Rebecca Moon loved being inside, simply because it had all the amenities of not being outside. Also, she loved to be alone, which she attested to the lack of intrusive questions which would pull her away from very important video games and cartoons. The dark shadows of the room were constantly flickering, fighting with the television lights, trying hard to reach out and grab Rebecca, but she had her force field of LED photons. She focused not on the world around her, but the small window of light and sound that stood only a few feet from her face, as she sat cuddled on the couch of her home, wrapped in a cozy fur blanket and sipping from a straw that led down to a secret place where she kept her cup of soda.
Her parents were out of town for the weekend, visiting an older sibling that had moved to another state for college, and her other siblings were off seeking employment and enjoying social lives. Rebecca, being the stoic monolithic character that she was, took full advantage of her status for the evening and stayed home. She was always one for an adventure, while maintaining that it was better to explore an imaginary world, than to venture forth into the real one.
The sun was setting deeply into the mountains that surrounded the tiny town Rebecca lived in. It was more a village than a town, but villages were not what people liked to live in anymore, so Rebecca had been taught to say town. She would have much rather lived in a small village, but the hamlet in the forest was still more fantastical than the city which was several miles north.
While the darkness began to overtake the sky, and stars shone their sleepy faces, Rebecca continued to live in a fake world, where her greatest of fantasies and wonders would come to life. Eyes glued to the screen, it took her a moment to realize something was bothering her, when a shiver and tickle ran up her back. Her attention was torn from the video game and she was rushed back to the reality of the couch.
Something was moving around her blanket, which happened to not be her. An independent source of life wiggled and squirmed about in the dark underworld of the coverlet. Rebecca jumped up and squealed in fear of the sudden surprise. She stopped in the cold dark air of the living room and tried to use the light from the television to see what was in the blanket. Waiting, she watched as the squirming lump moved closer to the edge, and finally came out.
Sitting in her spot, now half covered in the purple fuzzy blanket, was her tabby cat. Darcy, the silly multicolored feline stood with eyes reflecting the light back at her, licking its lips.
“Oh my goodness, Darcy. You scared me to death,” Rebecca said as she moved back toward the couch. Of course if she had been able to hear the thoughts of a cat she would have realized that Darcy, sweet and cuddly as he was, had done his wiggle scare tactic to get her warm spot. While he loved Rebecca very much, he also loved warm comfy blankets and soft cushy couches.
Rebecca shivered as she realized that the air was quite colder than she had thought it would be. “The fire must have gone out,” she said, then started off toward the fireplace.
Suddenly there was a rap on the side of the house. It sounded like bone scraping on wood, and it ran along the house moving slowly and ominously in the dark. Thronging along the entirety of the building, it made Rebecca’s hair twist and stand.
Electricity filled the air, and Rebecca could feel the strange sound sinking into her spine. She was frozen, fear-gripped, and she could see the darkness covering the world around her. When had it become so dark? When did the light pass away and leave only the cold?
Suddenly, and quickly after the guttural sound of thumping had finished, there were three quick flashes of light. Rebecca watched as the windows lit up and beamed rapidly, then dimmed, as if three tiny motorcycles drove past the side of the window and happened to be floating five or six feet off the ground.
Rebecca was astonished. Never before had she been filled with such terror and wonderment. Bewildered, she moved slowly toward the window that had, just moments ago, been lit up like the noon time sun.
Darcy reached the window sill first, which helped Rebecca’s mind know that it hadn’t been a figment of her imagination. She peered around the corner of the window and looked in the direction of her backyard, wondering what the lights and sounds could be. She looked at the starry sky and figured it wasn’t the storm coming in.
“The clouds are too light and thin for it to be a storm,” she said. Then added, “And since when did thunder come before the lightning?”
She looked at her cat, which looked back, puzzled, and with slight contempt. He turned back and looked in the same direction as Rebecca. Then once more, there was a sudden flash of light from the direction of her backyard. It was quiet this time, keeping her from jumping.
Rebecca went quickly out the front door, and circled around her house to try and get a better look at the flashing lights. She stood in the cold air and the wind began to pick up from the coming storm. She realized that all she was wearing happened to be her PJs and a Band Tee. Grass poked up around her toes and the wet dirt stuck to her heels.
Suddenly something rubbed up on her legs, and she again shrieked in fear. While finding, yet again, that it was indeed Darcy who was seeking the warmth of her body. She saw in the light of the porch that the front door had not been closed completely, and the tabby had made his way out of the house.
Fear gripped at Rebecca, knowing that out in the country, as she was, having an indoor cat meant that he must stay indoors. Having decided for him that he liked the indoors compared to the outdoors, Rebecca had made the choice that it was best if he never had to face the dangers of the woods at night. This ran through her head as she watched Darcy make his way to the backyard woods.
Running as quickly as she could with cold bare feet and cozy clothing, Rebecca ran for her cat, which seemed determined to stay just out of reach from her hands. The dark woods behind the house approached hastily, intruding on her chase.
“Darcy,” she hissed loudly. “Darcy, get back here.” Then, as she whispered her last words, Darcy was gone into the forest. Rebecca pulled up and looked at the shadows that exhaled from the center of the untamed tree line.
“Darcy!” fizzled out of her mouth. “Darcy, come back here. Darcy! Come... I wish I had a dog...” She turned around and quickly made her way back to the house.
Donning a beanie and some shoes, she grabbed a flashlight and hurried back toward the forest. In a bag, she packed some ‘Fishy Delights’ in hopes of catching her furry friend, along with a net.
She stood at the tree line again, breathing heavily; she turned on her flashlight and proceeded inward. The crunch of dead leaves announced her arrival to the wild wood, while the smell of tree bark and rain began to flood her nostrils.
