Encounter

By: Sinjin Jones

As Curio lay in his sleeping bag, the warm flare of the fire warming is very soul, he felt at one with nature’s serenity. He gazed upward, seeing the crystal clear beauty of the sky for the first time in his life. One could easily make out the constellations; Leo, Sagittarius, Taurus, but Curio’s attention was drawn to the constellation Orion. The outline of the picturesque man encompassed his gaze and the center star of Orion’s Belt seemed to shine exceedingly bright this night.

            All around it was silent, save the crackle of the fire and the occasional shift from his parents inside the tent to his left. Curio could hear himself breathe. The silence was a welcomed reprieve from the big city from which he came and he wished that could stay here, not only in this place, but in this moment, for the rest of his life. His father had said that he would get frightened by the darkness and the silence and would want to go home in the middle of the night, but Curio was persistent about this trip and now he was happy with the decision and the reprimand he incurred because of it. Contrary to his father’s belief, he loved this silence and utter darkness.

            Curio shifted in his sleeping bag so that he faced away from the camp, into the darkness of the forest. The bright, flickering light of the fire somewhat illuminated the trees at times and Curio could sometimes see well into the darkness. The trees were of massive height, they towered over the encampment in all directions for a seemingly infinite distance. The flame behind him gave a quick, high-pointed vacillation, allowing Curio to see incredibly far into the depths of the forest. He could make out the twigs and logs on the ground and followed them into the distance. The light faded as his eyes reached the point of infinity, where ground ended and sky began.

            Just as the flame returned to its normal state, drenching the forest in darkness once again, Curio saw a shadowy figure dart through the trees. It was only for an instant, but he was positive that this was no optical illusion. He sat up, squinting, attempting to pierce the darkness once again and confirm his vision, but to no avail. The light from behind proved only to obscure the forest now.

            He grudgingly returned to his previous position, convincing himself that it must have been nothing, the creation of an idle mind. The dimness of the forest encompassed his vision once again; it was hypnotic how the trees seemed to dance in unison to the faint music of the wind, how the small blades of grass followed suit with a quicker tempo. The blaze expounded spark once again, elucidating the woods. There it was again. This time the figure was closer, unmistakable. It was hunched over, but still quite tall, running on two legs quickly out of Curio’s line of sight. Adrenaline began to pump through his veins, his heart beat like a ritual drum. He sat up as the flame faltered.

            He looked behind him, pondering if he should awaken his father. But what if it was nothing? He would look like a coward and his father will have won. The endless hours of chastising and anger will have been justified. He would never be able to revel in the sheer bliss of the forest again. No, he could not wake his father and whimper on the unknowns of nature, he could not give the man he hated more than anything that pleasure, he must be strong.

            He clasped his eyes shut; trying to forget what he had seen and focus on the beauty and silence of the world around him. But suddenly the sound of nimble footsteps cut through his peace. He shifted focus to them; they weaved a dexterous path around the camp, encircling three times as Curio listened. As the fourth loop finished, the footfall abruptly stopped. Stillness ensued once again. But this was different; anxiousness plastered the camp like muddy water, clogging the tranquility. Curio’s heart nearly broke free from his chest as he stood, prepared but not quite ready to meet his destiny. It had stopped directly in front of him.

            A single twig snapped and the echo caused Curio to jump, his very soul nearly breaking free from his flesh. He began to stagger slowly backwards, etching closer to the fire. He took deep, muted breaths, attempting to facilitate his heartbeat.

            Curio’s back unexpectedly collided with something solid. It rose above his head and concealed the fire’s glow. Curio turned at a snail’s pace, knowing what he would inevitably see but still traumatized by the thought of it. He was shaking uncontrollably now, his breath impossibly erratic. He took the final turned step…

He exhaled a sigh of relief; it was only a slender tree…But something was wrong, he looked behind the tree and saw that there was no longer a camp to be seen, only the endless abyss of forest. Mesmerized bewilderment filled Curio’s mind, this was not possible and yet here he stood, gaping at the empty space where his parents slept only seconds earlier. A figure glided into the clearing. Its slender legs seemed to float across earth as it approached Curio. It was no less than three times his height. As it advanced, Curio was frozen in sheer horror, its eyes were deep chasms of abysmal black dominating its face, its mouth was small and undeveloped and its nose was virtually nonexistent. The figure’s skin glistened with a pale silvery-blue in the moonlight. Curio opened his mouth, intent on screaming as loud as his vocal cords would allow, but his voice betrayed him and only breath expelled from his mouth as tears of terror fell from his eyes.

The creature stopped. It was less than a foot width from Curio. With watery grace it lifted its right arm, the silky gesture forming shadows in the darkness, and placed it upon the head of Curio. The bony fingers ran through his hair, finally finding solace with one finger caressing his temple.

Curio did not think that pain of such intensity was possible for a human to withstand. The finger penetrated his head, shooting bursts of pain throughout his body. It felt as if, at a continuous pace, knives were being impaled through his brain and, at the same time, someone drilled a hole through his scalp. He winced and attempted another scream unsuccessfully. But the pain eventually began to subside, Curio’s brain morphing and assimilating to the finger. All at once, he felt not only the pain recede, but the feeling of complete openness. Every single item of information housed in Curio’s mind was released for the darkness to see. He felt every contemptuous, spiteful or hateful thought being relinquished from him and every happy, exultant, and blissful thought being reinforced. His vision became blurry and he felt his legs collapsing beneath him; he was falling…

Curio awoke to the joyful sound of birds frolicking in the morning air. The sun was just peaking its head over the infinity and the forest was aglow with early light. He sat up, dazedly looking around. He instinctively brought a hand to his temple. It was a dream and yet a faded bruise graced the right side of his head.

He looked around, smelling the freshness of dawn air, and realized that he no longer despised his father. He grasped that his father only chastised him out of affection and that he was worried for Curio’s safety.

Just then his father unzipped the tent and numbly sauntered out. Curio turned and smiled.

“I love you, dad.”

Originally this story had a very different meaning and revolved around the science fiction aspect A LOT more but I rewrote it and this is what happened. Rather than being a story of outer discovery, it turned more into a story of inner discovery and the importance of relationships. This is one of the first times I tried to use a metaphorical name, I'm still practicing.