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Fiction Short Story

Judy L. Forney

Important Things

"Matt wait…" Mark flops down onto the sand to catch his breath.

"Do you want to tell Mom we've lost him?" I ask.

Mark throws me a worried look as I pull him to his feet. We continue trudging after flashlight beams up and over the dunes. A night bird calls. Mounds of sand muffle the sound of the surf.

"You shouldn't always tease him," Mark says. "Mom agreed to this camping trip because we promised to stick together."

"You tease him too. Anyway, if Tom were a movie, he'd be titled 'Curse of the Little Brother'."

"What if he's... "

"He's not hurt," We climb to the top of a dune. "He's just hiding. Playing Invisible Man

"Tom... Hey, Tom!" Mark shouts. "We give up!"

"Yeah, we give up!"

Bellowing in answer, the salt spray voice of the ocean fills my ears. I turn my back against the gusting wind, shining my flashlight in wide circles. Nothing moves in the dark. A shiver shudders and rolls up my spine.

"Listen to the waves crash," Mark says. "I wish we were back at camp."

"Yeah, let's split up. We'll find him faster. I'll go... Oh!" I trip, tumbling to the bottom of the dune.

"You all right?" Mark calls, shining a light down.

Coughing, I spit a mouthful of sand. "Twisted my ankle."

Mark slides down the dune, the flashlight in his back pocket bouncing crazy patterns off the sand.

"I found your sandal," Mark says, holding up a shoe.

"We better find my other one," I point to two bare feet. "My ankle hurts."

"Should I get Mom?" Mark asks.

"No. We're probably going to get into enough trouble. Thanks to Tom-the-monster."

"You know, I bet Tom thinks he's doubly cursed. Two monsters for brothers." I glare at Mark. "Are you forgetting the Mummy Walks tape? Tom let the VCR eat it."

"We did pay him back," Mark points out.

"Yeah. Toilet paper wraps a pretty convincing mummy. Especially after lights-out," I say, smiling.

Mark grins, "Hearing Tom holler was almost worth giving up monster movies for a month..."

"... And pulling bathroom cleaning duty."

"Tom gave up movies too," Mark reminds me.

"I know, and he did help with the cleaning," I admit.

Mark holds out a hand to help me up, "We better get moving. Find Tom and your other shoe."

"O.K., let's go…ouch!" I sit back down on the sand, rubbing my ankle.

"I can't drag you back up by myself."

"Yeah, I... shhh... listen…"

"What... "

Eee-I-yeeee. Eee-I-yoooo…

An eerie wailing howls with the wind. Mark's eyes widen in fear. Sudden dust lumps in my throat. I can't swallow.

Eee-i-yeeee. Eee-i-yoooo...

I flash my light up into the darkness topping the sand dune, dreading what lurks in the night.

Eee-I-yeeee. Eee-I-yoooo...

"... I'll help too!" Tom jumps up, arms waving wildly, and takes a running slide down the dune. "Even though you guys don't deserve it."

"We knew it was you," I say, breathing again.

"Sure. I didn't scare you guys at all," Tom says, rolling his eyes.

"Monster!" I hurl a handful of sand, trying not to crack a smile.

Tom grins and kicks a cloud of sand back, unearthing the buried sandal.

"Look. We've cured the missing sandal curse," Mark says, holding a flashlight under his chin and eerily illuminating his face, "but let's get out of here before anything else jumps out of the dark."

I shine my flashlight back to the crest of the dune, swallowing remnants of the desert in my throat. Tom's gaze follows the beam of light. Mark stares at me, eyes widening again for a second. The three of us look at one another then begin to laugh.

"O.K. you monsters," I say, "help me back to camp."

When the light from our campfire comes into view, Tom races ahead swinging my sandals in the air, yelling for Mom's attention.

"Matt twisted his ankle," Mark says as he helps me into camp.

"It feels better now," I say, sitting on a log close to the fire.

"I was getting worried," Mom says, kneeling to examine my ankle. "You guys been playing together this whole time?"

I look at Mark and Tom. They look at Mom.

"Well, actually..." I begin, not really minding that we'll probably miss another month of movies.

When I finish the story Mom smiles, "I guess the important thing is..."

"If you've got to live with monsters," I say, winking at Mark and Tom, "they might as well be brother-monsters you can count on."

Judy L. Forney
juluforney@aol.com

Judy L. Forney is a writer from Kennewick WA. She shares a home with her husband, three teenage boys, and a garage band. Judy is a student at WVU, and an associate member of WA./ID. chapter of SCBWI