Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening/Night(whichever one it is in your part of the world),
Hi! I'm here to leave a quick review!!
Anyway let's get right to it,
The crackling of leaves causes my heart strings to contract, anxiety fills my body and my mind abandons me as I stare into the eye of the forest. Fearing that I will be heard I attempt to lighten my steps yet with each pace forward my heart sinks deeper within my throat. I can taste the bitter, nauseating slug of my own fear through the cotton walls of my mouth. My feet's craving to retreat is only to be hindered by my damped boots. All that could hear was the leaves, the leaves and my heart. The mist covers the forest as gravel would a coffin. The trees guard secrets as a solitary story teller, secrets too grey and too grim to ever be aired. Secrets doomed to remain in this forest – a fate I fear with every inch of my being.
I repeatedly ask myself why, why o why did he have to retreat to this place? Mum and dad are waiting impatiently for us to return for supper and my idiotic brother decided that the Epping Forrest would be the ideal solace for his broken heart. Girls will be girls and as my mother always says “Never pick the first beautiful flower you lay your eyes upon, roam the garden a bit and you shall find your flower”. Oh how I wish I was back in the garden. Trying to masquerade my fear with these thoughts of home proved to be unsuccessful. I know he’ll go far; his irrational behaviour is only second to his absence of fear, a trait I envy at this moment. I wander deeper within the forest, passing trees wearing identical masks; the fog covers me like a robe. Retracing my path seems impossible for I can’t even see five steps ahead of me ,it feels as if I’m stuck in a calm blizzard ,dodging trees as they pass my way. I suddenly feel a sickening thought creep through my skin ,straight up my spine and sits on the back of my head burning a hole through my skull- I’m lost …
I reluctantly wander on, hoping to find my younger brother. As I pass the trees that I think I know all too well I abruptly hear the fracturing of a twig, night is creeping in and I spot a vague silhouette not far off in the distance; it is of hope and optimism that I humorously yell “Marco”. The hope of finding my brother soon turns to a biting sickle of fear and shock as I see the silhouette turn around and from the foggy trees surrounding me I hear the whispers of twenty or more voices saying “Polo”.
This is a pretty neat opening scene here. We've got the setting slowly establishing itself in the background there to start with. On its own, we've already got a pretty intriguing forest layout there but then with the addition of the missing brother, I think it all comes together quite nicely to really drag us into the story here and then with the extra bit of suspense from the fact that something has clearly gone wrong there this is off to really fun start here. I think it manages to really instill a nice sense of fear into the reader which really makes.
I feel the adrenaline granting me the speed of the wind and the strength of a lion as I turn to run, to where I don’t know but the forest has to end somewhere, this I do know. I fly over the roots of the oaks that gaze down upon me with their black-hearted grins. My strength and speed came to a hurried stop as my face met with an unexpected Silver Birch.
I awoke under the full moons light. Still hazed and confused I stumble back into the direction I was running. Life feels distant and unreal, my ears are still ringing and feel the bloody tickling my ear as I painfully inspect the laceration on the side of my head. I feel dizzy and weak. The wind sweeps through a pile of leaves as gently as lovers hand, and hear it calling me hither with a soothing and calm voice, a woman’s voice, bliss and peaceful. Without giving it a thought I ignorantly limp after the frisking leaves. After a while of whirling and dancing me to an open patch beneath the trees, the leaves crash to the moist forest floor as glass would on marble. My pain and confusion turned to grief and despair as I come falling to my knees wailing in agony and sorrow. Before me the stands a tremendous Willow tree with branches as wide as the horizon and from those very branches dangles my brother, lifeless and cold. Joining the trees and their secrets, never to leave the Epping Forest again.The Epping Forest.
This builds on the fear from the opening scene quite well I think. You get the sense that whatever has gone wrong could in fact prove fatal and that ends up now increasing the stakes for our protagonist here on top of the fact that there's also another person who has gone missing. The ending then comes through rather powerfully with that feeling of these characters being stuck in this place for ever with the brother having met the worst possible fate there although there is a sense that perhaps the brother will end up getting the better end of the deal with the horrors this forest could contain.
Aaaaand that's it for this one.
As always remember to take what you think was helpful and forget the rest.
Stay Safe
Harry
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