DARK WOODS

BREAD NEEDS TEA

My face fell as my eyes befell the note containing where I would be going. Every student in my department from the first year to the final year were all going on a tour and we were passed notes containing where we would be going. Mine read; Dark Woods. I shuddered as I kept trying to figure out how being in the wild forest would be. I wondered why they would want us to go to where we could die.

"Hey Brenda," Lisa, one of my friends called. "What luck! I'm going to Havanna Beach!" She screamed delightfully.

"Same here!" Harvey and two others yelled.

"I'm going to Will's park. It is a fun park," Dorothy, the girl behind my seat announced.

"Same here," Theodore and two others said.

"Is anyone else going to a place that start with a D?" I asked, not knowing how to pronounce it without scaring the class.

Silence hung about.

"Mine is L.I.M zoological Garden," Dave said. "Won't it be boring?" He asked.

My voice shook as I asked, "boring?"

Everyone kept quiet.

"What's wrong Brenda?" Denise, my other friend asked.

"Where are you going to?" Lisa asked quietly.

"Dark Woods," I mumbled. 

"D...Dark...Dark..." Denise spluttered.

"Dark Woods?" The whole class screamed in fright.

The picture of each places had been posted on the notice board and we had seen them earlier. Dark Woods' picture had scared us to the bone. We had all prayed that they do not ask us to go there but I was to go there!

"How come?" Lisa asked.

"I don't know!" I screamed, totally frightened.

"Hey guys, Dark Woods isn't as bad as you think. Elena was there last year and she said nothing harmful is there," Jack said.

"It is a lie! It is a forest with wild animals," Eric countered.

"No it is not," someone with a sonorous voice said from the door.

We all turned to the owner of the intruding voice at the door and lo, it was Tee.

"Tee," some of us called.

He walked towards me and stopped like a yard away, "let these three words come to your mind whenever you try to picture Dark Woods. Say them after me, copse."

"Copse," we said.

"Spinney," he said.

"Spinney," we repeated.

"Grove," he said.

"Grove," we repeated.

"Those words do not match the scary name it has and the picture," Dave said.

"Yes," he answered. "The name is just to make the place appear wild and good for tourism."

"Okay," some of them chorused.

"My sister was there last year and she said it was fun. They actually had fun than the rest of us who went elsewhere. She told me to keep having those words in my mind whenever I think of Dark Woods and it worked. Three months ago, we were there on our own with her friends and I realized that the place is not worth any fear," Tee said.

"Really?" We chorused.

He smiled, "yes." He walked closer to me and said, "Brenda, as luck would have it, I and two of my friends are going there. Two more friends of my friends are also going there. We will have the best of fun." 

"No one is going there in our own class except me," I said.

"Then you have me. You can stay with me, can't you?" 

I nodded.

He smiled triumphantly, "You see, bread needs tea."

I simply smiled too.

DARK WOODS

Our bus arrived at Dark Woods at dawn and we were to leave by dusk. I realized that Dark Woods is just as it was named and not the harmless names Tee gave it.

"You lying dumbass!" I shrieked on alighting the bus.

He laughed. "Spare me, angel."

His friends laughed too.

"It is not right to scare people when you know they're embarking on a scary adventure," Ritchie said.

"You said copse, spinney, grove! Oh my God! This is a jungle!" 

Others joined the laughter.

"Your friends are right by not letting you get scared," Edwin, our coordinator said. "Anyway, be calm because there's no harm. Enjoy the tour and don't forget that you will jot down your experience when we get back to school. Also remember, you are to go in groups."

"Okay Sir," others chorused and started going in different directions.

Tee bopped me, "Brenda, you don't need to be afraid. I'm here with you."

I nodded as I patted my forehead repeatedly. "Oh mum, oh dad, your daughter has been lured into Dark Woods."

Tee smiled as he squeezed my hand in his. "Let's have fun Brenda." He backed his rucksack and I did the same. "Hey guys, let's go and have the best of fun." 

"Yeah!" His friends said in unison. 

I, Tee and his four friends went in another direction. I held firmly to Tee's hand. I could see how happy he was to see me clinging on to him but I had no choice; all my ego and guts had gone with the wind. I glanced about, expecting to see wild animals. I glanced at the deciduous and evergreen trees. We dropped our rucksacks. Kirk and Bruce swung on the birch branches. Theodore sat under the willow close to the stream.

