The Cottage in the Woods
The trees overhead cast an eerie shadow over the earthen floor,
I can hear the howl of an animal in sorrow while thunder rolls overhead,
The lightening lights up the sky yet I cannot see it.
The wind picks up, blowing leaves around me,
Off in the distance I see a light,
There’s a little cottage in the clearing up ahead,
I run for it, but it seems to move farther away the closer I get.
After what seems an eternity I reach for the door,
I lift the heavy knocker and let it fall with a thud,
The sound echoed throughout the stillness of the woods,
I see movement in the dark window.
The lightening lights up the sky once more,
Casting the window into the light,
A bent figure was illuminated in the opening.
A small, frail looking woman was looking back at me.
The door slowly opens and the lady jesters for me to come inside,
I give her my gratitude as I slowly enter her home,
Little furnishings littered the living area where she led me to,
She motions me to sit by the fireplace and dry off.
As I walk to the fireplace the door slams behind me,
I turned toward the sound and was frightened by what I saw,
The little old lady was bent no more, standing straight and tall,
But the fear was brought on not by her height but by the crazed look in her eye.
Her hands wrapped round the handle of a small axe,
She slowly lifts it over her head and gives me a demented smile,
I quickly looked for a way to escape but the only way was past the old lady,
She starts toward me and there was nothing I could do to stop her.
A noise in another room distracts her but a moment,
I take the chance to make my escape around her,
I ran out the door without taking a look behind me,
I ran into the woods and kept running as fast as my legs could carry me.
I finally stop after what seems like hours,
Nothing could be heard except my own heavy breathing,
When suddenly I heard footsteps close by,
The sound was growing rapidly closer, I had to hide.
I find a fallen tree trunk and quickly move behind it,
The sounds of the footsteps went running by until they grew faint,
After a while I began to slowly get out of my hiding,
When a sound startled me from behind.
I slowly turn to face what caused the noise,
But the only thing I see is the glint off the axe blade,
Shining bright as it hurtles towards my head,
The last I saw was the light in the demented lady’s eyes.
NOTE:
This was something I wrote in High School and I didn’t realize how strange I was back then until I found this today along with some others that will be posted soon. I hope it’s not to strange 🙂
