The Swamp

Dense fog encloses around Julia as she closes the doors of the library. She barely shivers, for the fog is hardly unordinary: a swamp settles beyond the town’s boundaries, snug in the center of a sodden forest. The emission of heat from the swamp’s core often sweeps into the atmosphere, eventually fleeting through the forest’s fingers to engulf the town in a deep haze. Travelers unfamiliar with the area would find the thick mist unsettling, but the townsfolk have learned to live amongst it.

Julia recites vocabulary as she begins her short walk home. Her voice is hushed but rapid, similar to her walking speed. Keeping up with her studies at home is nearly impossible with an infant brother, so she has found quiet sanctuary in the library. Though the distance is hardly far, Julia struggles with her fear of the dark. The streets are barely lit as she wanders, but she continues to concentrate on the picture of black text gripping her mind’s eye.

Not long into her travel, Julia pulls out of her thoughts and spots a familiar speck of light above her home’s front door. A gentle heat absorbs into her abdomen as she realizes how close she is to safety, warmth, and light. Her feet move quickly across the concrete, the feeling in her chest rising to her cool cheeks. She exposes a small smile as her hand meets the front door.

A rustle in the bushes smothers the smile in an instant. The warmth in the body slips away like a sheet to the wind. Her cheeks are no longer pink; they are snow white.

Although her hand is still on the knob, clutching it with adrenaline, something keeps Julia from pushing herself into safety. She hears the meek whimpers of whatever creature startled her. It is impossible to see what is crying, but it cries in what can only be suffering.

Julia removes her hand and moves slowly to the sound. Perhaps it is a rodent that will be frightened away. “Hello?” she asks in a quivering voice.

A moment passes. The creature sniffles and says “hello” back. Julia jumps, stunned to hear a voice from the shrubbery. A child, many years younger than her, pushes himself from the darkness. “I lost my kitty,” he says, pouting as he looks straight up to her.

Julia has never seen this boy before, but she can see the stricken look in his innocent eyes. “I can help you find your cat,” Julia reassures him. “Are your parents looking too?”

He shakes his head, his wet eyes never leaving hers. “I think he’s in the woods,” he whines, pointing through the murky air toward the forest.

The unnerving feeling in Julia’s core grows as she swallows hard. She stares into the pathetic eyes of this poor boy, reminded of her role as the oldest sibling. She makes a feeble promise, “I will try.”

The boy reaches for her hand and begins to pull her toward the forest. Their steps are small but the boy pushes on deliberately, focused on finding his lost pet. Julia lets him lead while she rotates her sights on the environment around them. Ignoring the painful tug of fear inside of her, she knows that she vowed to help this boy and, even if they cannot find his cat, she can comfort herself in knowing she is his protector.

The forest is closer than she realizes. In the darkness, the leaves are expressionless, dark layers of black atop thick trunks. Some trees have shed their leaves and open their barren limbs to the world as though for loving embrace. The fog dances openly in the moonlight, beckoning for playmates into the swamp just beyond.

Once the pair reaches the edge of town, the boy releases himself from Julia’s hold, and he runs into the alluring trees. “Wait!” Julia cries. It isn’t long before she loses the boy’s silhouette between the wooden pillars, and she surprises herself as she hears a sob escape her own throat. Her body trembles violently. Her fear of the dark unknown stands right before her.

She enters slowly, wincing at the pinches from the initial branches. The earthy musk of mud and moisture dominates her nostrils. The boy had pulled her through the town so quickly that she had no opportunity to ask him questions, not even for his name. “Boy?” she called into nothing but menacing woods and fog. “Help me find you!”

Faintly, after a few more calls, she hears him, “My kitty is there! My kitty is there!” Julia quickens her pace, hurrying to his calls as she continues to feel the forest’s claws pierce her skin. Her feet sink further with each step as she discovers the swamp is where the boy has stopped. “He’s right there! See him! See him!” he shouts, possibly the loudest noise within miles--besides Julia’s own thudding heart.

A black cat sits on a log, floating in the near center of the large swamp. The cat seems indifferent while the boy jumps up and down eagerly, continuing to cry over the pet’s existence. It even stretches its limbs before curling up completely on the log for a nap.

Julia stands beside the boy, eyes moving between him and the abandoned pet. “I don’t think I can get your kitty,” she confesses quietly.

“You have to!” cries the boy. “He’s my only friend!”

Tears have flooded Julia’s eyes. All she can see in his face is the look of terror that he may never get his friend back. The look of innocence that someone made a promise for him and there is no doubt in his mind that she will keep her word.

“Okay,” she whispers, facing the cat once again. The boy claps behind her as she creeps toward the opening of the swamp. With her first few steps, she grimaces at the thick murky water clinging to her clothes and skin. She walks slowly, encouraged by the boy shouting from the land. Her body gradually descends into the impossibly dark water. She struggles to see the cat through the fog as it now reaches her eye-level, clouding what she’s allowed to see.

A shape forms somewhere just beyond her reach. It appears as though the cat has risen from its nap and stretches once more. Julia knows she is just close enough to grab for the creature. She extends her arm into the haze, receiving a sharp slap onto her palm from the cat’s claws. Julia yelps in pain and surprise, losing her footing on the muddy surface beneath her. Her arms flop to keep her upright, forbidding her from slipping completely under the water. She struggles to balance until she loses her footing entirely, the bottom of the swamp seeming to disappear right beneath her. She screams for help in the darkness. The fog has become so thick that the boy has disappeared from her sight. She flails her arms and kicks her legs, fighting the water for survival. She feels something grab at her ankles and screams one last time into the fog.

Bubbles erupt quickly from the swamp before they slow down to nothing. The boy stands at the rim of the water, staring through the haze to nothing but a floating log near the center of the swamp. A brief smile crosses the boy’s lips, just for a moment, and then he frowns again, tears manifesting quickly in his eyes. “I lost my kitty,” he whimpers and walks back into the forest toward the town.