I stood beside Tee whom I had deprived of having fun.

"Hey guys, let's talk," Theodore said. "Brenda, we want to have guys' talk."

My heart skipped. "Okay." 

Tee and the three others went to Theodore under the willow and started talking quietly.

"Hey! Guys look at that!" Ritchie screamed. 

I startled.

"It is a snake!" Kirk said.

"No, it is a python!" Bruce countered. 

I was petrified; my knees knocked.

They darted into different directions. Tee swiftly got hold of my arm and we ran in another direction.

OUT OF THE SAFE HAVEN. 

"Stay here."

His voice was breathy when he said those two words. I watched him scurry out of the room like a rabbit. I was so uneasy. The place was so dark. I looked for the switch so that I could put on the light. I found one and as I placed my finger on it to switch on the light, I remembered his warning while we were on our way through the woods.

"Do not switch on the lights."

But I was scared. I pressed on the switch and the lights came on. 

"Aargh!" I screamed in utter fright.

The room was in disarray. It was deserted and cobwebs hung about. There were geckos. The room was so rough and the walls had dirt all over.

'No, no, Tee must be out of his mind to think that I will stay here,' I thought as I shook my head in deep fear.

I switched off the light and the fears multiplied. I felt like a monster was about to throttle me so I hurriedly switched on the light again but there was no monster.

I switched off the light again and immediately stepped out of the house. I sighed as I faced the woods. I looked back at the deserted house and remembered Tee's last words.

"Stay here."

I shook my head. I would not stay there. I ran into the woods. It was mid-day. I ran towards the woods but I started noticing the leaves and creepers gyrating. The atmosphere gave me an omen. I stopped abruptly. 'What have I done?' By then, I was under a tree with a brown bark.

Masked men covered with leaves and with painted masks like savages came out of the woods and zeroed in on me with their clubs. I turned around in fright. As the last thing I felt I could do when they were so close to me, I shut my eyes, covered my ears with my palms and shrilled, "Tee!"

Everywhere became silent. I opened my eyes to find the masked men where they were. They started approaching me again. 'What have I done to myself?'

I made to run but a snare caught my leg and in a jiffy, I was hanging at the top of the huge tree. The masked men that were watching did nothing. I remembered that Tee gave me a pen knife. It was in my bossom. I tried to bend, I did and quickly pulled it out. My eyes caught something on one of the branches of the tree. I looked again and discovered that it was a green snake. It was coming! I wanted to cut the creepers but the snake was...was...coming! As the best thing that I thought I could do, I aimed at the snake's head and threw the knife. I remembered aiming at the target during archery and darts throwing at school. 

The snake curled and the knife hit it on its body instead. The snake dropped from the tree onto one of the masked men's club. The masked man hit the snake against the tree and crushed its head.

I also had a dart on my hair with which I parked my hair in a bun. I removed it and tried to cut the creepers but I could not bend to it. I tried and my hand reached a branch. I held on to the branch and climbed the tree branch then severed the creepers tying my legs. 

When my legs were free, I sighed but the masked men were still under the tree with their clubs. They knew there was nothing I could do. I felt something moving on the tree above my head and I trembled with fear. I gently looked above me and I saw a snake bringing down its head towards me with its mouth widely open.

Fear made my sense dissipate quickly! I let go of the branch and fell all the way down the tree.

"Aargh!" I screamed as I fell.

I landed in the firm hands of one of the masked men under the tree. I looked at his masked face in fear. He brought his hand to my face and caressed it. He took my hand to his face and pulled of the mask.

"Tee!" I screamed.

Others pulled off their masks too and I realized that they were his friends whom we had earlier lost in the woods. 

"Stay here," Tee said. 

Kirk laughed. "Game over."

Others joined in laughing. 

"Hope you enjoyed the fun?" Bruce asked.

"You idiots! Was that fun of fear? You wanted to kill me!?" I asked with a yell.

Tee held me around the waist. "I'm sure you enjoyed it. That is better than just being moody. We actually want you to find something interesting to write when we return to school."

I smiled. "You guys almost killed me."

"We apologise for that, Brenda."

I sighed. "Well, thanks. That was hell of a thrilling experience."

They laughed.