| T h e    S c a r e c r o w |

I remember it as if it was yesterday.

Me and my twin sister were having an 'adventure day'. 

Albeit being out in the world being our young ten year old selves seems quite foolish, some of you may question where our parents were? Well it's simple really, they were doing their usual fighting which resulted in someone getting hurt (by my fathers heavy hand.).

He was a brutal man and I took it upon myself to protect my sister by leaving the home.

We had no ideas where we were or where we were going but at least we had each other.

I held onto my sisters tiny hand as we wondered aimlessly around the dark streets of our quaint town.

"Brother, where are we going?" My sister asked in her quite voice.

I looked down at my twin sister and shrugged, I had no clue where we were.

I looked around and saw the cornfields which was just up ahead. Just by seeing this made me sigh in relief, seeing something other than these tall trees made me relieved.

I quickly hurried my paces as I dragged my sister behind me.

"Brother, what are you doing?" My sister questioned.

I slightly turned to looked at her worried face, "I'm finding us a safe place to rest for the night."

I then turned back around and stopped just outside the cornfields boarder, "will we get lost in here?" My sister asked.

I shook my head, "not as long as we stick together."

And with that said, I moved my first foot into the cornfield; my foot was now completely engulfed.

I turned back around to my sister but I didn't look at her, I looked just behind her.

In the distance I saw two headlights which were growing wider and wider, indicating that it was coming nearer. In fear that it was my father, I quickly grabbed my sisters hand and engulfed both of us into the cornfields shield.

The silence was the only thing evident as I watched the car drive by, on closer inspection it didn't seem like it was my fathers car but I wasn't going to step out of the cornfield just incase it was.

As the car drove by, I let out a breathe which I didn't know I was holding.

I turned around and started to panic, my sister was gone.

On instinct I started to run further into the cornfield screaming my sisters name, hoping she heard my cries.

After a while I became fatigued, so I initially stopped and took a moment to breathe as well as looked around me.

Fear had clearly made itself known as it started to envelop my being.

I was scared and alone; stranded somewhere in a cornfield.

My whole system wanted to shut down as darkness now started to encircle me, creating my already small space become even smaller.

I let tears slide as I continued to weakly call out my sisters name.

I had given up on running and just sat down, holding my legs close to me as I cradled back and forth. Where did my sister go?

I let out more sobs; I'm all alone!

However I stopped for a few moments when I heard an ear shattering scream.

I quickly stood to my feet and started to run in the direction of the screams and cries.

Glee started to overtake me, I might just find my sister.

I was so young, so naive; I didn't even correlate that what I was hearing were cries and screams, meaning whoever this person was was having  pain inflicted upon them.

I just absentmindedly ran towards where I heard the cries for help.

I ran and ran until the screams just stopped.

I looked around me and started to panic again.

"Hello?" I called out, trying to reach whoever this person was.

Silence.

So, I tried again, "hello?" And again, silence.

I walked around the area and tried to figure out where that voice came from.

And then I stopped.

Right before me I saw my sister lying on the floor of what I thought was jam, so I knelt down and shook my sister; I thought she just fell asleep in a pile of jam.

"Wake up sis!" I said happily.

But she didn't wake up.

"Sis?" I asked more concerned.

She still didn't awake which alarmed me.

For the first time I looked at her body and gasped. 

She seemed to have claw marks all over her body, blood still gushing out of the fatal wounds.

Tears started to slide again, my sis wasn't lying in jam; she was lying in blood.

She was lying in a pool of her own blood.

"Pesky rodents on my property again!" A haunting voice said from behind me.

I slowly turned around and saw a silhouette of what seemed to be a scarecrow; the moon eliminating just behind it.

I shook my head, scarecrows can't speak- that's just silly!

"I'm gonna teach you a lesson." The dark voice said which made me slightly cower in fear.

Then, as if on cue a group of crows swooped down and encircled me.

The scarecrow then let out two haunting words, "get him!"

Within seconds I found myself being pushed down to the floor.

The silhouette of the scarecrow now started to approach me.

I squirmed around as the crowd held me down; I don't exactly know how I was being held down by crows, but I somehow was.

Anyway, the scarecrow stopped and loomed over me; which made me involuntarily gulp.

I was now petrified.

The scarecrow then pulled something out into the moons light, the object shines brightly as it formed a somewhat knife shape (however now that I'm older, I am aware that it was a machete.).

I twisted and turned in the crows hold and let out sobs, I don't want to die!

However my twisting and turning made things worse. Blood now started to seep out of my arms as the crows dug their long claws deeper into my now red coated skin.

I let out a scream of pain before I felt everything go black.

I can't quite explain the feeling but I knew I had now left my body.

I looked down at my body from above and saw my eyes were closed and I wasn't moving; I was covered in the jam like substance, like my sister was.

Saying that, I turned and didn't see my sister. Where did she go?

As I turned around, I came face to face with the haunting face. Two black pebble like eyes seeped into my soul.

The scarecrow held onto my shoulder and smiled an ire smile, "Another child soul for my collection."

And just like that, everything went white.

I don't know how long I was out for but I awoke in the cornfield. I was in some sort of limbo.

I would walk around everywhere but I couldn't find my sister, I couldn't find anyone.

I had called out countless times but no one would come to my aid.

I was alone.

Afraid.

Stranded.