Short Change Hero

Eyes find Meadow’s ethereal form moving toward her and Fern sees horror written in the ghostly lines of her mother’s face. The dead woman stops a short distance from her and the gray girl feels the apparition’s eyes roam over her face. Everything feels so strange and incorrect. Meadow had come looking for her? The thought causes a rumble of laughter to originate from deep within Fern’s throat. The sound is bizarre as it pushes past the ooze and bounces around her. Her mother cannot be here, the small woman had died months ago. Whatever is happening in this place has caused Fern to go crazy. As the rumbling laugh continues, Fern ponders if thinking you are insane actually makes you sane.

Meadow snaps at her, tone biting and harsh as she asks what is wrong with Fern. With the sound abruptly gone, the world in plunged into a tense silence as Fern ponders where to start. Memories explode to life, playing out in vivid detail as Fern is forced to watch. Tears mingle with the ooze that escapes from Fern’s eyes as Meadow’s voice filters through the fog that has settled over Fern’s brain. Blood splatters against her pelt as Fern watches her mother die over and over again. She knows she has to be quiet. If she makes any sound the tiger will turn on her next. Fern tries desperately to stifle the sob that builds in her throat but it breaks loose.

The sound shatters the silence and spell that Fern appears to have been under. Blinking confusedly, Fern’s eyes land on the phantom that is her mother. Anger floods Fern, choking out any rational thoughts that might have remained. Lips pull back to show her teeth as the fluid starts to leak from her gums as well. The bright blue ooze pools in mouth before spilling down her chin and onto the grass below. Nothing makes sense anymore and Fern voices her anger at Meadow for dying, “You bitch.”

The words sound wrong coming from her mouth. Sure, she had thought them a million times over the past seven months while she was alone but she had never voiced them before. Fleetingly, Fern feels the last wisps of her self-control slip away down some dark tunnel. The anger completely takes over. Words burdened with all her ugliest thoughts and pure malice are spit towards the dead woman, “You left me alone. Did you know that? After your death, which I had to watch, everyone left.”

Legs pull the girl’s body forward but the movements are wrong. Jerky and uncoordinated as if someone else is piloting Fern’s body. Moving closer to Meadow, dripping thick globs of the ooze with each breath, Fern laughs again. Just like her body movements, the laugh is wrong. A guttural sound that scrapes raw any ears that might be listening. When her voice starts talking again, there seems to be a deep echo that surrounds each word, “I couldn’t move from my hiding spot. I had almost bitten clean through my paw by the time I finally emerged, four days later. At some point during the attack I had stuffed it in my mouth to stop my screams.”

Everything is off about Fern as she feels herself revealing every deep, dark secret she had locked away. Meadow doesn’t move as the girl circles her, spitting venom in the shape of words, “By the time I got back to camp, everyone had packed up and left. Guess they smelled the tiger better than you did.” Face tries to sneer at the dead woman but the ooze obscures it. Fern pauses a moment to cough deeply as a wade of the thick ooze sticks in her throat. The cough wracks her frame as works it into her mouth spits it to the side with contempt. She doesn’t notice that the blue ooze is coated with a thin layer of blood.

The tirade of words once again resumes, “I have been alone since then. Never bothered to find the group again. A part of me always knew I was expendable to them. Just some trash picked up on the side of trail.” A vicious laugh follows the last sentence before her voice quickly strikes out again, “After that I tried to kill myself but not even death wanted me! Everything abandoned me! There was no point, no reason for me to be here! Yet I was not allowed to rest. So, I went looking for Resin.”

A humorless laugh falls out of her mouth as Fern explains, “But even that was fucked up! Did you know your sister is dead? She died protecting her family. But not you. No, you just picked herbs in the wrong place! What a fucking idiot.” The last word is growled as she moves to stand in front of the ghost. Fern’s breathing wheezes out through her mouth as the ooze starts to obstruct her airways. Fluid still steadily leaks out of her face and the gray fur is no longer visible under it. Sucking in a deep breath, Fern bellows, “I wish you had never given birth to me!”

Her deepest regret voiced, Fern falls silent as her harsh breathing becomes the only sound left around them.