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Young Writers Society


16+ Language

Rising Nightmares [Prologue]

by Kanome


Warning: This work has been rated 16+ for language.

“What was that noise?” A man, probably in his teens, spoke quietly as he kept walking deep inside the dark woods, holding only a lit lighter that only had a little flame. He kept hearing the sound of leaves blowing in the wind. He didn’t know what to do, but he did know that he has to escape as quickly as he can.

He heard the noise again. He crouched down by a bush, looking out in the darkness.His breathing became heavy, his body shaking. “Fuck…”

He saw a dark figure walking slowly across the woods.

“What the hell is that…?”

The teenager took out his cell phone, looking at the screen. “Still no service and five percent left…”

He stood up, looking around to find an exit out of the woods. He noticed a small opening to the outside of the woods. “There!” He started running, his skin getting sliced from the branches of the trees. As soon as he made it out the woods, he kneeled down to take a breath. He touched his face, noticing blood on his hands from the fresh cuts. He stood back up and turned to look at the woods he just escaped from.

“That was close.” He then turned back around, and screamed loudly.

“…”

His body lay lifeless on the ground, his face ripped off from his own body. His phone was on the ground beside him. A text message appeared on the screen.





Jaye, where are you?


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Wed Jun 23, 2021 10:50 am
KateHardy wrote a review...



Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening/Night(whichever one it is in your part of the world),

Hi! I'm here to leave a quick review!!

First Impression: Okayy...this was quite a powerful prologue, I especially loved the ending, the start was a bit more on the shakier side of things but the ending was really well written here.

Anyway let's get right to it,

“What was that noise?” A man, probably in his teens, spoke quietly as he kept walking deep inside the dark woods, holding only a lit lighter that only had a little flame. He kept hearing the sound of leaves blowing in the wind. He didn’t know what to do, but he did know that he has to escape as quickly as he can.


Okay...its a little weird to say probably in his teens because it appears the narrator is trying to guess what kind of age the person and that's a little awkward. Other than that, a pretty spooky little situation here, lots of darkness and a flickering weak light, certainly a lovely bit of atmosphere to start this story off on, I'm loving this so far. Certainly an awesome setting for the opening of a prologue.

He heard the noise again. He crouched down by a bush, looking out in the darkness.His breathing became heavy, his body shaking. “Fuck…”

He saw a dark figure walking slowly across the woods.

“What the hell is that…?”


Okay...well that was quite a strong reaction to that, you can clearly see that this person is pretty scared of what is happening around them at the moment, and is quite jumpy in general from the way that they are reaction to things here.

The teenager took out his cell phone, looking at the screen. “Still no service and five percent left…”


Ooh, that does add a lovely bit of extra tension into the scene as we see that there's not going to be an easy way out of the situation using the phone. That's a detail a lot of people forget to put in, so this is nice to see.

He stood up, looking around to find an exit out of the woods. He noticed a small opening to the outside of the woods. “There!” He started running, his skin getting sliced from the branches of the trees. As soon as he made it out the woods, he kneeled down to take a breath. He touched his face, noticing blood on his hands from the fresh cuts. He stood back up and turned to look at the woods he just escaped from.

“That was close.” He then turned back around, and screamed loudly.


Oh gosh wow, that was quite a move there, on one hand we have the really intense sequence there a he's trying to run out of the woods. I really love how you make it almost seem like the woods themselves are a character here that's actively trying to stop him from being able to leave. It really makes things seem even more spooky, and then of course that last part with the loud screaming. That's just about the perfect stuff you want in a prologue.

His body lay lifeless on the ground, his face ripped off from his own body. His phone was on the ground beside him. A text message appeared on the screen.

Jaye, where are you?


Well, that was a fun cut to black, oh dear, that sounds like a properly brutal murder..and uhh I assume once he was out, the service came back cause well, a very fitting message there to end this prologue off, all in all, this makes for a really cool ending to the prologue that will certainly make you want to read on to find out what happened here.

Overall: Overall, this is a pretty solid prologue here, it certainly manages to check off most of the boxes that you would expect from one of these, and this is certainly a story that I would read here. It sounds like it could be pretty mysterious here.

As always remember to take what you think was helpful and forget the rest.

Stay Safe
Harry




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Sat Mar 28, 2015 4:46 pm
Minniax wrote a review...



“What was that noise?” A man, probably in his teens, spoke quietly as he kept walking deep inside the dark woods, holding only a lit lighter that only had a little flame.
I agree, the lit lighter area sounds awkward because of the use of the word 'only' twice. I'd probably change it to something like, "A man, probably in his teens, spoke quietly as he kept walking deep into the dark woods, only holding a lighter that was lit by a small flame."

He stood up, looking around to find an exit out of the woods. He noticed a small opening to the outside of the woods. “There!” He started running, his skin getting sliced from the branches of the trees. As soon as he made it out the woods, he kneeled down to take a breath. He touched his face, noticing blood on his hands from the fresh cuts. He stood back up and turned to look at the woods he just escaped from.
The first two sentences bother me a bit, mostly because they repeat themselves and don't flow. I would change it to something like, "He stood up, looking around to find an exit in the woods and noticed a small opening." The repetition of the word woods throughout this paragraph bothers me as well while reading, but I'm not sure on how to change that.

Other than that, I agree the title is great, which is why I clicked on it xP. The ending is the perfect cliffhanger in my opinion, because it makes you want to continue to read more to find out what is happening at the time and what happens after. Very suspenseful!




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Sat Mar 28, 2015 7:09 am
donizback wrote a review...



Oh. My. God.
Thank you so very much for this one. I am sticking to this novel of yours and will be waiting all the time for it's forthcoming chapters.

The title - It was really good. It just attracted me at the first sight. I liked it a lot. The title just gave me a feeling how good the story is gonna be. So well done on this part.

The story - Looks really very interesting. It was really very good. One thing I really love about your chapters/prologues is that they aren't super long. That's a really unique thing about your writing.

The story has a really good suspense part to it and these last few sentences really gave me goosebumps. I just don't see any problem with anything on here right now.

The ending! Wow! I can't wait to read the chapter 1 of this novel. Please don't keep me waiting for long. Good luck with it.




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Sat Mar 28, 2015 6:26 am
Dracula wrote a review...



Heya, Kanome. I'll have a go at reviewing for you. :D

“What was that noise?” A man, probably in his teens, spoke quietly as he kept walking deep inside the dark woods, holding only a lit lighter that only had a little flame. He kept hearing the sound of leaves blowing in the wind. He didn’t know what to do, but he did know that he has to escape as quickly as he can.
I've got two things to point out here. Lit lighter sounds a little awkward. I don't have any suggestions on what to change it to, but I'm sure your clever mind could think of something. Secondly, the last sentence is obviously happening in the present tense, but the previous sentences sound to me as if they're in past tense.

looking out in the darkness.His breathing became heavy,
You forgot a space. :)

His body lay lifeless on the ground, his face ripped off from his own body. His phone was on the ground beside him. A text message appeared on the screen.
What happened?!! This was such a cliff hanger! Please keep writing and let me know when the first chapter is up. Your prologue was very interesting and I'd love to know what happens to Jaye.




Kanome says...


Gotta love those cliff hangers xD




Be the annoying goose you want to see in the world.
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