Artistic Science

end-of-necrosis:

writing-prompt-s:

After running away and getting lost in the woods, a misleadingly terrifying looking monster has tea with you.

Her heart hammered frantically as she stood there, grass under socked feet and a chill wind drifted through the shadowed grove. Green eyes snapped around with near frenzied abandon, snapping to the darkness on occasion if she thought she saw something move. How did she get here? She… She didn’t remember how she got here, she was sleeping in her bed nice and sound, Lord Fluffster was beside her and then… Cold. She had woken up here in the darkness, pale moonlight fluttering down between the dense leaves to give her the tiniest amount of light. Her breath hitched and she dropped to her knees, looking around, hands lashing out before she felt fake fur and pulled her stuffed platypus into her arms. A deep shudder ran through her and she buried her face into Lord Fluffster, sniffling for a few moments.

A sound disrupted her maudlin and her head snapped up, black hair flying up and away from her face. This time when her eyes alighted on the darkness it wasn’t nothing that she saw. There was something there. That something was oily and large but it was crouched low, seeping into the ground and shadows like liquid and it was making a noise, it sounded like static but was deeper, vibrating the air in her lungs. When it shifted, the shine on its body moved across its body and more of its spindly form emerged; long and sinuous and dripping a tar-like fluid. It seemed to be regarding her but she couldn’t see any eyes, not that she looked at it for too long as the moment it moved she scrambled to her feet and turned, bolting deeper into the woods around her.

Behind her the buzzing grew louder, building to a crescendo before falling entirely silent. She could only hear the quiet touches of leaves and snapping twigs to indicate that the beast was still following her, hunting her through the midnight. Her breath was fast and she pushed her legs as hard as she could to try and stay ahead of it, she was too scared to turn around to find out how close it was, all she could do was run and hold her platypus as tightly as she could. The forest didn’t seem to end though, more trees passed by and nothing changed, in fact, she was sure that she had passed by the same few locations multiple times now, trees with strange markings carved in them.

Then everything went wrong. She dropped Lord Fluffster and couldn’t stop immediately, her instincts forcing her to look down and miss a tree root sticking out of the ground. She slammed into it and was tossed forward, impacting the ground with a dull thud and a whimper, pain radiating from her ankle, her hair covering her face. She could only hear the creature come closer, the static noise starting up again, close, incredibly close. The young girl sat up and attempted to stand but her ankle gave way and she dropped again, curling up into a ball and sobbing. Tears streamed from her eyes and she shivered and sniffled on the ground, so worried about what was going to happen.

The noise of the creature died down, silence returning in a few moments and the girl stopped crying. She swallowed and brushed the hair out of her face, sitting up and looking around. The first thing she noticed was Lord Fluffster, nestled between two roots, sitting up. She reached out and snatched him up, holding him close and sniffing his familiar scent. The next thing was the shadow beast. The sight of it startled her, causing her to flinch and wince as the pain spiked through her leg but it wasn’t attacking her, it was just sitting there, like some grossly distended and stretched puppy. A long spiked snout watched her, a pair of tiny, tiny white gems sitting at the top of it seemed to be its eyes. After a few seconds of staring it tried to move forwards and she squealed causing it to stop immediately and sit back down, cocking its head to the side.

“A-A… Are you gonna hurt me?” She mumbled, chewing on her lip after a few more moments, confident it wasn’t going to try and attack her. The beast’s head flopped to the other side and it shook its head, sending a few splatters of black fluid around. It then lifted a long, stick thin arm and pointed with a claw to the platypus she was holding. Turning it around she noticed two small black stains on it; the thing had put Lord Fluffster against the tree within her reach. Maybe it didn’t want to kill her.

“I got lost here and I hurt my ankle.” The thing of oil nodded and started walking towards her. This time she didn’t shy away and it reached out, picking her up with both of its front legs, surprisingly gently and nestled her against its chest which didn’t drip with the same fluid. It was oddly cold with metallic scales and the creature moved deeper into the woods, taking a specific path around the marked trees.

