What happened to Tamara

Every morning, I opened the shop at seven a.m. No later, no earlier. I had the prime location- smack bang in the middle of Main Street, impossible to miss. I also had the advantage of being the only florist in Skeleton Town. I'm sure I can guess your immediate thoughts. Ghost stories. Vampires withpale white skin, glowing red eyes and blood-stained teeth. White bones crunching under foot; I’d heard them all and ignored them all. I worked hard and I wasn't going to let myself go crazy.

My shop consisted of two parts.The bottom part was filled with brightly coloured bouquets of flowers. Pots filled with dirt with green plants weaving out of the soil. A cash register sat at the back of the store next to a set of stairs that twisted and turned. My house lay above. A small bedroom, a kitchen and bathroom/laundry. That was all I needed: so why did I feel like something was wrong?

I pasted on my bright cheery smile, as the early morning crowd bustled in, gazing intently at different bouquets and potted plants. My fake smile turned real as the familiar raven heard princess like face of Gracie from the city, came into view. “I thought you'd gone and died on me!”, I squealed coming out from the counter to pull her into a hug. Gracie and I grew up in the city, side by side, from the age of 12 to 18. She had always liked the city more than me. At 18 I packed a bag, waving goodbye to everyone and I headed off. Housing in Skeleton town was cheap, and a florist was in high demand, so I swooped in and started a life. We promised each other that we’d stay in touch but never did. I guess it was half my fault “You're the one who ghosted me Tamara,” Gracie said in mock defiance. “Looks like you got a good thing going here.” “Yeah, but I’ve got work so I’ll see ya later.” We exchanged numbers before she walked out leaving me to my day.

A couple hours went by, my feet aching more and more by the second. I smiled with fake joy and waved to the customers whilst I yearned for a chair. My routine was perfectly polished from rehearsing it every day that went by. A fresh rush of guilt swarmed at me every time Gracie’s name and face entered my mind, I should have been nicer yet again she didn't seem to care so why should I, I thought to myself. The thought was reassuring calming even it always is to remove the blame from yourself. Eventually I managed to shoo the last late-night shoppers out and take myself upstairs and to bed. I wasn’t much of a dinner person so I stayed open for as long as I could before I dropped into bed-to be honest, I wasn’t much of a food person in general.

I walked through the woods in a daze. The trees closed in around me. I wanted to turn back but some magnetic force kept pulling me forwards. As I walked deeper, the moon light became even scarcer, and panic rose in my chest as fast as it could. A collection of white bones crunched underneath my feet alerting all the creatures of the night to my existence. Multiple pairs of glowing red eyes appeared in the darkness. I tried to scream but no sound would come out. They all lunged at me and sank their teeth into different locations on my neck at that I finally did scream… I jerked upwards in bed. Large beads of sweat fell down my neck. I sat there for a while letting my pulse settle a little then I turned to look at my phone. A text from Gracie had awoken me from my nightmare. I seemed to be having the exact same one over and over. I had never been one to fear things that didn't exist, but they started to play with me, gifting me with restless sleep and a horrible feeling in my gut that something terrible would happen. If only I had listened maybe I would still be alive. Wanna meet in Skeleton woods? Gracie’s text asked. Skeleton woods was the location for all the ghost stories. I knew what Gracie wanted to go find a vampire or something I should have said no. Going somewhere to find monsters before light was practically suicide, especially if I was a character in a horror book. Instead of thinking reasonably I typed back sure and against my better judgment prepared to meet Gracie.

I stood at the edge of skeleton woods. I waited impatiently for Gracie to make an appearance. The air was thick and cold, and the sky was black except for the luminescent glow of the moon. I was dressed simply in a black hoodie, black jeans and purple flip flops. I began to regret my choice of clothing. Partly because it would make running hard and because I had been dressed the exact same way in the nightmare that kept replaying like a broken record. It seemed like a bad omen, but I stood there instead of moving away to at least go get changed, or better yet return to the safety of my bed and forget all about meeting Gracie in the woods. “Who's ready for some small-town fun!” Gracie squealed, causing me to jump nearly out of my skin. This caused Gracie to double over in laughter. “Not me, because this isn't small town fun.”, I told her definitely. “Oh, come on scared one.” “Oh, think reasonably reckless one,” I allowed myself to be pulled into the woods gripping her hand like a lifeline. We created our nicknames at 14 they came straight from our personalities using them hit me with a great deal of nostalgia we had changed so little in so much time.

We began to walk further through the woods, me walking a couple of paces behind Gracie. Fear flooded inside me as the trees began to grow closer and closer together. We made boring small talk avoiding the big conversation like it was poisoned. “So, why didn’t you keep in touch?” I asked tentatively. “You didn’t try to hard yourself miss perfect,” The words startled me; I wasn’t accustomed to being snaped at. “I needed you and you didn't pick up you didn't even call back. You just left me hanging I was 19 and pregnant! You don't care though, do you? You’re so monotone, I had your back whenever you need it. When your dad walked, when you failed that test. You always had my shoulder to cry on and when I asked you to love me the way I love you. You just weren't there!” Her angry screams turned uncontrollable sobs. I watched flabbergasted as she dashed like a startled hare. I stood there pushing tears back from my eyes. I began to walk through the woods in a daze. I wanted to turn back but some magnetic force kept pulling me forwards. Complete and utter horror spread through my body when I realized it was my dream all over again. As I walked deeper, the moonlight became even scarcer than before, panic rose in my chest as fast as it could. A collection of white bones crunched underneath my feet alerting all the creatures of the night to my existence. I tried to turn back again but the same magnetic force kept me in place. Multiple pairs of glowing red eyes appeared in the darkness. I tried to scream but no sound would come out. They all lunged at me and sank their teeth into different locations on my neck. That time I didn’t wake up…