Walk in the Park

WALK IN THE PARK

R L Schumacher

“Ha, I get it. Jack and Jill.” The old park ranger realized. Dressed in a dark green uniform and a tan brimmed hat. The badge on his jacket displayed the state park logo along with a name plate that read ‘Jackson.’ Grey hair stuck out from under his hat while he cracked a smile resembling a Cheshire cat that gleamed back at the young couple standing in front of him.

The thirty-something man snickered along with the old ranger while his female counterpart ground her teeth behind a plastic grin as they stood under the glare of the late afternoon sun.

“We’ve been looking forward to this, even took the tram over to here so we can explore the entire length of the trail. We’re gonna get all we can out of what the park has to offer.” The young man said.

“Well, you picked a wonderful day for it. You folks enjoy your hike, and thanks for supporting the South Cumberland Preserve.” With that the ranger tipped his hat to them and stepped toward his small booth at the entrance way to the park.

“Thanks, you do the same.” The young man with the backpack answered with a casual wave as he began walking toward the trail head followed by his companion.

The ranger watched the couple go, maintaining his grin as he leaned against the posted sign located next to his booth which read, ‘Darkwood Memorial Reservation Preserve.’

Now out of ear shot of the ranger, Jill’s venom spilled over. “Can you believe that guy? If I hear that dumb joke one more time…”

Jack, a man with dark hair and fit frame, walked alongside her and rolled his eyes. “Come on hon, what do you expect? It comes with the territory; I would have thought you’d be used to it by now.”

Jill, a petite blonde with shoulder length hair, athletic frame, and blue eyes who also wore a backpack continued her rant. “Up the hill with a pail of water,” she huffed. “He’s lucky he didn’t come tumbling down.”

Jack sighed as they continued to walk the trail. “Forget it, Jill. Let’s enjoy the scenery, hell, that’s why we came all the way out here.”

“You could have said something instead of just standing there. Sometimes you let these morons walk all over you.” She retorted, unconvinced.

Jack knew she just needed time to cool down. He did what most smart people do in a situation like this. He shut up and focused on the scenery around him. A few tense moments passed as they moved down the trail while the birds chirped, and the light breeze blew through the trees.

Jill regretted snapping at him and came up closer alongside him taking his hand in hers. Her apology in the form of a small smile slipped over her face as Jack looked at her and returned her smile with one of his own. The mood now lightened. They continued around the current bend in the trail and came upon the border of the woods.

A row of tall trees spread out before them. The head of the trail disappeared deep under the shadows of the dense forest. They both felt a feeling of foreboding as they looked upon the recesses of the trees. But it soon passed as they stepped out of the bright sun and under the shade of the trees of Darkwood.

Jill had a sudden chill as they walked deeper into the woods. “I should have dressed warmer,” she lamented as the goosebumps populated her forearms. Jack too felt the temperature drop as they moved along the trail. “I guess t-shirts and shorts weren’t the way to go, but then who would have thought that in August.”

The breeze continued to rustle the leaves as the trail turned from gravel to dirt. Jill thought it strange that there were a lot of dead leaves on the ground. Didn’t that only happen in the fall? She was about to ask Jack about it when they heard a sound.

The naturalistic harmony of the woods ceased all at once as the noise dominated the forest.

It came from an unseen place deep within the woods. Both were experienced hikers and had had numerous encounters with wildlife. Small animals like foxes, possums, and skunks but this was different. This sound didn’t belong. “Did you hear that?” Jill asked.

“Yeah” Jack confirmed, “It sounded metallic.”

“Almost like chain links rubbing together.” Jill continued his thought.

“Metal creaking,” Jack agreed.

But just as the sound began it ended abruptly. The birdsong and breeze returned, and the woods resumed their serene mood. The two adults looked at one another for a moment unsure of what to make of their experience, wondering if it was real or not. Jill drew out a bottle of water from her backpack and took a drink. She passed the bottle to Jack who did the same.

