father, and he said it in a manner that suggested that all roads disappear,
‘It was there yesterday’ said Lily, and they all just stood and stared at the road that never was,
’who’s fucking taken it’ she added, and she looked at her father for answers, her frozen stance broken and for some unknown reason known to him, the logic of that made Peter laugh, but it was a nervous laugh, no one chastised her for swearing, how could they?, after all, who had taken the road?
‘Roads don’t just flipping disappear’ Eileen added,
And of course she was right, roads don’t just disappear, they all just stood around by the car looking at the road that used to be and looking at the road in front of them, Peter was thinking that there must have been some mistake and he must have come up that road and that’s what he told his kids, trying to reassure them, he wasn’t sure it was working, because it certainly wasn’t working on him.
‘ so why is my car facing the wrong way ‘ he asked himself ‘Eileen just looked at him, fear etched on her face, he could see Nathan and Lily looked scared to, we’ll go this way ‘ he said, pointing to the only direction he could go, he wanted to pretend he was in charge of the situation, but he wasn’t because he had no logical explanation where the road went, unless someone turned the car around when they slept, and that thought scared him more, he tried to shake it from his mind but he couldn’t, he remembered how scared they all were the night before when they were caught in the storm, but somehow with the sun beaming down on them and the birds singing, this appeared a lot worse, and that’s what scared him most.
‘What’s up there dad ‘lily said with a tremor in her voice, she didn’t want to go any further as she thought the trees would just follow them.
Peter didn’t answer because he didn’t know, he really didn’t want to know but had no choice other than to find out, but he fathomed it was a place called Underwood and it felt like something was forcing them to go, because as far as choices go, he didn’t have any, and suddenly the trees didn’t seem friendly anymore as they seemed to be beckoning him along the road to the unknown and it didn’t feel like the starlings were singing anymore, it sounded like the swoosh of a vulture as it set about its catch.
They drove very slowly through the muddy lane, anxiety building up in everyone in the car, for no other reason than the taste and smell of fear that the human body installs upon itself when they themselves don’t know what it is their afraid of, it felt like they were driving into the middle of nowhere, and Peter thought that soon the road would run out and they would have nowhere to go, then they would have to get out and face the wrath of the woods, and that thought chilled him, the tension was unbearable for all of them, the mud squelching under the wheels and the trees either side stood still in the morning sunshine, but it still felt like the trees were watching them and there long branches were arms ready to pick them up and take them deep into the woods forever, Peter tried to convince himself that all this was ridiculous and they had just got lost and soon they would be on the way to Cornwall, but he wasn’t doing a very good job of it, something inside him knew something was wrong, there was nothing natural about this place, in fact it all felt to unnatural, to Nathan the gremlins that he thought were in the woods had come back, and this time they were going to get their prey.
A few minutes later and the lane appeared to be widening and the tree’s thinning and an overwhelming sense of relief came over all of them as their worst nightmares seem to disappear, or at least part of them did, Eileen forced a smile, Peter opened the window and lit up a cigarette, he would suffer the wrath of his family, he needed the nicotine, but there were no protests as he wound down his
‘It was there yesterday’ said Lily, and they all just stood and stared at the road that never was,
’who’s fucking taken it’ she added, and she looked at her father for answers, her frozen stance broken and for some unknown reason known to him, the logic of that made Peter laugh, but it was a nervous laugh, no one chastised her for swearing, how could they?, after all, who had taken the road?
‘Roads don’t just flipping disappear’ Eileen added,
And of course she was right, roads don’t just disappear, they all just stood around by the car looking at the road that used to be and looking at the road in front of them, Peter was thinking that there must have been some mistake and he must have come up that road and that’s what he told his kids, trying to reassure them, he wasn’t sure it was working, because it certainly wasn’t working on him.
‘ so why is my car facing the wrong way ‘ he asked himself ‘Eileen just looked at him, fear etched on her face, he could see Nathan and Lily looked scared to, we’ll go this way ‘ he said, pointing to the only direction he could go, he wanted to pretend he was in charge of the situation, but he wasn’t because he had no logical explanation where the road went, unless someone turned the car around when they slept, and that thought scared him more, he tried to shake it from his mind but he couldn’t, he remembered how scared they all were the night before when they were caught in the storm, but somehow with the sun beaming down on them and the birds singing, this appeared a lot worse, and that’s what scared him most.
‘What’s up there dad ‘lily said with a tremor in her voice, she didn’t want to go any further as she thought the trees would just follow them.
Peter didn’t answer because he didn’t know, he really didn’t want to know but had no choice other than to find out, but he fathomed it was a place called Underwood and it felt like something was forcing them to go, because as far as choices go, he didn’t have any, and suddenly the trees didn’t seem friendly anymore as they seemed to be beckoning him along the road to the unknown and it didn’t feel like the starlings were singing anymore, it sounded like the swoosh of a vulture as it set about its catch.
They drove very slowly through the muddy lane, anxiety building up in everyone in the car, for no other reason than the taste and smell of fear that the human body installs upon itself when they themselves don’t know what it is their afraid of, it felt like they were driving into the middle of nowhere, and Peter thought that soon the road would run out and they would have nowhere to go, then they would have to get out and face the wrath of the woods, and that thought chilled him, the tension was unbearable for all of them, the mud squelching under the wheels and the trees either side stood still in the morning sunshine, but it still felt like the trees were watching them and there long branches were arms ready to pick them up and take them deep into the woods forever, Peter tried to convince himself that all this was ridiculous and they had just got lost and soon they would be on the way to Cornwall, but he wasn’t doing a very good job of it, something inside him knew something was wrong, there was nothing natural about this place, in fact it all felt to unnatural, to Nathan the gremlins that he thought were in the woods had come back, and this time they were going to get their prey.
A few minutes later and the lane appeared to be widening and the tree’s thinning and an overwhelming sense of relief came over all of them as their worst nightmares seem to disappear, or at least part of them did, Eileen forced a smile, Peter opened the window and lit up a cigarette, he would suffer the wrath of his family, he needed the nicotine, but there were no protests as he wound down his
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