Don't Go Out In The Woods Today

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Nineteen

As soon as someone entered the forest the wolf wandering aimlessly around the woods was alerted at their presence. The large black hound raised its nose to the sky getting a better whiff of their scent as it was carried by the almost non-existence breeze. Its dazzling grey eyes almost gleamed with happiness as the smell of the familiar girl left its trail behind every step she took; he began to follow the trail.

It was his job to guide and protect people as they passed through the woods for some reason he felt he had duty to this girl, to make sure she was safe and unharmed. However this wasn’t his only responsibility, he exists to punish people, people who had done the unspeakable. Murder, armed robberies, rape and child abuse were some of the laws the people he’d killed had committed. Leaves that had fallen from the trees crunched beneath his large paws as he ran through the woods following the scent as it got stronger and stronger. He slowed down to a walking pace when he saw her through the trees, he could hear the soft thumping coming from her headphones as she lightly tapped her hand against her thigh in time to the beat, she looked completely absorbed by the music. Occasionally she hummed the chorus with a smile on her face as she headed towards the waterfall. He happily followed slightly behind her making sure he kept himself hidden, not that it mattered she had seen him numerous times although she didn’t react too kindly towards him. He changed direction when she reached the top of the fall and made his way downhill so he was lurking out of sight at the bottom of the waterfall having a clear view of the top and the bottom of the waterfall. She joined another girl that was sitting on a large rock; he could hear the echo of laughter as the two girls joked around.

The wolf watched from the shade beneath a tree as Amy removed her t-shirt and jeans then replaced them with some three quarter length shorts and a grey spaghetti top while Ellie looked more confident in a bikini. He could tell by just watching the girls that Ellie had more of a confident brave character whereas Amy liked to blend into the background and to not stand out. Upstream the two girls wearily walked into the slow moving lake getting used to the temperature of the water, watching where they stood they walked closer to the end of the waterfall where they were greeted by a thirty foot drop into the lake below. The wolf grew agitated he couldn’t stand the thought of her getting hurt; he tried to calm himself, trying to hold himself back from going up there and stopping her. They stood on the edge peering down thirty feet before having a quick debate about who was going to jump first.

The sound of the waterfall made it hard for the protective wolf to hear the conversation being had, before he knew it she had disappeared from his sight and Ellie was left standing on the edge, he grew confused for a split second. Before he could stop her from the top of the waterfall he saw Amy taking a run up as Ellie cheered her on, when she reached the end she jumped without any hesitation. He saw it in slow motion as she began plummeting towards the almost still lake below, she screamed with excitement as she fell which echoed throughout the surroundings. In mid-air she curled up into a ball before hitting the water with a large splash, he held his breath for a second when she didn’t appear from the water. Just as he was about to take action she surfaced inhaling deeply, laughing as she wiped her face she gazed up at her friend who was still standing on top of the waterfall “Come on it’s your go!” she yelled up to her friend who was gazing down at her.

With a little hesitation her friend leapt from the top and took the same position as Amy, crunching up into a tight ball as she plummeted towards the water below landing with a large splash. When she surfaced the two girls splashed around while laughing, the wolf relaxed beneath the tree knowing she was safe and unharmed after the jump but he still kept watch, enjoying seeing her

happy.

…

Me and Ellie sat for fifteen minutes with our towels wrapped round us and chatted while we dried off in the sun. The cool water from the lake left me feeling refreshed after waking up covered in sweat from the dream, scratch that, nightmare I had involving Mr Bates.