The trees quivered under the moon lit sky, the autumn leaves shaken by the wind rattled with fear. It seemed like the fear of death gripped them and they held on to the branches in one tight grip.
Shirley could hear her own hear beat wildly, the muffled voices could be heard much closer now in a brief moment of perfect stillness. Who could it be she thought, maybe it was the thieves who made the forest their hideout. What would they do if they found her was her next thought. All those stories of mutilated bodies found in the dense forest came to her mind. She didn't want to die, not such a ghastly death. She decided to go back home and apologize to her parents for running away.
She shook with fear, the cold reached through her thick cardigan right into her bones. I need to run now, she thought. What if my action gives me away, maybe I need to wait. Wait till those voices fade into the darkness, I need to be still.
She listened closely, it was then she realized that those muffled voices were right next to her. Now, she could hear them clearly, they were the voices of children filled with fear. They were more afraid of their situation that she was of hers.
"What are you doing here?" she asked in a brave, loud voice. The children trembled with fear. "We've run away from our homes, please don't eat us up. We'll be good from now on," they mumbled in unison as if they had rehearsed that part.
"Come with me, I'll take you back to your parents, I cannot trust you to go alone." Shirley growled. Suddenly she was the brave leader of a bunch of runaways.
Image used in this post is from my personal collection of Photographs clicked by me.
This was written for freewriters using the prompt 'muffled voice' This is a five minute freewrite anyone can join in.
Its been so long since I took part in these free writes. It feels great to be back again.