“Let’s keep moving,” Jack said as he passed the bottle back to Jill. The two then resumed their trek deeper into Darkwood.

Time passed as they observed the various scenery and wildlife. Soon they both regained their vigor for the trip and began to enjoy what the woods had to offer. They continued onward after another break as Jack looked up at the trees and noticed the angle of the rays of sun coming through the branches. “It’s getting late, must be near dusk.”

Jill looked at her watch as they walked “It’s almost seven thirty,” she said with some surprise noting how they both had lost track of time.

“Didn’t think it was that late,” Jack commented, “Guess the forest splendor distracted us. No wonder they made such an effort to turn this area into a preserve. I imagine most developers would lump down some serious money to build here.”

“That’s something New Jersey started years ago. The government took charge and made efforts to keep some parts of the state protected so the wildlife wouldn’t be completely devastated by overdevelopment. South Cumberland wanted this area protected since the incident with the Stevens family.” Jill agreed.

The rays of sunlight were turning crimson as the angle of light dipped just below the treetops. Then they heard it again.

A creaking of metal links pulled on with force. The grinding sound tugged at their nerves. The sound dominated the otherwise silent scene. Then they saw it.

Jill saw it first, a shape far off to the right. Just out of the corner of her eye a peripheral image of shadow that was clinging just behind a large maple tree.

Jack saw it a second later, a humanlike silhouette lingering there frozen trying not to hide. Then aware of detection, it dipped back behind the tree and disappeared. The woods then regained their former guise as if nothing had happened.

“Did you see that?” Jill’s anxiety came out in her voice.

“I think so” Jack answered just as concerned. “A shape, looked like a person.”

“We should get out of here. It’s getting late. It will be dark soon and we don’t have any flashlights.” Jill turned to walk back in the direction the way they came.

“Hon, remember, we parked the car at the end of the trail and took the tram to the entrance. Besides, we have a flashlight.” Jack drew out a small flashlight and flicked it on. Its powerful beam illuminated a strong radius of light. “Got this on Amazon, military issue, figured it would come in handy. You know what I always say.” Jack smiled at her and pointed the light down the trail ahead.

“Always be prepared,” Jill repeated mimicking his voice. She took his free hand in hers and started up the trail again as the sunlight continued to fade.

They continued walking the trail, each noting the other had picked up their pace. Though neither commented on that fact but both had become uncomfortable with what had just occurred. Jack’s flashlight’s beam danced along the trail occasionally dipping left or right checking the nearby surroundings as if expecting something to happen.

They didn’t have to wait long.

The trail made another turn when things went silent again. They heard the creaking metal of the chains again. Stopping immediately, they drew close together as Jack moved the beam of the flashlight toward the sound. The circle of light bounced up and down between trees to their right. Just as Jack was about to bring the beam back the trail, it caught something that was crouching at the base of another large tree. Another dark shape a silhouette like before, the light only touched it for a second, but in that time, they knew true fear.

Humanlike but with no detail as if it was a cutout of some sort. Jack had almost convinced himself it was some delusion. But then from where its head was, two yellow eyes opened out from the blackness and stared back at them. Then another orifice opened below where a mouth would be in a human face. That space was red against rows of sharp white teeth. A sound came from that space, a screech filled with venom and hate directed at them in the light. It then disappeared behind the tree. The creaking metal sound came again. The sound resembled the chains under duress by some force moving back and forth.

Jack almost dropped the flashlight as Jill grabbed him with both arms clinging tightly to him. He gulped and blinked as the creature vanished. There was no doubt anymore. What they were experiencing was real. Fright began to overwhelm both as they stood in the silent woods. The beam of Jack’s light illuminating the lower halves of their bodies.

“Jack, what the hell is going on?” Jill’s frame now consumed with fear.

“I don’t know, but whatever that was, it wasn’t friendly.”

Jill was on the edge of panic, “We need to get out of here.” She was shaking, her breath shallow.

