Last spring, after a long day, Brad and I laid down to watch a movie, only to be interrupted by the children protesting that there was something lurking in the backyard. It was dark, and everyone let their imaginations run a bit wild, but I just can't stand for that sort of thing. So, my son and I went to check it out, while the two 'girls' stayed in the house. Some neighbor had hung up his leather jacket on a branch, and it happened to end up hanging over into our back yard. Strange figures in the dark, swaying around can be awfully scary I guess.
It had been a long day; errands, dropping off/picking up kids, attending classes, taking care of everything that needed to be done in a day. Brad and I finally laid down on our bed and put on a movie. The kids were quietly playing in their room down the hall, and we were snuggled up, finally able to relax. We had put on some obsolete b-horror movie, our favorite kind, and were mocking and discussing as we watched.
Suddenly, there were screams and shouts coming from the children's room. "There's someone in the backyard!" one shouted. "In the tree, there! Come see!" the other chimed in. We quickly jumped up to go see what all the ruckus was. Both children were at the window in their room, desperately shoving each other out of the way to look.
"Okay, what's going on?"
"There's someone out there!" Lyv cried.
"Where?"
"In the tree, by the garage. There's something there," Junior replied.
Something just sounds so ominous. We had to look. The whole yard is fenced, and the back door to the fence is down a dark, narrow path beside the garage. I had the nagging feeling that the kids were just imagining things, Brad chided in that it was just like 'in the movies' and we should believe them when they say they see something. So, we looked. In the dark, in the trees just above the path, there was indeed something there. Something big.
Brad and I looked at each other and back outside, trying to find some rational explanation as to what it could be. Meanwhile, the kids were scared and excitable, shouting and waiting for us to tell them it was all okay. But it wasn't okay. Something big was in the tree, moving around. The branches were swaying and cracking, the leaves were rustling, and the dark figure was lurking just out of the light.
Fear and paranoia was building, and you could see the thoughts and ideas racing through each of our minds. The children's fear of the unknown, mixed with Brad and I's horror-movie addled brains was resulting in a sort of mass hysteria. That was it. I'd had enough.
"Okay, calm down. I'm gonna go out there, and see what it is," I said, trying to calm them all.
Brad grabbed my arm and told me not to go out there. "What if it is something?"
"Something like what? Seriously. We don't live out in the woods, so it isn't some big animal. It's fine. I'll be right back," I told him.
"If you're going out there, take my knife," he replied.
His 10" knuckle knife. Riiiiight.
"I don't need a knife. It's MY backyard, and there's nothing to be worried about out there."
At this point, Junior decided fear was over-rated, and decided to suggest that he accompany me to check out side. Brad sure as hell wasn't volunteering. "I'll go with you mom. I'm not scared."
"Okay Junior. Let's go see what's out there."
Brad grabbed his knife from our room, and handed it to me. "You're taking this."
"Fine. Watch us through the window, so you two can see there is nothing to be afraid of. Babe, you've really watched too many movies."
Junior and I headed downstairs, and out the back door. The light on the outside of the garage was on, but still, the narrow path beside it was dark. We slowly walked up the hill toward the path, and the branches began swaying again, the figure in the tree began to come into focus.
A large, dark shape, about 6 feet off the ground, broad and long. It looked like it had arms and was balancing on one of the large branches that hung down into our yard from a neighbors tree.
Junior and I looked back to the house, Lyv and Brad's faces both pressed to the window, watching our every move. Junior's small hand reached for mine, and gripped tightly once it was found. I held Brads knife out in front of us, silently daring whatever was up in the tree to just try and come at us.
But it never did.
We approached the path, and I reached up to grab the branch with the dark figure on it. As I pulled it down into the light, I began to laugh. Junior joined in after taking a moment to recognize what he saw. A large, leather jacket, hanging on a coat hanger, in the tree. We looked at each other and giggled.
Junior turned and shouted to Brad and Lyv, "It's just a jacket! There's no monsters out here!"
Lyv and Brad still looked a bit skeptical. We headed back into the house.
