Moonlight Dwelling

In The Woods

Once upon a time there were two twins named Hannah and Gary who lived in the woods. They'd always been told to never go past the river because there was a monster out there living in a shack that would kill them if they ever went there. One day they decided to go see the monster for themselves since their parents were away for the day and since they were together they figured they wouldn't get caught by this monster.

"Are you sure you want to do this Hannah?"

"As long as I''m with you we'll be fine. I wonder if there is even a monster."

"Well we'll soon find out but I'm leaving stones behind to make sure we can make our way home. We don't have much time if we want to beat Mama and Papa home."

"Don't be such a worrywart you know they won't be back till the wee hours of tomorrow. I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't get back until tomorrow afternoon."

"True but just to be on the safe side we want to get back here before midnight."

"Do you have flashlights and batteries?"

"Oh course dummy what do you think I have in my pack?"

"Don't call me a dummy or I won't share the food with you."

"Okay I promise I won't call you that since I totally spaced on getting food myself so we'll call it even. Now let's go."

They started walking and Gary would drop a stone every few feet. As they approached the river Hannah wanted to stop for something to eat.

"Are you really hungry or are you just scared?"

"No I'm hungry you moron after all it's long past lunch time. You know it takes a few hours to walk here or were you spacing out again?"

"Okay let's eat."

Hannah started pulling out food from her pack along with a thermos while Gary spread out a blanket that he brought with him just in case it got cold. They ate in silence and cleaned up and continued walking.

They came to a clearing in the woods where they heard voices and could see a big fire blazing in the darkening sky. Gary turned back to Hannah and told her to be quiet. They crept up and hid behind some bushes to see what was going on.

It seemed like everyone in the village was there before this giant bonfire with a spit turning above it cooking something. Hannah gasped in horror when she realized what was being turned over the fire. It was a human being in fact it looked like little Timmy who'd gone missing a few days ago.

The two sat and watched completely horrified as Timmy was turned on the spit over and over with the smell of burning flesh caught up in their noses. Hannah couldn't bear to watch anymore so she turned and ran only to trip over her brother. He grabbed her by the hand and they ran like hell because they all of a sudden heard shouting and the sounds of feet running towards them.

They ran through the woods until they found this cave that they dashed into so they could hide and rest because it felt like they'd been running for what felt like hours. Hannah felt like throwing up but there wasn't anything left in her to come up. She could swear that their parents were right there in the clearing with the others but didn't want to believe it. Gary and Hannah sat on the ground hugging each other while Hannah cried and Gary stroked her hair.

"Gary tell me I didn't see Mama and Papa."

Gary kissed her on the forehead and continued to stroke her hair.

"Do you want the truth or do you want me to lie?"

"I want you to lie but tell me the truth first."

"Yes it was them along with a lot of people from the village."

"So they ate Timmy."

"It looks like it. We need to get back home fast before they get back and leave so we don't end up their next meal."

"Do you really think they'd eat us?"

"I'm not sure if you saw or not but there was a huge pile of bones and I'm pretty sure I saw Timmy's parents there with the others."

"What are we going to do?"

"We need to get to Grandma's quick she'll know what to do. She always told me that I should take you to her should anything happen. It was like she knew or suspected what was going on but couldn't do anything about it since we'd have thought she was crazy telling us that we're living among a bunch of cannibals."

"Cannibals?"

"Yes sweetie they eat people."

"I don't want to get eaten."

"You won't I promise you that. I'll take care of you and we'll live with Grandma."

"Can we walk to her place?"

"I can call her and have her pick us up. On second thought maybe we shouldn't go home since we don't know if they recognized us as we ran away. We can use the phone at Ida's place. She's a nice old lady and she wasn't among the others so it should be safe."

"Didn't Mama and Papa call her a witch or something?"

"Does it really matter what they call her after you saw what you did?"

"I suppose not."

