LUCILLE (An original short story)

Let me tell you a story.

I don’t remember exactly when this incident happened.

My friends and I headed for a trip to Willow Wood. There were five of us, all girls. Everyone was equally ecstatic about the trip since we’ve been planning to go there in the last couple of months. After an uneventful journey from Lawrence County, we finally reached the campsite. We didn’t have a hard time setting up the huge tent that we brought along because we’ve been doing a lot of outdoor trips since we were in college.

After we've made sure that everything was ready, we headed to the lake. We were like little girls, playing with water for the first time. We spent the whole afternoon laughing and fooling around. We were all jubilant and exhausted. I remember telling them how grateful I was to have them as my best friends, as they responded with a warm and loving embrace. I still have a clear memory of how happy I was that day, of how great Lucille had been with the dinner she prepared for us, and how quickly the whole adventure have turned into a nightmare because of her.

We have all agreed to rest early that night to prepare ourselves for the next day. Tired as we were, everyone fell asleep after a few minutes of chitchat. It was past midnight when a shrilling voice broke the silence, alarming everyone. The voice was unnervingly familiar. With a quick look, we realized that there were only four of us left in the tent.

Lucille was gone.

Worried that something bad might have happened to her, I instinctively ran outside to look for her, calling her name as I was rushing into the depth of the woods. The weakening silence was dreadful enough, but I was eager to look for Lucille no matter what. In my mind, I could picture her wounded and scared somewhere in the woods, and I can’t take the thought of seeing her in that state.

With all the thoughts and emotions going on within me, I didn’t notice that something was on my way. It was probably a branch of a tree because it was huge and sturdy. With my speed, I tripped badly. I remember falling into the cold, damp ground -- hitting my head against a rock. I struggled as I tried to stand but I felt so drained and nauseous, my body too heavy for me to lift.

In my subconscious, I remember feeling my dead-weight body being dragged by a distorted figure that somehow looked like a human. It even looked familiar. That’s the last thing I remember.

Lucille was found the next day, sleeping peacefully by the lake. She was fine, except for some visible scratches on her legs and her left arm. No one else knew what happened that night except for us, the local police, some residents and our families. When asked, Lucille couldn’t clearly explain where she got those scratches, why she left the tent, or where I was...

But one thing’s for sure --

They never found my body.

~o~

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