Limb From Limb

LUCY STIRRED. She shot upright to the drum of her own heart beating, which coincided with a peal of thunder. After a few deep breaths, she sat wide awake, recovering from what could only have been, a terrifying dream. She reached for the torch, and swiched it on. A beam of cool white light shone all around her, and filled the chilly tent.

But Lucy didn't wake easily, and she scarely had dreams. Moreover, she had never been afraid of thunder. In fact, she enjoyed watching the flash of lightning, hearing the thunderbolts crash into the earth, and feeling the thunder as it rumbled up to her chest. It reminded her of the stormy, rainy days at home with her mother. The days spent on the couch listening to her read, drinking hot chocolate... She wondered what had truly drawn her from her slumber so early. She glanced over at her watch ticking away. It was ten past two.

Relaxed, Lucy listened for a noise-- one unrelated to a storm. The thunderclap, and the pelting rain striking the muddy earth and the walls of her tent were both perfectly normal in such circumstances. Minutes passed without anything else. Nothing else distinct, or remotely uncanny to be heard.

She sat still. A tiny woman in her dinosaur pajamas with her big ears outstretched like an owl scooping up the sounds. Her skin was blush, though her face, and especially her cheeks, were rosy in the early morning air. Her hair was ruby red, and her wicked curls were now nothing more than frizz after only a few hours of rest. Meanwhile, her small features, though cute, were rife with rumination. Her little jaw was tight, almost clenched, and she chewed on her fat lips.

Sometimes, Lucy wondered if she spent too much time contemplating her dreams, either good or bad whenever they arose. She didn't believe they had any meaning, and that it was just vivid imagination. And she couldn't actually remember anything resembling a dream just then. What she knew was certain, was that the longer she was awake, the less beauty sleep she would have for the hike she was planning to undertake. In the light of day, she would be experiencing the best part of camping. The woods. The lake. Meals and marshmallows cooked on the fire. So, nestling back inside her sleeping bag, she let her golden green eyes fall heavy again. She was in fact, on the precipice of sleep, when she suddenly was pulled back awake. She heard a great thud. Startled, she flicked off the light.

It could only have been a felled tree, Lucy told herself. Yet her mind was not satisfied. She thought only a second more, and reasoned that if it were a tree, she would've heard a creaking or snapping sound, a rustling, as the full blow would surely be softened by the branches and the leaves as it hit the ground. "Besides," she muttered to herself, "It's not windy enough." No, she decided, this was no tree. The thud was heavy, it slammed deep into the earth, there was even a squelching as it dropped vertically into the muck outside. Lucy was more than a little curious.

Her ears were pricked now, ready to hear that slam again. When the next sound came however, it was no impact, it was a steady dragging sound. Perhaps that of a tarp, pulled over wet grass and mud. But she wondered, exactly what could be dragging it away? Now, she was more afraid than curious. It had to be a bear. A burglar of a bear stealing the tarp where she had laid out everyone’s supplies that were safe to get wet. It was all safely locked or tied up, so she was impressed that the bear was so persistent, and strong or smart enough to tow it all away.

Lucy found comfort in it being a bear, but the more she thought about it, the more she worried about her fellow campers’ safety. She wondered if Will, Judy, Paula, and Eric were still fast asleep. Paula was an especially light sleeper, and a scaredy cat. She must be scared to death if she were awake. And Eric would have had his hand covering Paula's mouth so tight, thought Lucy.

Two, perhaps three hours passed in darkness, and in silence, and the dragging had ceased long ago, Therefore the bear had taken the tarp very far off, or it had given up. Of this Lucy could be sure, for the storm passed, and the drizzling had stopped. There was nary a raindrop dripping from the canopy.

Slowly, Lucy rose from her sleeping bag, and very quietly, unzipped the door enough to see outside; to be sure the other campers were safe. Although it was dark, her eyes had more than adjusted to the minimal light. The dim, passive light of her phone screen. The glowing pinprick of red from her camera's charging indicator. Of course, When she looked out there, a dense fog had accumulated from the lake. As dense as it was, she felt the tents had been pitched close enough together to see them. At least the tent that Will and Judy were sharing.

There was no sign of a bear near her tent, so the fog would prove useful as cover, as long as she didn’t make much noise. Lucy put on her boots, grabbed her bear spray, and the torch, and stepped outside, wandering blindly through the mist, where she was certain she’d come upon one of the shelters.

More time passed, and in a grid, she searched the entire clearing around her tent. But only hers was there. So one of two things happened during the night, and neither one was a friendly thought. As a prank, the campers took apart their tents, and quickly moved elsewhere, perhaps providing the sounds which woke her. Or, she thought, her mind going into more sinister territory, a hungry bear did come creeping into the camp, but took more than their food and supplies. Now, she was truly scared.

She gripped the bear spray tight, and risked turning on her torch. If only for a minute. She pointed the torch beyond the campsite, and calmly spun in a circle anti-clockwise. Yet the light provided was of little use. She was about to wander away from the site, when she concluded what a foolish idea that would be. As distressing as being alone in the woods was, it did not compare to being alone, and then lost in the woods during the night.

Lucy went back to her tent, although she wouldn't be able to sleep again. As she was preparing to climb back in, she heard something that made her jump out of her skin. Without warning, there came a shout from the forest. It echoed over the water, and into the trees, and it made the leaves therein tremble. A scream so horrifying, it made Lucy’s blood curdle. Paula’s scream. But it was cut short. More frightening still was that it was so near. If she turned around, she wagered Paula was less than twenty yards away.

Quivering like the shell-shocked, Lucy revolved, but saw nothing. Only fog. However, something replaced Paula’s scream with cracking, and crunching. Lucy was too scared to think about what it was. Her investigation had gone on long enough.

A few more seconds passed, but the quiet was not tranquil, nor did it linger, for Lucy heard heavy footsteps, coming dangerously close, and it was still too foggy to see. Lucy dropped everything, and frantically, felt around for the tent zipper. And it was no relief when she found it at last, as the pull tab was jammed for what felt like an eternity. Lucy, was begging and pleading for the zipper to open up, and her tears appeared swifty. "FUCK YOU!" she swore loudly.

Finally, after much tugging the zipper loosened, and she opened the door wide enough for her to crawl inside. She hastily clambered in the tent, and zipped it closed again. She was shaking like an earthquake, and sobbing uncontrolably when she climbed back into the sleeping bag, and cinched it so snug around her, only air could could pass through, and already, the young woman could hardly breathe. There was nowhere else to go. Lucy closed her eyes as tight as she could. She didn't have to wait long. Soon the stomping of a being more grizzly than any bear, ended. Its footsteps just outside the door.

With deliberate sluggishness, whatever it was, it opened the tent, and stooped to fit inside. Lucy wimpered in fear, but now that the beast was inside with her, she had to know what it looked like; what enveloped her in dread. She poked her head out and opened her eyes.

Clouds abruptly parted, and the moonlight revealed the monster. Lucy beheld a massive beast with matted fur, hunched over, holding a severed leg in its claw. Its fangs were dripping with bloody entrails, and it growled as it looked at her. Only a foot away. She knew it wouldn’t help, but Lucy screamed as the creature lunged, and easily lifted her out of the sleeping bag, before ripping Lucy’s arms clean out of their sockets, and sinking its teeth into her flesh.