The two walked through the woods and were lucky enough not to run across anyone searching for them. Gary kept getting the feeling he was being watched but he just figured it was an owl or some other animal since he couldn't hear anything.

They finally came across a little cottage that was the cutest thing that Hannah had ever seen. It looked like a gingerbread house that was the size of a house. It looked good enough to eat. Gary and Hannah walked up to the door and he knocked.

"Who is it?"

"It's Gary and Hannah could we use your phone?"

The door opened and a little old woman answered with a topknot on her head. She smiled and looked just like what a grandmother should look like. She was even wearing an apron and the smell of cookies was wafting from the kitchen.

"Well come in you two and I'll get you some cookies that are fresh from the oven."

The two walked in and sat down at the table. Ida came back from the kitchen with a plate of cookies and two glasses of milk.

"The phone's right there."

"Thank you."

Gary walked over to the phone and called her Grandma who answered and told him to stay put until she came and got him. He didn't have to say a word which could have been awkward with Ida right in the room. He hung up the phone and walked back over to the table where Hannah was finishing her second cookie.

"Oink oink."

"Stop that I'm hungry and after that..." She turned and looked at Ida not sure what to say.

"Don't worry dear I know what you saw."

"You do?"

"That's why you called your Grandma right?"

"How did you know who I called?"

"Your grandmother is a good friend of mine. She told me to take care of you should you ever stop by."

"So you know what's going on past the river?"

"I'm afraid so and I can't do a think about it. It's been going on for centuries. Other people have tried but they end up disappearing and I'm sure you can guess what happens to them."

"Why do you stay?"

"I'm old and I've lived here my whole life and besides Lilah asked me to stay to make sure you two were safe."

"What are you going to do now? You should come with it since you might get in trouble for helping us."

"Don't worry I'm all ready to go just as soon as Lilah shows up. I got a call from her today telling me that you might be stopping by."

"Are you a witch?"

"Hannah!?"

"No that's all right. Would you be scared if I told you yes?"

"No because you're really nice and your cookies are so yummy."

Someone knocked at the door loudly thundering through the house.

"You kids go hide downstairs. Just go through the kitchen and into the pantry. Stay there until it's safe. I need to put on my doddering old lady routine."

Gary grabbed Hannah's hand and walked to the kitchen and grabbed a few cookies off a plate and led her to the pantry and a door that led down to a small and cramped room that was barely big enough for the two of them. He shut the door and brought out his flashlight and handed Hannah a cookie which she started nibbling on.

Ida grabbed the glasses and hid them in a cupboard before going over to the door and grabbed a shawl which she wrapped herself up in. She started limping and bent over and opened the door.

"Hello what can I do for you?"

"Have you seen two children?"

"No I'm housebound so where would I see a couple of children. I can't stand the sight of them all loud and dirty. It makes me mighty cranky to have them around."

"Do you have a phone?"

"Yes why?"

"Here's my number if you do hear about these kids."

"Why are you looking for kids anyway?"

"What's with the questions old lady?"

"Sorry I don't get too much company nowadays so I get a little chatty when someone stops by which doesn't happen out here."

"Well just call if you find them or they make their way here."

"Sure thing. Good day."

"Good day."

The man walked down the path and said, "What a strange old lady no wonder they think she's a witch. She just gives me the creeps. I doubt that she knows where those two kids are."

Ida walked back to the kitchen and went to the pantry and knocked on the door.

It's safe to come up."

Gary opened the door and they walked back into the living room and sat down. Ida brought the glasses out of the cupboard and brought more milk and cookies. Hannah started yawning.

"I''m sure you two must be exhausted so why don't you take a nap while we wait for Lilah."

Gary led Hannah over to the couch where she curled up and Gary sat down beside her. Soon they were both asleep. Ida started cackling and the sound of knocking came at the door once again. She opened the door and let in the old woman standing there.

"Are they here?"

"They sure are. They conked out on the couch."

The two women started laughing together.

By Barbara Desmond