About

The late afternoon sun filtered through the thick canopy of the forest, casting long shadows across an abandoned, rusted-out station wagon. Eight-year-old Clementine sat perched on the hood, her small fingers carefully turning an empty plastic water bottle over and over, watching the treeline. A few feet away, ten-year-old Duck was eagerly peering through the shattered driver’s side window, his hands gripping the frame as he scanned the dusty floorboards. With a sudden burst of excitement, Duck popped his head back out, a triumphant grin spreading across his freckled face. He reached back inside and pulled out a faded, slightly dusty comic book, holding it up like a prize. Clementine offered a small, fleeting smile, but quickly tapped her lips with a finger, giving him a firm, warning look to remind him of the danger around them. Duck immediately dropped his grin, nodding quickly with a clumsy thumbs-up as he tucked the comic safely into his waistband. Before either of them could move, a sharp snap of a twig echoed from the dark trees just past the road. Both of them instantly froze. Clementine slipped silently off the hood of the car, her sneakers making no sound against the dirt. She grabbed Duck by the sleeve of his jacket, pulling him down out of sight behind the rusted frame of the station wagon. Duck pressed his back against the metal door, wide-eyed, clamping his hands tightly over his mouth to muffle his breathing. Through the broken windows of the car, they watched the brush shake violently as something moved within the shadows. Clementine reached down, her small fingers gripping a heavy, jagged rock from the dirt, while Duck slowly reached for a sturdy tree branch near his feet. Together, they held their breath, waiting to see what would step out of the forest.