Writer shares 2nd October-themed short story
Six Teens Pt.1
To set the chilling scene, each of these images depict a forest from fiction writer Brook Murphree’s story. She used art from pxhere.com, rawpixel.com and flickr.com to create this collage with Bazaart. “I got to say my favorite part of creating any story, even this one, is creating the characters and personalities they carry,” Murphree said. “Right now there isn’t a definitive ending to this mini series, if you will, so I look forward to seeing where it goes.”
The piece below is the second story in a set of spooky offerings. This particular excerpt is the leading passage of a short story about six kids imprisoned within a forest surrounded by dangers. This story is purely fiction and written by Brooke Murphree. Thank you for reading!
There used to be six of us … now, I’m alone.
It started six days ago. We woke up on the forest floor – except it wasn’t really a forest. While the leaves all felt real, a webbed pattern decorated the sky. We introduced ourselves one by one. Lewis, Carolina, Daisy, Jackson, Rex and myself: Salem.
First impressions were transparently obvious the second we all made eye contact. Daisy sat in her powder pink skirt, fluffy white sweater and pink sneakers with eyes glossed with tears. Lewis and Jackson, however, held back no malice in their gazes to each other, making it clear on day one that they were not going to make this experience bearable. Their personalities resembled the arrogance of Superman vs. Batman. Lewis held an honorable and princely quality – as if he’d been born to be a gift to humanity. While Jackson had more of an “I don’t care” aura fluttering around him – and his black combat boots.
Rex didn’t talk much. His eyes were squinty most of the time, trying to see through his cracked glasses as he examined the surrounding flora. Whoever tossed us into this imprisonment lacked a gentle touch, noticeable by the aches and bruises that littered our arms, legs and sides. Carolina quite literally glittered when she stood to her full height. She didn’t look worried – but looked down in disdain when she noticed her white miniskirt dirtied a dark brown and her arms no better off, caked in layers of dust.
After I whipped off my jean shorts and green t-shirt, I tied my unruly hair with the elastic around my wrist. After some squabbles and bickers, we decided then to figure out what happened. In the distance, we saw a cliff along the mountainside and started our trek that way. The higher we got, the more we could see distance-wise.
The journey took a bit on foot, so about halfway, we found a less rocky place to rest for the evening. We settled down by each other, instinctively in a circle. We didn’t know the true danger that lay in wait for us, as we fell soundlessly asleep under the webbed sky.
At the end of day one, we’d lost nothing. We didn’t gain anything either. No memories of how we got there. No memories of who we were. No memories confirming whether someone had been missing us, and no idea of the dangers that could be lurking nearby.
Stay tuned for Part 2, coming soon!
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