The Veiled Woods

#ShortStory #1

Trudging through the dark wood forest, they reached a spot that looked like a good place for camping. The ground was wet due to the rains, and so were they.

"Let’s camp here!" said John. His girlfriend Penny replied in a relieving voice, "Yes! I am tired. Let’s take rest, guys. We will start again tomorrow morning."  

The other couple in the group Anna and Shane agreed. They kept their backpacks on ground and started to unpack the tents. 

"Anna, isn't this your first experience?" asked John. "I have done small one-day hikes before with my dad, but night camping nah, it’s my first time," Anna said.  "Trust me, you will never forget this one," Penny said. 

 

Shane moved the backpacks inside the tent just to be on a safer side as they were almost done with the tents.

 "We will need dry wood," Shane told John. "Ah, that will be hard as the floor is all wet. Damn," John said in a voice that reflected his frustration. He will now have to hunt for the dry little twigs for lighting the campfire.  

 

The jungle is never silent like you all know it, but tonight was different. There was no wolf howl, no snake hiss, no dog barks.  There was one voice though, swiftly moving through trees, the winds. The woos of the winds were like the swing, and the group were all shivering due to it.  

"Johnny comes to rescue! Turn on the lights," John said with enthusiasm. It did not take John much time to gather the bunch of twigs, he was an experienced one. They quickly lit the campfire and sat around it. The warm up was a much-needed one and with the campfire the combination of drinks was not the bad one. Anna had made the arrangements, and took the all the effort of carrying it from home. "I stole it from my dad’s kitchen," she whispered. 

Soon, the bottles clinked and "Cheers!" the group shouted with joy. The chattering and prattling continued as the night passed.

 

The moon moved higher in the sky almost above the head, it was near midnight. The noise from the jungle could now be heard, rattling bugs, croaking frogs, flapping sound of bird's wings. By now, these young couples were not expected to get tired of their talks, and they were not. 

Anna was narrating a story of her aunt, "One day she was returning home late night from work, and she saw a ghost. A headless ghost! My aunt had fallen sick for many days after seeing that, she had to be hospitalized. Can you believe that !?".  "They say, when dogs bark late at night, they see ghosts, that's why." said John.  

"I do not believe in God or Evil, imagine a ghost boo! It would be so funny." Shane said. Anna and John laughed making weird faces. "Boo! Boo! Boo!" the group shouted laughingly. "They make great stories though," said Penny.  "Wait, I have a good one," said John.

He narrates,

"This is a story of a faceless ghost,

  He likes to wander and wait for host.

  Carrying a frown on his faceless face, 

  He sits on a rock for many days.  

  After a long time, he hears a voice, 

  Some couples murmuring nearby. 

  He jumps with joy, 

  For he likes to toy. 

  Slowly and swiftly from tree to tree, 

  He moves towards them to set them free.

  But he stops, he hides,"

     

"What happens then?" Shane asked. 

John continues,

"A young boy comes, walking towards him,

  Looking for something tiny and thin.

  If he would have known, he would have run,

  Unknowing of the faceless one.

  The faceless ghost, taps on his host,

  He takes his face, and he takes his place."

     

"then? " Penny asks in an unsettling tone.

John continues,

"The young boy returns back to his camp,

  And a faceless body remains in damp,

  This is the story of a faceless ghost,

  He like to wander, and wait for host."

      

 

-----by Husain Kantawala