G. Wright - Broken Things

Drag. Silence. Drag. Silence. Drag. He could hear it pull itself across the twigs and dirt and leaves, coming closer, getting louder. It moved so slowly, yet steadily. Whatever it was it had seen him enter the tent. And it sounded big.

The darkness of the tent was absolute, no light, not from a moon nor the stars, penetrated the fabric. Though a barrier from the outside, Josh felt like a mouse in a thin cardboard box. He squeezed his pillow tightly and scrunched deep into his sleeping bag. He could no longer hear the whining in his head over how loudly his heart beat in his chest. He was sure that whatever approached could hear both.

The thing continued ever closer and closer, right up to his tent. Josh’s eyes were wide but he couldn’t see anything. He tried to breathe quietly, to control his whimpering, and to mute the sound of his brain. He couldn’t stop any of it. Something like a paw, or a hand , moved along the tent, the structure shifting, fighting to remain up as the thing’s weight pressed against it. Somehow it didn’t collapse. He strained his eyes to see it, he could barely make out the walls of the tent, see the impression of something leaning into it, coming dangerously close to collapsing his tenuous shelter.

He fought to find his voice but his throat wouldn’t work. He only emitted a tiny whimper. It patted the tent, searching. And then Josh heard the zipper.

It unzipped slowly, sounding impossibly loud against the stillness of the woods, a premonition of something horrible, unknowable. The thing slid down with the zipper, using its own weight to pull it open. If only he could see. What was it? But he didn’t want to see it! He closed his eyes tightly, willing himself to be quiet, to become invisible. Maybe it couldn’t see him in the dark either.

The chill of the mountain’s night air filled the tent, bringing with it a new scent. He nearly gagged, smelling something rotten. It reminded him of spoiling meat mixed with the smell of an old garbage can. Whatever it was, the thing fell into the tent . Its weight landed with a dull thud. He could hear its breathing now, a pained, sick rasping, a wheezing, as though it fought for each breath.

Josh pulled his knees to his chin, making himself as small as possible. Please make it go away , he prayed, please send it away!

The thing dragged itself into the tent, and he felt a tug on the bottom of his sleeping bag. It pulled on it, slapped along the bag, searching for him. And then its hand came to rest on his foot.

Terror seized him and he kicked away from it, leaping out of the sleeping bag and into the corner of the tent. He pressed himself against the wall as hard as he could. He had nowhere to run.

“Go away!” Josh said with his voice nothing but high-pitched whisper. He couldn’t see it, not even a silhouette, but it drew closer, until Josh could feel its hot, fetid breath on his face. It smelled foul, of refuse.

Josh held perfectly still, he could feel the thing’s movement inches from his skin. It sniffed him with deep congested snorts. He wanted to shove past it and run, but his arms and legs felt like they’d turned to jelly. They wouldn’t obey him, they didn’t want to move. He considered playing dead, but this wasn’t a bear. No way was it a bear, unless they knew how to open zippers. It had to be something dead. Nothing else could smell so bad. He began to cry. It’s going to eat me!

The whine in his head increased unbearably as his awareness slipped away and he lost consciousness.

The child wasn’t human! But it had to be. The androids didn’t feel such emotions. Had the world changed so much? The differences between this boy and the children of the past were so few it almost hadn’t been able to tell the difference. Maybe the rest of the children were the same now.

It would’ve thought the kid human if not for his damage. The boy’s head continually emitted a loud whine like bearings going out in a motor, but when it approached the sound suddenly stopped and he collapsed. It could still hear the blood pumping through him.

The question was… did this change anything?

It grew weaker by the second, its energy dissipating. It cursed itself for its weakness. Its body was failing. It screamed its misery for what it had become as its energy slipped away. Near the river an empty, rotting log would provide shelter. The child was broken and abandoned, with nowhere to go, just like it. Nobody wanted a kid that wasn’t perfect.

Josh awoke, shivering. The whine in his head started up again and brought with it a dull ache within his skull. The sun had just risen above the eastern peaks and its rays had yet to provide any heat to the cold morning.

It all came back to him in a rush. Something horrible had trapped him in his tent. He leapt to his feet and looked around hurriedly. What if it was still out there? Of course it was, these woods belonged to it. He didn’t belong here, he was the one intruding on its territory.

He shuddered. Nothing hurt though, other than the obvious pain in his head. That was good. It meant that the creature had decided not to eat him.

There was only one place he’d be safe, and that was at home. He had to get back and reach his parents. He couldn’t be here in the dark, ever again. He sniffed and wiped his nose on the back of his hand. Just when he thought he couldn’t cry anymore, it all started up again. Maybe he could at least reach the lake before night fell again. If there were people around, the creature should stay away. He had to hope it would.

Josh found his one last can of soda and drank it quickly for breakfast, and thought forlornly of all of the treats the animals had stolen. He tried to take down the tent but gave up quickly, leaving it in a jumbled mess. He couldn’t sleep in it another night anyhow. He would never sleep in a tent again. He looked around for anything to take, but he had nothing.

That’s good, I’ll get where I’m going that much faster. He needed to conserve his strength. He didn’t know how long of a walk it would be. Maybe he would find other campers, and other campers meant food.

The cold morning quickly turned hot and muggy as he set out. Heat radiated from the road as he walked and he wiped the sweat from his forehead with the bottom of his dirty t-shirt. Hunger and fear pushed him on, the desire for shade from the sun a distant second. He wished for clouds. If the day were cooler, he could travel faster, and leave whatever lived here far behind. He trudged on, constantly keeping an eye on the embankments, looking for signs of his family’s vehicle where they might’ve gone off of the road, or signs of a monster hunkered down in the brush, waiting to pounce.

Maybe the creature had gotten his parents too.

A giant black fly landed on his arm and he brushed it away hurriedly. The big fat ones bit. It swarmed around his head angrily before landing on the back of his neck. He swung his arms wildly and jumped up and down until it finally left him alone. There were mosquitoes too, but for the most part they didn’t bother him. They, at least, didn’t like his taste.

A giant shadow passed over him. He looked up to see large billowy clouds rolling in over the mountains, blocking the harsh sun. Finally , he thought, a break!

The clouds brought some relief, but they grew steadily darker as they spread across the sky, and brought with them a rumbling of thunder. He picked up the pace, as the first cold drops of rain began to fall. Within minutes it fell thick and heavy. The dry dirt road seemed to resist it at first, but soon lost the battle, becoming a thick, sticky mud. He darted over to a thick copse of trees to escape, but it only diminished the downpour, it couldn’t stop it completely, and before long he was soaked.