He Never Died

• Evette Kelly, Grade 5
• Short Story
• 2022

She heard a rustle. Close by, in the bushes. Run, Elisa told herself, and bounded back to the small, wooden Queenslander on the peak of Totlands Cliff. “Mamá!” Elisa’s mother opened up the door for her. “Querida estas bien? What’s wrong? What happened?”
“Get the nets!” Was all Elisa could get out before her father came running in.
“Did something get past the electric fencing?” He asked. Elisa’s gulp explained it all. Her dad grabbed the nearest net and they all rushed out the door. Elisa led her parents into the dense bush to where she heard the movement.

“Where is it?” Her parents asked.
“Are you sure you saw something?” Said her Dad.
“Sí papá. It was right there,” said Elisa, pointing to the bush. Elisa took a careful step towards it and ran her fingers through its spiky leaves.
“Is something burning?” Her mother asked.
“What do you mean?”
Her mother gasped, “cena.” Without another word, her parents rushed off to check the dinner. Elisa didn’t follow; she was confident she saw something. She continued to search. Hoping her parents wouldn’t notice, Elisa creeped around the back of the trees to search behind the bush. When she got there it took all her willpower not to scream.

Lying down, half stuck into the dirt, was a sharp pocket knife covered in dry, crimson, blood. She then heard a whisper from somewhere deeper in the forest. “He never died,” it hissed.

Elisa shuddered, “quién está ahí?” Suddenly an eagle swooped and dropped a note. It read:

The Legend Of James Huranger

Everybody knows how James Huranger, famous Polish explorer, discovered the Blue Mooncolgers- a species of bird. People believe that after finding them, Huranger killed himself because nature told him that the birds thrive happily by themselves. Unfortunately, this was very misunderstood, as the Mooncolgers were dying, but that doesn't mean that nature was wrong. What people didn’t know was that nature was actually talking about a different species. These monsters live deep underground, in the centre of the forest. No-one ever came near them because it was too dark, until one day thirty years ago. James Huranger was determined to find out if there were other secret species hidden in the forest. The beasts had never had a human come into their territory, and when they heard footsteps, they attacked. No-one knows what happened after and all that was left was a bloody knife. When other explorers found this they believed the False. Legend has it that he is still alive and now lives somewhere deep in the forest.

At the bottom of the note there were two words, written in messy scrawl.

Follow me.

Elisa took a deep breath then looked up and gasped. There stood a tall girl. When she spoke her voice matched exactly with the deep voice from before, “we need to find him. Otherwise the monsters will take over the world.”

Elisa gulped down her fear, filled her eyes with determination and told her, “okey. I’m coming.”