reviews
and articles.
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any
person, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
First edition, 2015
I.
The car door flew open so hard. It rebounded on its hinge and hit Shelly as she threw herself from the car. The force of the impact made her slip on the mud and she stumbled a couple steps before falling to her hands and knees.
“Get back here, Shelly!”
The cold, unspoken threat in Bryant’s voice sent thick fear coursing through her limbs. She pushed herself up just as Bryant rounded the front of the car.
“Where do you think you’re going, huh? Where are you going to go?”
Shelly glanced over her shoulder to see him advancing on her. His wild eyes, those fists clenched at his sides.
Instinct took over. Without a thought, Shelly ran. Her sneakers miraculously found purchase in the mud, and she launched herself forward and into the woods.
“Hey,” Bryant said, shocked.
Then, more forcefully, “Hey! Get back here!”
His steps pounded the forest floor as he gave chase. The breaking branches echoed in the night, as if the forest itself chased her.
“Where’s your fat ass going to go, Shelly?”
Her lungs blew out breaths rapid-fired, her legs sending her through the trees. The side of her face was hot where he’d hit her.
It felt swollen, throbbing with every furious beat of her heart. The torn pieces of her shirt flapped behind her as she ran and some confused part of her brain tried to keep them closed around her to preserve her modesty.
Hah! Modesty. Could she ever consider herself modest again after what Bryant just tried to pull?
Branches snagged at her clothes, some low twigs tripping her up sneakers.
“Shelly,” Bryant screamed from behind her.
“You can’t run from me, Shelly!”
Tears streaked out the corner of her eyes as she ran, her plump legs quickly losing strength. Her vision began to blur just as she plowed through the branches of some tall shrubs, the twigs scraping against the skin of her arms and face.
She cried out in surprise as creepy sharp somethings fell down the collar of her shirt. Spinning and screaming, she shook out of the tatters of her shirt, left in only her bra, and kept running.
The branches of the bushes cracked and bent as Bryant burst through them, only steps behind her.
Shelly continued to run, her steps now little more than exhausted stumbles.
A hand grabbed her arm, nearly jerking her off of her feet.
“Gotcha, bitch.”
Shelly screamed.
That scream was drowned out by a monstrous roar.
The little moonlight shining down on them was completely blocked out by the towering presence of a bear. Huge fangs glistened, dripping with saliva as the bear roared again.
Bryant stumbled backward, pulling Shelly down with him as he fell. Too scared and exhausted to run, Shelly just curled up.
Eyes closed, she could only hear as the bear advanced on Bryant, who went screaming off into the night.
She knew it was stupid, but a part of her was surprised he would just leave her to die at the hands of that bear. They were together, boyfriend and girlfriend. Sure it wasn’t the best relationship, but they were together.
Now the bear was returning, its heavy steps not unlike Bryant’s, as it closed the distance to her. Hot air puffed against her head, moving her hair as the bear snuffed at her.
This was it.
This was how she died.
She squeezed her eyes closed, waiting to be torn to pieces. Instead, the massive wet nose nudged against her back. Too scared and confused to move, she waited.
Nudge.
Was it testing to see if she was dead? Maybe it would go away.
Shelly hugged her knees tightly to her chest, just waiting to see what the bear would do.
After a few long seconds, it grunted, snorted, and then scooped her up in its massive paws. The claws somehow missed