew that they were talking about me.
"Fine!" I shouted,"I'll do it,".
'Why did I agree to this?' Sam sighed.
Sam had been walking for hours and it was turning dark. He heard a low growl and suddenly two pale eyes popped up in front of him and they blinked but not from top to bottom like humans but from the sides. Sam turned and ran as fast as his legs would carry him. He weaved in and out of the trees and came to a clearing.
By then he was so tired that he felt like he had to have a break or he'd collapse so he hid behind a bush. Thudding steps loomed closer. Very quietly Sam turned around to see the monster standing in the clearing. It was massive! Over 6 metres tall and 1 metre wide! It stood on all fours. It's rich red fur partly hid bloody, razor sharp claws. It had a horse-like neck and had two monkey arms sticking out of of its chest like a centaur. A cruel smile stretched across its face revealing sharp bloodstained teeth. But the creepiest thing to Sam was the pale yellow eyes. Every time the monster blinked it sent shivers down his spine.
Hoot, hoot, an owl flew past. Quick as lightning the monster lashed out a long sticky tongue and wrapped it around the owl. The owl shrieked but the monster just reeled its tongue in until... chomp, the owl was gone. Then something started happening. A pair of wings were sprouting from the monster's side. This was the most gruesome thing Sam had ever seen. He sat there mouth hanging open at the horrible sight. Suddenly a tree uprooted itself and faced the monster. The tree grunted angrily and the monster growled. The tree stomped as it hit a branch hard in the monster's face but that only enraged the monster. The monster moved to attack and bit a branch off the tree and the tree howled in pain.
Sam realised that this was his time to flee. He resisted the urge to watch the battle and ran as fast as he could all the way back home. What just happened? 'Monsters are real and trees can walk'.
"I'm never doing that ever again,"Sam mumbled.