Suddenly, there were screams and shouts coming from the children's room. "There's someone in the backyard!" one shouted. "In the tree, there! Come see!" the other chimed in. We quickly jumped up to go see what all the ruckus was. Both children were at the window in their room, desperately shoving each other out of the way to look.
"Okay, what's going on?"
"There's someone out there!" Lyv cried.
"Where?"
"In the tree, by the garage. There's something there," Junior replied.
Something just sounds so ominous. We had to look. The whole yard is fenced, and the back door to the fence is down a dark, narrow path beside the garage. I had the nagging feeling that the kids were just imagining things, Brad chided in that it was just like 'in the movies' and we should believe them when they say they see something. So, we looked. In the dark, in the trees just above the path, there was indeed something there. Something big.
Brad and I looked at each other and back outside, trying to find some rational explanation as to what it could be. Meanwhile, the kids were scared and excitable, shouting and waiting for us to tell them it was all okay. But it wasn't okay. Something big was in the tree, moving around. The branches were swaying and cracking, the leaves were rustling, and the dark figure was lurking just out of the light.
Fear and paranoia was building, and you could see the thoughts and ideas racing through each of our minds. The children's fear of the unknown, mixed with Brad and I's horror-movie addled brains was resulting in a sort of mass hysteria. That was it. I'd had enough.
"Okay, calm down. I'm gonna go out there, and see what it is," I said, trying to calm them all.
Brad grabbed my arm and told me not to go out there. "What if it is something?"
"Something like what? Seriously. We don't live out in the woods, so it isn't some big animal. It's fine. I'll be right back," I told him.
"If you're going out there, take my knife," he replied.
His 10" knuckle knife. Riiiiight.
"I don't need a knife. It's MY backyard, and there's nothing to be worried about out there."
At this point, Junior decided fear was over-rated, and decided to suggest that he accompany me to check out side. Brad sure as hell wasn't volunteering. "I'll go with you mom. I'm not scared."
"Okay Junior. Let's go see what's out there."
Brad grabbed his knife from our room, and handed it to me. "You're taking this."
"Fine. Watch us through the window, so you two can see there is nothing to be afraid of. Babe, you've really watched too many movies."
Junior and I headed downstairs, and out the back door. The light on the outside of the garage was on, but still, the narrow path beside it was dark. We slowly walked up the hill toward the path, and the branches began swaying again, the figure in the tree began to come into focus.
A large, dark shape, about 6 feet off the ground, broad and long. It looked like it had arms and was balancing on one of the large branches that hung down into our yard from a neighbors tree.
Junior and I looked back to the house, Lyv and Brad's faces both pressed to the window, watching our every move. Junior's small hand reached for mine, and gripped tightly once it was found. I held Brads knife out in front of us, silently daring whatever was up in the tree to just try and come at us.
the closer we got to the dark path, more rustling and creaking came from the tree. A few feet from the path, we stopped. Juniors hand was gripping mine tightly, now sticky with sweat. He took a step or two back, trying to pull me with him and whispered, "Momma, I wanna go back inside."
"It's okay, Junior. There is nothing out here. I'll show you. It's probably just a plastic bag caught in the tree, or a cat the climbed up and couldn't get down. There are no monsters."
The light on the garage began to flicker, and make that tinny sound like they do just before they burn out. And then it was dark. The leaves in the tree began rustling wildly, and then there was a loud thump. Whatever had been in the tree was now down here with us.
Junior began screaming. Somewhere in the distance, Lyv and Brad were yelling, but it sounded so far away.
Something pushed by me, and I lost Juniors hand. As I stumbled around in the dark trying to find him, I swung and stabbed the knife at the air.
"Junior?... JUNIOR??!"
Suddenly, something hit me, and I fell. I could no longer hear Lyv and Brad yelling from the house, only a wet, snarling sound coming from above me.
Wow, you guys really do see a few too many b-horror movies, but this assignment seems to have got you to paddle up the stream in style--I don't see any signs of drowning here--on the contrary, it reads as if you knew what you were about, how to get the effects you wanted, and how to develop and end each version.
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