Down The Other Trail

Down The Other Trail (this song is soo spooky, that it made me want to write something spooky... lets see if it works..)

Crunch, cranch, crick, crack..... in the middle of the night nothing could be seen... The moon was hiding behind some clouds; dry mountains, the semidesert bushes, were pitch dark. Only the footsteps could be heard of her(Shirley) and her boyfriend (Hank) and the wind that blew the bushes every so often.

Have you ever closed your eyes, and walked? It only takes a few steps until that feeling of desperation creeps up into the mind... of not knowing where you are, what you might trip on, or what tree you are going to hit.

Thats precisely how she felt. Hank led the way, walking in front, while holding her hand... he too felt this way, but he was trying to be strong for both of them. He was trying hard to protect her. She too, tried to be as quiet as she could, but she was getting short of breath from the fast walking. Her gasps were getting louder and louder, and the obstacles on the way led to constant bumps and scrapes and changes in direction.

They had been hiking earlier. Both had decided to take a romantic weekend camping just outside the city, in a not so well known state park. The spot was perfect, because they figured, if they had any problems-camping wise, just a mile down the trail was a motel... "their plan b."

Both were not the most of experienced campers. But both knew the basics. The tent, some beers, the flashlight, some late night snacks, poker cards, and a very warm sleeping bag.

They had started a fire, they had built the tent... and were enjoying themselves. Hmm... they brought those little smokies... and cheese... all they had to do was put them together in foil and warm them up by the fire... they also had brough the traditional chococale with marshmellows, among other goodies...

All was good until a sudden chill fell on them. They had been warned that the weather changes unpredictably. You see, they were located in a lake between two mountains, where breezes of air tunnels through them. The lake was melted ice from the previous winter's snow covered mountains, higher north of where they stayed... therefore, under the wrong conditions, the night could turn chilly.

They had decided, to go into the tent, as their fire would not able to warm them longer. They let the fire die down as they began to pack... when they were about to finish... and the campfire light dimmed, an odd sound caught their attention. They heard a scratching sound on the tree across from the tent.

Both, shocked, looked up and jumped in surprise to find that someone was staring at them. A little deer, whose eyes shined like two light bulbs when the flashlight was pointed towards it.

Both began to laugh nervously, because they had thought... well, that something else was there. Shirley shouted to the deer, "shooo!" "go away".. They waved and picked up sticks to scare it away... but the deer would not move. It kept staring at them...

The deer, keeping his eyes fixed on them turned his head towards the tree and stroked it again with his antlers slowly. He turned once again to stare at them with a soul-less expression, almost doll-like, flat and eerie. As Hank began to walk towards the animal and yell "GO AWAY", it ran and dissappeared into the trees. Well, they thought... not a big deal.. Hank said "lets go back to the tent"... Shirley replied "creepy."

Once inside, they pulled out their cards, and their ipods... they put music, and began to enjoy their company by telling stories and cracking jokes. Shirley suggested that she would feel better if they went to the motel. She still felt cold. Hank replied, 'ill warm you up, babe, don't worry." After kissing a few times, and after making love, both whispered to each other, I love you, then fell asleep.

As the evening passed and it got later into the night, the wind picked up further. It hit the tent from side to side. They could hear the roaring swish and swoosh. The sides of the tent, as well as the top dented inwards with each passing of the wind. Then, they began to hear a creaking sound. It became more constant and increasing in intensity. When they sat up, their tent violently shaked, and collapsed. One of the sides of the tent had torn open.

After a few seconds of silence... after making sure both were safe... they decided to leave and run back to the motel. The temperature had dropped significantly, and their romantic camping night had turned hellishly cold and chaotic in the past few hours. They would return in the morning to pick up the tent. Both left through the torn side of the tent.

The wind had died down, but it was freezing, it was completely dark, and they could only make out a few shapes here and there.

It hadnt been more than 5 minutes when they realized that they were not walking in the trail anymore.... it seemed that the trail either had filled with debris, making it un noticeable, or both had made a wrong turn.

