This is a short story for Halloween. Oct. 27th, 2014
"Beyond The Weeping Trees"
By
Antonio Garcia
“Hmmm-Hum-Hum-Hmm-Hummmm-Hum.”
The little girl hums in her pretty dress—dressed as if heading to church on a Sunday morning, but today is not Sunday, and the sun rests halfway between noon and nighttime. The girl, in the back of the car, plays with her doll. The doll resembles the young girl from the long, wavy brown hair to the style of dress. She curls the dolls hair around her finger.
“Hi! Are you having fun?” the girl says pretending it is the doll.
“I don’t know, Ruth, it’s been a long ride.” replies the girl.
“Where do you think we’re going?”
“I don’t know that either, but I know it’s somewhere new.”
While driving the mother says: “We’re headed to our new home, Ruth.”
The little girl holds the doll up to her ear and listens intensely—
“Mama, Ruth wants to know why we’re going to a new home.”
“Because, darling… we’ll have more fun where we’re headed.”
“But, I liked our home. I don’t want a new one.”
“Trust me, honey, you’ll make plenty of new friends. You’ll love it when we get there.”
“Is Mr. Gerald going to be there?”
“Yes, sweetie, Mr. Allows will be taking care of us.”
The girl quickly holds the doll up in the air—
“Did you hear that, Ruth? Mr. G will be there!”
“I like him, he’s a nice man.”
“I wonder where we’ll be living—I’m sure it’s nice.”
“Oh, it has to be! Do you think we’ll make lots of friends?”
“I hope we do.”
“What happens if we don’t make any friends, though?”
“We’ll still have each other, Ruth. As long as I have you I’m happy!”
The hour grows later, and the sun hides behind the trees, beyond the horizon. It casts gentle, red rays like blood on the clouds and beams through the trees. The red light of the setting sun moves like a gentle strobe over the face of the doll as the innocent girl rests her eyes.
Before long the sun is gone and the mysterious moon begins to rise in the haunting sky. The moon casts bright, gentle pools of light among the trees that line the empty road.
The little girl is now awake—
“Hello, Ruth. Did you have a good nap?”
“Why yes, yes I did! Did you have a good nap?”
“I had a good nap also.”
The young girl looks out of the window—
“Ooo, look at the trees, I can see faces and figures in them. Can you see them, Ruth?”
“Yes, I think I can.”
“Look there, it looks like a boy running along side our car.”
“I see it, I can see a dog running with him.”
“They would have to be running fast to keep up with us!”
“Maybe he wants to tell us something.”
“Maybe he does. I’ll lower the window and ask.”
The little girl lowers the window—
“Hello! Is there—”
—She pauses as her face grows stunned—
“Mama, Mama! There’s someone out there!”
Among the shadows of the trees there stands a figure, as dark and mysterious as the openings in trees where no light reaches, but there the figure stands, gently visible in a pool of light cast by the moon.
“There’s no one out there honey, it’s just your imagination.”
“But, there is! I see them.”
The shocked girl watches the figure. The figure turns its head, watching the girl as the car passes. The figure raises its hand and slowly waves. The young girl, dumbfounded, waves back with the hand the doll is in. She is unable to make out the face, it was covered in shadow. Her imagination played dancing images, attempting to see the face. As the car continued to drive, the figure faded out of sight behind them.
“Darling, it was probably just a tree or something. Please roll your window up. It’s cold out there.”
Quietly the young girl responded—
“Yes ma’am.”
The little girl sat quietly in the back for the rest of the ride, trying to make out what she saw. Who was that figure, and why were they out there? She couldn’t get that figure out of her head—she kept hoping they were ok and could keep warm through the night.
The young girl eventually slips off into sleep again. She dreams peaceful, innocent dreams. From the back seat of the humming car, she glides off into sunny days in the park and learning to ride a bike, holding a new puppy and running around in a lush, green yard—perhaps this will be her new life, she likes it. The puppy slips from her hands and runs off into the trees. She calls out to the puppy and follows it. She goes into the trees, looking around she sees a clearing. As she stumbles out of the trees, she sees something in the very middle of the clearing. The figure stands there perfectly still. She waves to it, and it slowly waves back. She begins to move toward it. With every step she takes there is a gentle tap—as if someone tapping a knuckle against wood. With every step the taps grow louder and louder. She is half way through the clearing when suddenly she awakes. She wakes up to a dark, unfamiliar room—the tapping turns into a knock.
She screams out—
“Mama!!”
The knocking stops.
“Mamaaaa!!”
Kicking and flinging her arms and legs, she knocks the sheets and pillows off the bed in a furious panic—
“Mammaaa!!!”