Jack held her in his arms. He was scared too but he knew he had to calm her down if they were going to get out of this. “Jill, I know, but you must think, keep calm. It’s gonna take both of us okay. I need you with me.”

Jack put his hand under her chin and lifted her face to meet his. He could feel her trembling. He leaned in and kissed her gently on the lips. He held her for a moment and smiled. Jill took a few deep breaths and smiled back at him. “Okay” she said putting on a brave face.

“That’s the woman I fell in love with. Come on, I know we’re close to the parking lot. It’s just a little further.”

They ended their embrace and hurried down the trail. The chain sounds were getting louder as they approached the next turn. Jack kept the flashlight moving between the trail in front of them and to the woods on either side.

As he swung the beam to the left, Jill caught sight of another one of the shapes. This one was closer. The light passed over it quickly as it tried to duck away but the beam had uncovered more details. The form had long gangly arms with claws. Legs that were muscular and powerful. The thing’s face was pitch black, its skin tightly stretched over its skull, its eyes open, its mouth chopping at open air as it ogled her.

“Jack!”

“I know, just keep moving don’t look at them!”

They were running now the light beam bouncing on the face of the trail ahead of them. Every time Jack turned the flashlight toward the forest around them it found one of the creatures either kneeling next to a tree or dashing between the foliage as they moved parallel to the couple thrashing through the branches and rustling leaves.

The creatures were moving closer to the trail. Their number growing by the minute as Jack and Jill, driven by their terror, ran with urgency only pure terror could provide. All of this as the sound of the chains increased, becoming deafening, consuming all else around them.

They took another turn as their flashlight revealed an opening in the trees. The trees were thinning out as they ran. They approached a small rise in the trail and began to ascend it, the tree line opened before them revealing a vast well-manicured lawn.

“Jill that’s it, that’s the park at the end of the trail.”

“I see it!” she said between labored breaths. “I see it!”

They could still hear the pursuit from behind them. Quick light footsteps hit the trail crunching the dead leaves spread out there as they came out of the wood behind the couple. Too filled with horror, Jack and Jill refused to look behind them, instead they focused on the opening ahead.

Cresting the rise, they hit level ground again and got beyond the tree line. The light of the full moon cast the entire area in an eerie glow. The open park had a playground with a jungle gym, seesaws, and sets of swings just ahead of them with the parking lot just beyond.

Their footsteps left the dirt trail as they felt soft damp grass under foot. Even through their heavy breathing Jack and Jill felt relief as they crossed the lawn about to pass the playground area. The parking lot was just beyond it.

The hope they felt vanished in an instant as they saw the source of the creaking chains. An all-consuming horror gripped them crushing any resolve the couple possessed. They soon slowed and then stopped staring in object terror at the sets of swings. Frozen with the realization of what they knew was their end, their eyes locked helplessly on the lone occupant of a swing.

A form wearing a little girl’s white dress was swinging on one of the playground swings. The rusted chains of the swing creaked with the strain of the force the girl used. She pumped her small legs under her to increase her arc in height and width.

A blonde wig with ponytails tied off with ribbons sat upon the form’s head. She sang a little song as she swung back and forth on the swing with the rusty chains squeaking along in time with her melody.

The white dress she wore had layers of frills that danced in the moonlight. They seemed to glow against her pitch-black skin. Her black shoes had golden buckles on their tops, shiny against her white socks covered with flowery imprints. Her arms were gangly and her long fingers that curled around the chains of the swing that she held with a death grip. She clicked her shoes together in rhythm with her arc as she sang.

The couple stood at the closest point to the form as a mass of footsteps on damp grass behind them drew nearer. In that moment, the form turned her head toward them exposing her expression. Her face was a mirror of the creatures that chased Jack and Jill, though she was only a child. Her song emanated from a twisted mouth filled with sharp teeth. She sang the same phrase repeatedly in a lyrical tone as she swung on the swing.

“Swinging in the moonlight,

Under the stars,

We’re going to get you,

Wherever you are.”