Oscar’s story

*This story is underneath my folder titled “Oscar’s story”. Gacha Club character designs are under my forum titled “My character designs <33”. This is based off a dream I had in 2021, so it’s a little weird. Nevertheless…enjoy!*

Introduction

Oscar never knew that his dream of an evil camp counselor turning boys into ducks and hanging their families would have any relevance or truth. Not all dreams had meanings. Some of them were a messed-up collage of one’s confused thoughts.

But Oscar’s seemingly weird, meaningless dream had a horrid, unsettling truth to it…

Chapter One

EARLY MORNING-OSCAR’S BEDROOM

Oscar woke up to the blinding sun, still in shock from his dream. There was a campsite, a boy being turned into a duck, escaping the fate, he and his family hanging off of nooses on trees…

“Get ready, Oscar!” Mom yelled from downstairs.

Oh, right. They were going camping.

Just like in the dream…

Chapter Two

AFTER A WHILE

Oscar walked downstairs, all freshened up, carrying his camping bag. He and his parents would stop for breakfast somewhere, then head on their way out.

At first, Oscar was excited for camp, but the dream still lingered in his mind, an unexplainable, uneasy warning.

But it was just a dream, right?

Chapter Three

THE DRIVE

“Mom? Dad? Can I tell you guys something?” Oscar asked.

He was sitting in the backseat of the car, after a breakfast of eggs. The dream kept coming up, no matter how much he tried to steer his mind away from it.

“Yes, you can tell us anything.” Dad said.

“I…I had a dream that the camp counselor tried to turn my into a duck, but-“

“A duck?” Dad asked, laughing. Mom joined him, covering her mouth with her hand, in an attempt to hide the laughter.

Oscar would have laughed too, if the dream didn’t have an unsettling note to it.

“But then I escaped him. The camp counselor got to me and you guys, too. He hanged us all.”

The laughter ceased, the only sound being the wheels on the highway.

“That took a dark turn.” Mom commented.

“I know. The dream is nothing, but…uh…it just felt weird. I don’t like it.”

“Well, it’s just a dream. You don’t need to worry.” Mom said. Dad nodded in agreement.

Yes, Oscar didn’t have to worry, but still…he did.

Chapter Four

AFTER A WHILE

The car pulled up to “Elsfure camp”, the trees twisting and reaching out towards them. The road was jagged dirt, bumping under the tires.

A camp counselor brandished a mega-watt grin, customary to all coming, for no one was supposed to worry about the many dangers that happened in the forest…

Chapter Five

“Welcome to Elsfure Camp! I’m your guide, Olivier!” The camp counselor said as he opened the front car door.

Did he look at Oscar with a glint in his eyes? Or was the boy only imagining things?

Chapter Six

After they were settled, Olivier led the family away, to a small duck pond.

“Here is my favorite part of the camp: The ducks. The ducks are such wonderful creatures. They swim in a group, they…”

Oscar wasn’t really paying attention, though. He was looking at the ducks’s eyes, which had hints of tears within.

Perhaps their eyes were just glassy?

Chapter Seven

“Now, let’s show you to your cabins.” Olivier said.

Goodness, those eyes were human…but…no…

He had to leave. No use standing around for so long.

Chapter Eight

NIGHT

Oscar lay in bed, unable to sleep. His parents were sleeping together in another cabin. He was alone.

A mistake of his, for Oscar’s thoughts turned over to human-eyes ducks, ducks that seemed to be just like him.

But why? That was ridiculous. Ducks were ducks, people were people. Nothing more.

“Come out.” Olivier said from behind the door.

No, it wasn’t Olivier. It was the wind. The wind was making noises and he was imagining things.

“Please come out.” Olivier said calmly.

Hesitantly, Oscar pulled off the bed sheets.

What could Olivier want?

Chapter Nine

OUTSIDE

“You know, I really like ducks. They’re good, agreeable animals that don’t make a fuss when you come near them.”

Oscar raised an eyebrow. Ducks were birds, didn’t they hate when people got close to them?

Why was Olivier so obsessed with ducks, anyway? What was so great about them? Was that what Olivier came to his cabin for? To talk about ducks?

“Humans, not so much. They yell at you, they don’t appreciate nature. Overall, horrible.”

What did he want? Oscar to kiss a tree? Humans were only human, they didn’t frolic in the woods like deer.

“But there was one human I liked. His name was Roman. He was a great man, Roman. He had the power to turn people into ducks.”

“Say what now?!” Oscar asked in alarm.

The dream was creeping up to him…it couldn’t be true…he must have misheard…

But what if it was?

Chapter Ten

“He turned people into ducks. Now, I’m going to make you one.”

Olivier raised his hands in the air, uttering words too quiet for Oscar to hear.

Oscar ran as fast as he could, away from Olivier and his strange duck spell. He could feel duck feathers on his arm, but if he ran fast enough, he wouldn’t become a duck.

