This is my first story, here goes.
I’ve always loved the forest, with it’s bright and sunny mornings and the beautiful, bubbly, cerulean river. That is until I found a cabin in the forest a few weeks after graduation from Meadowsweet High. I had no interest in college as I wanted to explore, rediscover myself and homestead. I was hiking with my two best friends from childhood, Toni and Miranda in the forest as usual since it was one of our favorite get together activity.
“Oh, wow, you guys have got to see this place, it looks wicked cool,” Toni exclaimed as we came across it. Miranda huffed in annoyance then whined, “It’s suuuper creepy. Andy, let’s go.” But I stare, mesmerized, at the brown stone and brick cabin with moss and lichen growing in patches. “No, let’s explore it for a bit. Toni’s right. It does look cool.” We sauntered right up to the door, it was slowly getting dark. The door had a rusty door knocker in the shape of a horrified cherub. I opened the door, slowly. I first noticed the kitchen table. It had an old, wrinkled letter in purple cursive. I picked it up and read it.
To The New Owner:
1. You cannot leave at night and you must not let anyone in. Leave offerings of special herbs* and a dead rat at dawn for the Ogre. at the base of the Great Oak. It will keep him away at night. But be warned of the others.
2. At night, you must eat a teaspoon of magic mushroom, beet root juice and dried bat blood immediately when you hear the blooodcurdling screams and banging outside the cabin. It will cast as a protective aura from the Mushroom Goblin. He craves your blood and organs and likes to make carpets from the hair and flesh of humans. He will sometimes be accompanied by other goblins.
3.*If you ever find yourself out of special herbs, run to the river and cut your fingertips and drip the blood into the water. The entire river will turn crimson red. That is when you reach down and collect your herbs. Be careful not to fall in or be dragged in by the ghosts of those who perished in the forest.
4. Always keep the fire stove alight at sunset until dawn.
5. Never eat any food left on the doorstep. There is nobody…human…around for miles and it is poisoned and covered with hallucingenic powder. It will cause you to be sick and paranoid for a week. Blood will come out of your ears, you’ll be foaming at the mouth while vomiting the foulest black sludge and your sick will look sickly green with purple lumps.
6. Never go down in the larder.
7.Give the scarecrow a coin coated in wax and wrapped with red string with a drop of your blood. Put it in the front chest pocket on his coveralls.
8. Sage this home and draw a pentagram in acorn ash and rat blood.
-Martha, The Guardian Witch of the Forest.
I read the last five a few times, at first thinking it was some kind of joke, not noticing it was already night outside. I would never have to worry about struggling. I would set aside most of the money every Monday to save it. Suddenly there was banging on the door and exterior wall. Oh sh*t! The teaspoon of cruddy sh*t! Miranda wailed in terror. She turned to me, clinging onto my sleeve. “What the f*ck is happening, Andy? And what is that in your hands?” She peered at the letter and giggled. “You really can’t believe that horsesh*t.” The banging started getting louder then the screaming and shrieking started. Toni was about to open the front door.
“No, Toni! Don’t open the door or we’ll all die!” I shouted over the shrieking. But it was too late. As he opened the door, a grey hand covered in oozing pus filled sore snatched him by the throat. The sight of the goblin’s face will haunt me for the rest of my life. Its body was covered in dried blood and oozing pus filled sores and naked. It had malicious amber eyes and a evil sneering mouth filled with crooked yellow teeth stained with blood and the foulest breath. It had a huge red and purple mushroom cap it wore as a hat, covering its slimey green hair. Miranda screamed and vomited at the sight of it. The goblin smirked at us then snapped Toni’s head backwards, a hole in his throat, blood dripping out. The goblin smirked at us again the began drinking from Toni as if he was a Slushee from a 7/11. “Toni, nooooooo. Oh my god, no!” Miranda wailed, sobbing. I looked at her then at the door. I rushed at it and slammed it shut before it tried to get us. “Get the table, Mir!”
Still sobbing, she dragged it over. “Oh my god, what are we going to do?” Miranda groaned as she slid down after we placed the table against the door, her head placed in her hands then sobbing again, her black ponytail jerking as she wept. “First I’m going to look for some of the things mentioned in the letter. Then we have to ingest them.” I opened the cabinets, searching around. “Magic mushrooms, beet root juice and dried bat blood…ah there it is.” I tried not to show my grief. I had to stay strong so we can get the h*ll out of here. Miranda lifted up a teaspoon after mixed the concoction, her hand shaking.”D-do we really have to eat this? Oh my god, this is so gross!” I tried to comfort her, after all she was now the only best friend I had left. “If we want to get out of here alive, then yes we have to.” I wasn’t willing to eat it either but what other choice did we have?
We gulped the horrid concoction down, then a green aura emanated from us instantaneously. We decided to escape from the cabin but not before finding a few rats and killing them with a quick stomp then carrying them and the special herbs with us to hurry towards the Great Oak we saw earlier that day. We placed them at the base of the tree. “What if it doesn’t work?” Miranda whimpered, biting her nails. She looked at me with fear and started clinging onto my arm. “Let’s hurry and get out of here-urrrrghhhh” She was dragged off me and slammed onto the oak tree, her head bashed over and over by a 7’2 tall ogre with a dirty loin cloth made from a beaver skin which barely covered his kiwis, had greyish blue skin and long claws and fangs. Miranda’s spine snapped on the next slam and she died instantly but the ogre didn’t stop slamming her. I tried not to cry then ran for my life. “I’m so sorry, Miranda and Toni. “I was halfway to the forest’s exit when dawn came. I collapsed at the exit and sobbed until a helpful old man stopped his car and gave me a ride home. Miranda and Toni had closed caskets since their bodies couldn’t be recovered. I decided to go to college then start a family.