• Jennifer ran! She ran in the rain. She ran in the snow. She ran in the rare morning sun this early in May. The air felt cold and crisp on her skin, as a fine sweat built on her body. Pausing at the small stop sign at the bottom of the hill, she checked her watch for time and distance. Only two more miles to go. Keeping her body moving in an attempt to keep her heart rate up, she tried to make a decision. Right or Left?

    She had promised herself that she would have a route planned before the trip. She hated being lost! Her watch beeped in a funny little pattern like that weird little robot in the Star Wars movies. Crap! Her heart rate was dropping. Left it is. Jennifer turned down the shady path before her. If she didn’t hurry her brother would be awake before she got back.

    She could hear Jason now, “This is supposed to be a vacation! How is running five miles at the a** crack of dawn a vacation? He wasn't like her. Jason was a computer guy and had never fully understood her love of running.

    Jennifer eased into a hard jog, covering her next mile quickly. Her breathing had just settled into a steady rhythm when she felt her left foot catch on something heavy. Her body pitched forward in a wild tumble, twisting her torso in time her shoulder bore the damage destined for her chin. She felt her skin peel away from her shoulder as her temple cracked the old asphalt. “********” She screamed in pain and anger. What the hell had she tripped on?

    Rolling onto her back, she sat up slowly with a groan. The change in position caused pain to scream down her right arm and her head hurt making her eyes water.. Using her left hand, she wiped her eyes coming away with more than a little blood. Looking back the way she had come in she willed her eyes to focus making them work to find what she had so gracefully tripped over. The only thing she could find on the road was a small black lump no bigger than a rolled gym sock. That could not have been what she tripped on! Gingerly she got to her feet and made her way over to the mystery object. She had to pick the small black item up before her mind finally recognized it. She was surprised to find that she was holding a small damp cloth slipper. It was tiny, only large enough for a child of three or four.

    A strange sense of foreboding slid over her body like runnels of ice water down her back, this could not be what she had tripped on. She had fallen from stumbling over something large not this tiny cloth mote. She felt the rising hair on the back of her neck as fear struck her. A nervous laugh threatened in the back of her mind. Where had this shoe come from. Turning her hand, she opened her fingers they came away from the tiny slipper with a slick sound. Leaving the sole on the palm of her hand. Jennifer saw that her fingers were stained with a thick rusty brown goo.

    Her brain struggled to accept the reality of what she held in her hand. The shoe was soaked in partially dried blood. She struggled with another wave of fear. How this artifact had arrived in this remote place shook her. Jennifer felt a small bubble in her throat rise. Somehow she knew that if the bubble made it from her throat to her mouth she wouldn’t be able to stop. Stop screaming, Stop vomiting, Stop crying!

    Slamming her eyes shut and taking big gulping breaths to calm herself she slowly knelt. She put the tiny slipper on the ground. Ridding herself of it like a defiled holy object as quickly as possible without just casting it aside. Putting the damn thing down allowed her to think more clearly. Where was the child that the shoe belonged to. Suddenly all the pain of her injuries forgotten all the horror of holding the blood-soaked shoe gone. Her only thoughts now for the small child that might be near and hurt. The blood had come from somewhere.

    Jennifer tried to think about her run-in had she missed something. She couldn’t remember seeing anything but she had not been paying attention. “HELLO, HELLO she yelled! Is anyone hurt?” She jogged back and forth twenty yards in either direction centering on the shoe. Continuing her mantra every couple of feet. “HELLO is anyone hurt? Can you hear me?” Every time she passed the slipper her anxiety rose another notch until she was in a full blown panic again. Heart drumming out of her chest. She could feel that bubble again rising in a slow deliberate crawl. SLOW DEEP BREATHS she forced through clenched teeth.

    Her heart pounding in an almost insane cadence as a mundane thought washed over her brain in an oddly calming manner. Her watch must have broken in the fall. She had not been alerted when her heart rate had dropped afterwards. In a moment of strange normality considering the circumstances, she raised her left arm to check how bad the damage was. It was at that moment that she heard it. A small mewling sound so quiet that if she had been breathing any harder it would have disappeared in the crashing beat of her heart and the rush of her breath.

    Jennifer held her breath willing her heart to quiet. Tilting her head from left to right trying to tune in the sound like an old fashion radio dial searching for that far away station.

    The minute sound seemed to be coming from a small hollow a few hundred feet to the left of the road, but she couldn’t be sure. Calling out again, she hoped for any response. “IF YOU CAN HEAR ME CALL OUT AGAIN SO I CAN FIND YOU”................. Seconds passed ........nothing........a full minute. She pushed back tears and called again..”HONEY PLEASE IF YOU CAN HEAR ME YOU HAVE TO MAKE A SOUND SO I CAN FIND YOU! It was hard, but she tried to keep the rising panic out of her voice. The last thing this poor hurt kid needed was a freaked out adult. Holding her breath, she strained to hear anything! The burn in her lungs had reached and uncomfortable level when the tiny voice sounded out. help me, please.. help.

    Her heart thrilled with Joy! She wanted to cry out in triumph. Quickly she checked her exuberance to answer. I HEAR YOU!

    She had been right the little voice had been below her to the left. Without thinking, Jennifer plunged down the slope skimming between the trees. Her feet slid unceremoniously on the bed of evergreen needle that lined most of the forests in the area. She hit the ground with a solid thunk. Landing on her behind she slid down the drop a few feet and skidded to a slow stop. Her pride being her largest wound she gained her feet and continued her downward trek more slowly.

    The bottom of the hollow was cool and dark compared to the road. “I’M RIGHT HERE. CAN YOU HEAR ME OR SEE ME?”

    No Answer.

    “HELLO?” “CAN YOU ANSWER ME?”

    Still no answer, had she gone the wrong way? She knew sound could play tricks on you in the woods. Should she go back to the road and try from there again. First came the sound then the feeling soft rain began to fall. “s**t” She would try one more time and then it was back to the road.

    “HELLO”, she yelled! “I’M STILL LOOKING FOR YOU. CAN YOU SEE OR HEAR ME?” Holding her breath after speaking seemed second nature already.

    Yessss.

    When the little voice spoke behind her she almost screamed. Spinning on her heel, she found a small waif of a child standing in a dirty wet dress. Her hair hung in big chunks covering much of her face. The tiny thing was bone thin. Jennifer couldn’t make out the child's face in the gloom. The sky had darkened as the rain moved in and little light pierced the canopy overhead.There had been a lot of blood on the shoe for one so small. She moved to check her body for injuries. She was icy to the touch. Jennifer wrapped her warm hands around the icicle-like fingers.

    A low guttural hiss escaped the rail thin urchins lips as a shudder shook her tiny body. The sound unnerved Jennifer. “ are you...ok... she stammered in an almost nervous giggle as the sudden fear and urge to run almost overwhelmed her.

    Thunder rumbled deep overhead and lightning crashed a moment later. In that brief moment, the bolt lit the sky Jennifer knew why her mind had somehow known to run. She saw the child a look of primal hunger in the black pits that hung below her alabaster brow.. Even more disturbing her once obscure face shown awash in light like that of a porcelain doll. A moment of pure joy cracked the flawless features of the creature before her. Jennifer wept at the sight of its twisted maw.

    Lighting struck again and the world turned white.