Picking by Samantha Marchand

Author:Samantha Marchand [Marchand, Samantha]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-05-13T16:00:00+00:00

Sophie was already asleep when day faded into night and didn’t notice Ralph grow a fresh cover around her. A sense of dread filled her. Nightmares. A pressure grasped her body. Howls of terror came and went. She twitched in her sleep. She felt herself wake up, but couldn’t open her eyes, couldn’t move. Her lungs refused to fill with air as if a crushing weight pressed against her. She writhed without moving, struggling to stay alive, fighting the feeling that she would fall victim to death right there with no hope of rescue.

Wheezing, she pried her eyes open and gasped with what little breath she had. Sitting upon her chest was a horrible beast. Her eyes flailed in all directions, taking in the monster's features. It had a long beak like a bird but several times the size of any she’d ever seen. Its eyes bulged, staring down at her. At least, she assumed it stared, for there were no irises, no pupils. Only white. On its head sat wolf-like ears and a pair of ridged horns. Straggly, black hair fell over its neck and shoulders. It was crouched, but she could tell it wasn’t very tall. Yet, its stature didn’t take away from its horrid hands or clawed feet, scaly and also bird-like. It gripped her throat with fingers like spider legs. A wispy, white substance came from her face and into the monster’s long bill. Sucking. Slurping. Sophie tried to scream but couldn’t find her voice.

As the white substance disappeared, the monster smacked its bill together and hopped away. Suddenly, Sophie could breathe, could move. It slipped through the bushy cover and disappeared.

She sat up and listened for the sounds of nightsnatchers. None, no light either. She pushed through the vines and hurried to Ralph’s sleeping form.

“Ralph, Ralph!” She hissed. She ran to Bert’s bush and shook it. “Wake up, something happened! Wake up!” She heard him stirring and went to Ralph one more time. “Come on, Ralph, wake up!” She looked at Cassia’s bush but decided not to bother.

Sampson peeked from his lush refuge at Ralph’s side. Seeing Sophie, he crawled through and greeted her with sleepy wags. Ralph lifted his head, his mossy brows scowling.

“What?” He barked.

Bert came out next, yawning. “What’s going on?”

Sophie looked rapidly around, ensuring they were still safe. “There was a monster. It was in my bush. It wasn’t a nightsnatcher, though. I—I don’t know—it was sucking something out of me, like my soul. It had horns and long fingers and these awful, white eyes.” Goosebumps ran up her arms. All the worst things happened at night.

“Wait a second,” Ralph said. His eyes widened, and his mouth dropped. His brows lifted from an irritated scowl to a surprised arch. He stood and put a hand on Sophie’s shoulder, his face mere centimeters from hers. “Was it wearing a red shawl?”

Sophie paused and scanned her brain. She was so focused on the monster’s horrible features that she’d barely noticed. She sputtered, “Y-yes, I think so.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.