Light flooded them both and she looked to what was generating it; a cottage. It was small and made of wood with warm orange light pouring out of the windows. A long metal tail came around and opened the door, the creature needing to crouch to get in. It was warm inside, a fire burning in a hearth and it put her down in front of her, placing a blanket over her that was only slightly stained with the liquid before it moved away but the clicking of its claws on the wood let her know it was still close.

“My name’s Laura… Do you have a name?” She asked it and the clicking paused before static buzzed out into the building for a few seconds. “I don’t really understand… All I hear when you talk is static or buzzing, it’s really loud. Is that you trying to talk?”

She got no response and just sat there, enjoying the warmth and resting her leg. When the creature came back it put down a mug of hot chocolate and sat next to her. After a few minutes it reached around to the side of the fire and pulled out a sheaf of papers and then started writing with its finger, the tar it secreted acting almost like ink and surprisingly, it wrote in English.

‘My name is George. I came here a long time ago but I don’t remember how. Other people come here and I don’t know how but they don’t stay long, they always disappear. Some people can understand me, it’s a good thing I know how to write, isn’t it?’ A few blurts of static left it, almost like a laugh.

“Yeah! You’re scary looking though, I thought you were trying to hurt me. Were you trying to make me feel better when you first buzzed at me?” Laura asked him, rubbing her toy’s back.

‘Yes. I was trying to say to not be scared that I won’t hurt you. I know I look scary. I didn’t when I first came here but slowly my body was transmuted into this.’ His head drooped as though sad.

“It’s okay, you’re not that scary now… Uhm… I’m not sure what that means though.” The young girl reached out and pointed at the word 'Transmuted’ before taking a sip of her hot chocolate. It was surprisingly good.

'Altered or changed, I was a person like you before but I changed into this. It’s why I’m glad others leave, so they don’t need to. Sometimes I find things I need, maybe people send them to me?’ He looked at the paper for a few moments, tapping it with his claw before deciding he was done and writing a question mark.

“Is it lonely here, without anyone else?”

'It’s not so bad, people come here on occasion, most of them just think it’s a nightmare but this place is real. I send them home and find ways to amuse myself, like marking trees or making my house bigger.’

“I wish I could stay for longer or send you things to make you feel better. You’re nice and it’s not fair that you’re alone.” She sounded quite sad and slumped slightly. George reached over to her and gently scratched the top of her head.

'I will survive, it’s not that bad here. It’s quiet and peaceful. If you find a way to send me things though, perhaps some clothing? A nice pink shirt to keep me warm.’ He wrote, drawing a small doodle alongside of it, not done too well, of his monstrous form in a top too big for him with a silly smile on his face.

It got a giggle from Laura and she looked up to see George sticking the tip of a long, serpentine tongue out, causing her to laugh again and nod. “I’ll get you lots of different colours and a hat too! You wouldn’t be so scary with a hat, like this.” She reached out and dragged her finger across his oil, using it to draw a small bauble hat on his doodle. It was followed by a burst of static and George nodded multiple times.

'I would like that a lot! Now finish your hot chocolate, Laura, I think it’s time for you to go soon.’

She let out a long 'aww’ and drank down a good part of her drink before shuffling over and giving George a quick hug. “It was really nice meeting you, George, thank you for the hot chocolate and carrying me here.”

'You are quite welcome, Laura, it was nice talking to you. I hope you manage to send me that shirt.’ He told her, returning the hug with one arm and letting out a quiet buzz.

The young girl could definitely feel the world growing dimmer and she knew she was heading back but she didn’t want George to forget her. “I’ll do my best but in case I don’t…” She reached down and pulled her socks off, bright pink with small cats on them and handed them to him. “…You like pink and you might get cold feet! They’re small but they might help.” She told him and faded just as she saw the words 'Thank you’ being written.

Laura woke up and looked around the room, everything was normal, nothing had changed. Lord Fluffster was where he was supposed to be and there were no black marks on him. Had meeting George really just been a nightmare? She furrowed her eyebrows and got up to go to the toilet before realising how cold the floor was. Her eyes scanned down and she noticed her lack of socks… She never went to bed without socks. A smile crossed her face, George was going to need more clothes than just socks.

(via end-of-necrosis)