Isolated, and unsure, but terribly cold, both decided to keep walking, as no matter what, both would find the highway which would lead them to the motel anyhow.

They eventually saw something approaching from afar. They could hear footsteps, and they could hear mumbling, and both were relieved that at least, they would have someone to ask directions for. They could not make out any words of their conversations, perhaps the forest was distorting the sounds. Hank and Shirley hid by some trees and waited. The crowd didn't seem to be aware of time or that it was freezing. When they got close enough, Hank gathered up the courage to speak.

"do you guys know the way to the motel?" he said, standing by the tree.

The crowd responded by yelling out of their lungs, which surprised hank, and made him step back. He went back to Shirley, and held her hand. The crowd dissappeared into the dark once again.

"What was that?" he asked Shirley. Shirley was spooked and said "I don't know, but I just want to get back home." "Well, at least seeing people makes me feel like we are getting closer to the motel, Shirley, come on."

They started to walk again, this time in the direction where the crowd had just left. Then, Hank held Shirley's hand and pulled on it running. "Wait Hank, Wait! I cant see, I can't see!!" Hank did not listen and pulled and ran with her, this was for a good 5 minutes. Their grip was loosening as he pulled on her, until their hands separated, and Shirley stopped, as Hank carried on. Shirley angered, and crying yelled. "STOOP HANK!!! STOP!!!!"

She was able to hear his footsteps running away from her (thud, thuuud, thud, thuud) but the sounds suddenly stopped with a thunderous shot from a rifle. BOOOM!!

"HANK!! HANK!! WHERE ARE YOU? sob"

"Im here babe!" He took her hand

They both ducked, and saw from a distance someone shooting their rifle. But it wasnt towards them. They were facing his back. Probably a hunter.

After a long silence.... they heard another... BOOOOOM!!! They both jerked at the sound of the firearm.

"Hank!" shirley stared at hank.
"Excuse me Sir!" said Hank.

"EXCUUUUUSE ME SIR!!!"

The hunter was not paying attention to them. He seemed to be focused at what he was doing. Hank approached the hunter and was within a few feet from him, when he heard once more another shot... BOOOM!! The hunter recharged his rifle.

EXXCUSE ME, as he touched the hunter's back, the hunter, startled turned and shrieked...

He shot at hank twice. boom, boom, hank fell to the ground, and the hunter terrified, left and ran away.

HANK!! Shirley screamed!! Hannk!

She ran to his side and wept and kept saying... "every thing will be allright, baby, everything will be ok, dont die on me. baby, please dont die on me."

"What happenned, asked Hank?" "Nothing baby."

Help!! she screamed... help!! they shot my hank!! Help!!!

She sat there, next to Hank, and held him close in her arms.

While she waited there, panicked and not knowing what to do... she began to hear footsteps again, from afar.

Sounded like two people. Four simultaneous footsteps were heard. She could make out a strong breath, coming out from at least one of the two persons that was coming towards them. thlump, thash, thosh thlemp... crick, crack.. thlump... thlash.. The sound was getting nearer, and nearer to the couple.

When she turned around, she saw a deer. It was tired, was grunting in pain. It kept walking towards them. She could see the steam that blew from the deer's mouth.
Worried that the animal was going to walk over them, she pulled Hank. "come on Hank, baby move." Hank, looked at her and moved effortlessly, and both got up.

"HANK!! YOU'RE OKAY!!" "Yeah, baby." She rushed her hands through his jacket and felt no holes, or blood, and he was not in pain. Relieved... she smiled and hugged him.

"I thought he had shot you!" she said, "yeah, me too!" replied hank.

The deer walked past them, and never gazed towards their direction, nor was it afraid of hank and shirley. He just gasped for air, and kept on his way straight ahead, until it dissappeared into the dark.

Both began to walk once again, but stopped after a few steps past the tree where the hunter had been shooting from. They saw a dead deer on the ground. Hank and Shirley looked at each other expressionless and returned to where Hank had been originally shot... and saw nothing.

They just held hands, and kept walking... until the daylight revealed what had happened to them.