“Darcy,” she called out. “You better come get some of the dewishiss tuna snacks. Darcy, kitty kitty.” She brought her lips together and kissed to try and make a squeaky sound. “You better come out and get some treats. Want some treats?” She spoke with a higher than normal falsetto, as if the cat was more likely to respond to a helium-breathing master.
“You better get out here, before I get rained on. Or you won’t get any treats ever again!” Rebecca called, becoming very indignant.
In the darkness, she started to remind herself of the oddities that she had experienced only a few moments before. As well, the fact that she was headed straight for where the lights had gone. The thought crossed her mind, what if she found the mystery before she found her cat? Or worse, what if it found her?
A tree branch snapped ahead of her, and she froze. Something, or someone was no more than a few yards ahead and she knew it. She watched the trees ahead and tried to let her eyes adjust to the darkness, to possibly see who it was before they saw her. Her heart thumped in her throat and she felt as though she could see the heartbeat in her peripheral vision.
A gravelly and disgusting voice sounded ahead, and it made Rebecca’s blood run cold.
“How do we get him open?” The speaker sounded like the equivalent to pond water. Rebecca crept to the bushes quietly and peered through the branches. Her eyes nearly popped out of her head as she looked at three figures standing around a small fire. They were small and scrawny, but lean. Their hands clung to small bone-like weapons and their heads were covered by some sort of fur that ran down their backs. The one that had spoken was on the other side of the fire. He continued to play with something in his hands as he questioned out loud.
“He seems to have stuck himself in this glass,” he said.
“It is a bottle, just like the last one,” another said as it took the glass bottle out of the first’s hands. “Let us smash it in the fire.” It raised its hand in the air, ready to propel the bottle downward.
“NO!” the third monster said. “The Grumpa would want him unhurt, same as the last. And he will know how to get the bottle open.”
“Or, and this is just an idea for you guys,” a fourth voice came muffled through the air. “Maybe just let me go!”
Rebecca leaned in to see who the fourth voice was, but couldn’t find it. Thinking she might have seen some movement in the bottle she tried hard to see the figure. Something then caught her eye, and her hair began to stand on end. Past the bottle and the fire and the monsters, Darcy sat on a log, looking at the scene.
The creatures turned and saw the cat looking at them in a mischievous and curious manner. Saliva built up around the creatures’ mouths and they hunched down on all fours, hair bristling up on their backs.
“Looks as though dinner has come to us,” one of them said. They approached the cat, who seemed either too stupid to grasp the danger he was in, or much too brave for his own good.
“NOOOOOOOO!” Rebecca yelled out loudly as she came crashing through the bushes. Her sudden appearance was intensified by the many sticks and moss balls that covered her hair. She looked as though she was ready to fight, but then realized that she had no weapon, and she was only one, while they were three.
“Is that a human girl? Why would she be out here at night?” one of the monsters asked.
“Possibly to catch and eat the kitty?” another said.
“Well that’s too bad!” the third spoke, “it’s going to be our catch.”
“Please,” Rebecca said, hoping she could communicate with the odd creatures. “Please, I didn’t mean to bug you guys, I just wanted to find my cat and take him home.” She reached into her bag and pulled out some tuna snacks.
“Sorry missy, but we’s got to eat, and if it ain’t gonna be the cat, then it’s gonna be you!” one of them said as it jumped closer to Rebecca. She screamed and dropped the fishy treats. It continued to walk closer to her, but just before it was upon her it stopped.
The monster closest to her sniffed the air, and then looked down to the ground. His saucer like eyes beamed in the light of the night, and reflected back around him. His elongated snout sniffed viciously, and slime oozed from its teeth. It got closer to the ground and sniffed hard.
Picking up one of the cat treats, he sniffed it and examined it. He suddenly started to shake and let out a small squeal. Dropping the tuna, he backed away from Rebecca and he rose up on two feet backing like a opossum.
“Fishy! Fishy!” it hissed. “She has surrounded herself with fishy bits!” The others looked about the ground seeing the treats that Rebecca dropped. The snarling monster began to run into the darkness, away from the fire and away from the fish. Rebecca stood up, confused but taking advantage of the situation, she pulled more fish treats out and held them ahead.
“That’s right, I got a whole bag of fishy treats here!” she yelled out. The other two squealed and held their hands up in terror. Darcy jumped from the log and clawed at the monster with the bottle. Rebecca threw a fistful of fishy delights at them and the terror was too much. The monster dropped the bottle and they ran into the darkness of the night woods.
When the scene was clear, Rebecca went straight for Darcy, who was sitting by the bottle. He played with it like a toy, and Rebecca could hear the sound of a boy trying to stand up straight. She bent down and picked Darcy up and put him in her bag, scolding him as he went. Then suddenly a soft muffled voice called out.
“Uh, hello there!” the voice said. Rebecca looked about, wondering if there was another creature in the woods that wanted to eat her.
“No, uh, sorry. Down here,” the voice called out again. Rebecca looked down at the bottle and in the gleam of the fire saw a figure moving about inside. She bent down and picked up the glass, looking perplexed as she did so.
Holding the bottle up in the light of the flame, Rebecca could see a small boy shrunk down to the size of a sharpie pen, trying to catch his balance. He waved at her and spoke through the bottle again.
“Hi ya,” he said. “How you doing?”
Rebecca couldn’t believe what she was seeing, and she tried hard not to shout or laugh as she spoke back to the tiny boy in the bottle. The only thing she could get out of her mouth, despite him being so small and indeed stuck in a bottle, was the thing that struck her the most.
“Hello, did you know you’re naked in there?”