Chapter Eleven

After a while, he stopped running, certain that he was safe. The duck feathers had disappeared, he was completely human.

A foot seemed to kick his face.

Oscar looked up, startled.

All above him were bodies, nooses tied around their necks, hanging off of tree branches.

His dream…it was coming true!

Chapter Twelve

“You can’t run from me, Oscar. I will turn you into a duck. I will give you the body of a bird.”

Oscar bit back laughter as he ran.

Was he terrified? Yes. Was the thought of becoming a duck ridiculous? Yes.

But he needed to keep running. He needed to warn his parents so they could get out and never return.

Chapter Thirteen

A FEW MINUTES LATER

Oscar ran towards his parent’s cabin and banged on the door with his fists. They had to get out. They had to wake up. He couldn’t let that creep Olivier get to them.

Mom opened the door.

“What’s wrong, sweetie?” She asked.

“Olivier is going to turn us into ducks! If that doesn’t work, he’ll hang us! We have to leave!”

“Leave?” Mom asked, raising an eyebrow.

Oscar sighed. He knew how strange his story sounded. He knew what she was thinking, but he had to tell her. He couldn’t keep quiet.

“I know it sounds insane, but it’s true. You have to trust me.”

“Why run, my friend? Don’t you want to be a duck?” Olivier’s voice rang throughout the forest.

Mom ushered him inside, closing the door shut.

Chapter Fourteen

Mom was just about to wake Dad up, but then Olivier kicked open the door, shocking him into wakefulness.

Oscar’s heart pumped with fear. There was a glint in Olivier’s eyes, a horrid, malicious glint that Oscar saw in his duck-tainted dreams.

Olivier was resorting to Plan B.

Chapter Fifteen

“Well, since you want to run from me, then I guess I’ll have to do it.” Olivier said with a smile.

Oscar’s legs felt weak…everything around him went blurry…

Darkness.

Chapter Sixteen

Oscar opened his eyes. He could see the dirt ground of the forest, ridden with plants and trees reaching up to the sky. Something hung loosely around his neck.

Olivier was walking on the ground. He looked up at Oscar and smiled.

“None of you listened to me.” Olivier said.

Oscar looked at either side of him, wishing that he what he thought was happening was all a dream.

His parents’ necks were tied loosely to ropes hanging off tree branches. Which meant the worst.

“Goodbye, friends.”

Olivier snapped his fingers. The rope around Oscar’s neck tightened and then, nothing.

Chapter Seventeen

Oscar opened his eyes. He wasn’t hanging off a rope anymore, he was standing on the ground.

Oscar looked up. His body hang above him, sneakers dangling in the air.

“What happened to us?” Dad asked.

“Look up.” Oscar said.

His parents looked up at their bodies. They gasped in shock and backed away. They never believed in ghosts or the supernatural, but Oscar did. He always knew that there was something else going on.

“We’re dead. We died. Olivier killed us.” Oscar said.

His parents were scared, he could see it, but they had to stay close. He would get them out.

He would help them.

Chapter Eighteen

“Olivier turned other boys he came across into ducks. I know, because I dreamed about our deaths and I dreamed about the boys.”

“Okay? And? What can we do, we’re dead.” Dad said.

Oscar rolled his eyes. Ghosts could do so much more than humans ever could, but of course they didn’t know that.

“We can free them. Please, please trust me.”

His parents shared looks with each other. They weren’t used to letting Oscar take the lead.

But, they nodded, which meant only one thing.

They were trusting Oscar.

Chapter Nineteen

AFTER A WHILE

The sun was up, they had been “running” for quite some time. They were using their legs to run, but since they were ghosts, it was more like they were floating instead of running, drifting in and out of reality.

But they had made it to the duck pond.

“Come here!” Oscar said, gesturing to the ducks.

They swam towards him, all too eager that someone was acknowledging their presence.

They watched him with wide eyes. His parents stood back, waiting for the worst.

It was time for Oscar to do what his dream told him to do.

Chapter Twenty

Oscar jumped in the water, giving his energy to the ducks. He was a ghost, he could radiate energy.

All around him, there were elated gasps. All around him, young boys and boys who grew into men were gaining back their humanity.

In the distance, he heard Olivier scream haggardly. In Oscar’s dream, he saw Olivier decay.

The world looked like a dream under the water, hazily beautiful.

Epilogue

YEARS LATER

Oscar was in a field of wildflowers with the infinite sun shining, a sweet scent in the air. It wasn’t anything like the Heaven he imagined, but it was beautiful.

Those that were freed escaped the camp and were able to tell their tale. Some believed them, some didn’t. That wasn’t important. What was important was that young boys and boys that had grown into men were out in the world again.

Some of them were not so lucky. Some, Oscar had to meet in Heaven to know that they died at the camp.

All were safe. All were free.

Olivier was gone.