The door flings open and the light comes on—
“Baby! It’s ok, it’s ok! Shhh.”
The mother holds the little girl and calms her down—
“What’s wrong, honey?”
With tears running down her red face, the little girl says—
“I saw that person again.”
“It’s ok honey, it was just a dream. Everything’s just fine.”
In a weak voice the little girl says between sniffs—
“Where are we? I’m scared.”
“We’re in our new home. We’re safe.”
“I don’t like it, I wanna go back home.”
“Go back to sleep, baby, you'll be able to see the home in the morning—you’ll love it. But, for now, go back to sleep. I’ll be in the next room if you get scared again.”
The mother begins picking up the covers and pillows, fixes up the bed and tucks the little girl in.
“But, I wanna sleep with you tonight.”
“You’ll be ok, honey. I’ll be in the next room.”
The mother picks up the doll and places it in the little girls arms—
“Ruth will sleep with you tonight.”
“Ok, goodnight Mama.”
“Goodnight baby.”
The mother turns off the light and closes the door behind her.
The young girl closes her eyes for what seems like a minute. She opens her eyes when she hears a strange sound—a whisper. She sits up in her bed. She looks down—the doll is not there. She flips the sheets, looks under her pillows, looks on the ground, Ruth is not there. She hears more whispering, very gentle voices. She slides out of her bed and walks to the door. She hears a strange voice say something… she leans closer, she hears it again, this time it says—
“Rooth.”
The young girl jumps back from the door, a terrified look on her face.
“Rooooth.”
The voice whispers like a gentle breeze brushing across her ear.
With a weak voice the girl says—
“Ruth?”
It is silent… She speaks again—
“Ruth, where are you?”
The haunting voice shimmers like a whispering groan—
“Roooootheee.”
The scared girl opens the door to her mother’s room. The room is lit only ever so slightly by the gentle light of the moon. The young girl quietly walks to a side of the bed and gently whispers—
“Mama.”
“Mama, wake up.”
She hears an unfamiliar voice—
“Mmmmmmmmm.”
Afraid that her mother is not there, she turns and quietly goes through another door—
“Ruth, Where’d you go?”
“Rooth.”
Every room the little girl walks through she becomes more and more lost. There is nothing familiar in this house. She feels as if she is stuck in a maze.
“Roooooth.”
She follows the mysterious whispering.
Finally, she comes across a door, the largest door she has come across yet—it must be important. Slowly and quietly she walks toward the door, staring at it with frightened eyes, she turns the nob and opens the door. As she walks through the door, she walks into a long hallway. A hallway stretching far into darkness to her left, and a hallway stretching far into darkness on her right… she stands in the hallway, baffled. When suddenly the voice comes so close that she can feel the breath move the hair around her ear—
“Rooth!”
She quietly squeals and turns toward the voice—nothing. Looking down the hallway into the darkness she hears distant whispering again—
“Rooth.”
She begins to follow the voice, slowly walking down the hallway—
“Roooooooth.”
“Ruth? Where are you Ruth?”
“Roooooootheeeeeeee.”
Noticing something at her feet, the little girl bends down and picks it up, it is hair, hair exactly like her own. The haunting voice echoes from the reaches of the hallway—
“Awe, Roothee, you will do just fine.”
The terrified, little girl begins to walk again. With a weak voice she says—
“Ruth, please come here.”
“There you go Rooth. You look beautiful.”
“Ruth, I need you.”
The whispering voice, getting louder—
“Don’t worry Roothee, you’re not the only one.”
The little girl begins to cry—
“Ruth, please.”
“Tonight is a very special night, and you’re the star, Roothee. You’ll bathe in the moonlight.”
“Please…”
The haunting voice becomes silent. The little girl, trembling, continues to slowly walk down the hallway. Out of the darkness to which she is headed, she sees something. As she walks closer she can see it more and more. Finally, she reaches straight out and touches it… Strung by a thin string from the ceiling, the doll hangs in the middle of the hallway. The hair is cut horribly and the dress is torn and barely remains on. On the belly she sees strange markings. Crudely drawn across the forehead is “HURT.” As her heart sinks she hears the haunting voice surround her—
“Isn’t she pretty? Won’t you join her?”
The little girl turns around—the figure from the woods stands over her—
“Come with me. I have something special for you—”
—The figure slowly reaches out and places a hand upon the forehead of the little girl—
“—it’s beyond the weeping trees.”
The innocent girl closes her eyes then opens them again. She is laying on a rock in the middle of a clearing surrounded by twisted, sorrowful trees. The moon casts a perfect pool of gentle light over her. With a straight face she begins to hum—
“Hmmm-Hum-Hum-Hmm-Hummmm-Hum.”
The
End
