Come and play
New woods
After school
Alice
Dave smiled as he read
the note, he’d looked after Alice since her dad had died and he had played his
‘games’ with her since her brother had disappeared. As he reached his car Dave finished the cup
cake that had been sent with the note, as he dropped the empty case onto the
floor he shuddered slightly at the thought of Alice’s other treats he would get
to sample that night.
Fifteen minuets later Dave pulled into the
secluded car park and grabbed the rucksack off the passengers seat ‘you can’t
play games without toys’ he thought. As
he lifted the rucksack out of the car he was surprised at how much heavier it
felt. He mumbled to himself
“Hope I’m not coming
down with something”
But then he remembered
what was waiting for him in the woods and this cheered him up.
As he approached a
clearing Dave saw Alice sitting on a rug with a tea set, there was a cat on her
lap. As he approached Dave was struck
with the feeling that something was not right and he thought he saw a figure
standing against a tree at the end of the clearing, he was struck by how dark
it seemed to be. As he entered the
clearing Dave moved the heavy rucksack so it would be easier to put down. Alice saw him and poured a drink from an old
teapot a fly walked across the cloth she was sitting on, she looked up at him.
“You came, I wasn’t
sure if you would. Did you like the
cake?”
Dave nodded and went
to sit next to her on a log, his body felt heavy and he slipped, knocking the
cat of Alice’s lap, it hit the floor with a thud, not moving, a mass of flies
left it’s body. Alice lent forward and
picked up the dead cat.
“After Daddy left
kitty tried to leave as well but I gave him some special food and now he stays
with me.”
Alice pointed at the
shadowy figure at the end of the clearing.
“Not long after,
Johnny stopped playing with me but after I made him cake he’s never left my
side”
Dave was confused,
Johnny was her brother, he disappeared months ago and what did cake have to do
with anything. Then he remembered the
cake that was with the note. In a panic
Dave tried to get away but his body wasn’t responding, he fell forward, landing
on the picnic mat and darkness took over him
Alice used rope from
Dave’s rucksack to tie his body to a stake; she moved her brother’s body to the
mat and poured a drink for both of them.
“Now we can all play
together forever” said Alice with a smile.
