The deeper into the forest they got, the darker it was. Deeper and darker, darker and deeper, until they couldn't see anything at all.
"Milan, I'm scared. It's cold. Let's go back." Martina was clutching his arm and shivering.
"Yeah, you're right. Let's get out of here."
Milan was regretting his impulse just as much as was his sister. Unfortunately, it was so dark that they had completely lost their way. They turned this way and that, and could not find their way out at all. Just when Milan was about to panic, he saw a soft glow off in the distance ahead.
"Martina, look! I think that's the way!"
Salvation was near, and they rushed towards it. The closer they got to it, the bright it got. As they got closer and closer, they began to notice something not quite right about the light. It was a pinkish color. Milan slowed down his pace to a wary tip-toe.
When they were nearly on top of the source, they stopped to get a closer look. It was a glowing red jewel, lying on the forest floor, on top of a very small hill covered in leaves. They stood and stared for a moment, and Milan's curiosity finally got the better of him. He stepped towards it, but Martina pulled him back hard by his sleeve.
"Don't go near it! What if it's cursed or something?" Martina was very scared.
"What if it's not? What if it's magic and grants wishes?" Milan was grinning ear-to-ear at the thought. He yanked his sleeve away from his sister's grasp and hopped over to the jewel. He hesitated only a moment to study it closer. It was about twice the size of his fist, and cut in a very lovely fashion that reminded him of his aunt's ruby ring. Even if it wasn't magical, it could buy enough food for the whole village for a month. He couldn't resist grabbing it up. He bent down to do just that, but when he tried to lift it off the ground, it wouldn't budge. He pulled and pulled, and nothing happened. He dug his heels into the hill and pulled with both hands and still nothing.
And then the strangest thing happened. The small hill under Milan's feet shifted a little to the left. And then it shifted a little to the right. And then the hill shook so much that Milan went tumbling down one side and onto his back. He scrambled over to his sister, and they held each other, paralyzed with fear as the hill reared up and revealed itself to be no hill at all, but a large, hairy, snaggle-toothed beast. It looked almost like the gorillas that the children had seen in their storybooks, only it's fur was the orange-brown of the fallen autumn leaves that it slept under, and it's head was larger than it's torso. The most pronounced difference from the gorilla would certainly be the bright red jewel in the middle of it's forehead, the same jewel that Milan had been trying so hard to pry loose! A mouth filled with hundreds of sharp teeth grinned as the two large, yellow eyes spotted what had been the annoyance that had awoken the beast.
The kids tried to back away, but found themselves backed right up to a very large oak tree. The beast stalked towards them like a cat hunting a bird. One clawed hand in front of the other, low to the ground it crept, sniffing the air in front of it intently. Finally, and with agonizing slowness, the beast reached out one massive arm and picked up Milan by the collar of his jacket. He pulled Milan closer to his great yellow eyes, and dripping jaws and held him there, staring for what felt like years to poor, little Milan.
"Tag, you're it!" Yelled the beast before dropping the boy, and scampering off into the woods, leaving behind two bewildered little Czechs in the dark.
No comments:
Post a Comment