Submission (#6579) Approved

Rumors are a beast that spread like wildfire. From the smallest of mistakes, to the largest of discoveries, it is an insatiable monster that stops for no Terralien. And with the most recent rumors, things have gotten worse. Rumors of a spaceship crashing into Terrah, rumors of a beast roaming the forest depths: it was something that felt as if it was pulled straight out of a fairy tale.

Such rumors that the curious Blip was all too interested in.

“Go into the woods at night!” they said. “You can’t do it, you’re too scared!” they said. Such simple words rattled Blip to their core, not wanting to be seen as a coward. The terra carefully stepped into the woods, the soft grass brushing up against their legs. The coos and cries of the nightlife echoed as Blip continued to venture down the woods until suddenly, the sounds of the woods vanished. The silence was deafening. Blip stopped walking, taking a quick glance around the woods. They wanted to scream, they wanted to run. Yet they had to continue onwards, they couldn’t be seen as a coward. The cautious Terra ventured further and further, until they felt something swipe next to them. Blip turned around, struggling to recognize what or who had been following them.

Then, there was another swipe. It wasn’t until the third swipe did Blip try and grab at whatever was at them. They managed to grab a large, rope-like vine. Carefully, the Terra navigated their paws up the vine until snap! A large mouth tried to take a good bite out of their paw! Snap! A second large mouth went at them afterwards! The terra quickly backed away from the creature, running as fast as their little legs could take them. They stumbled and scrambled, bumping into various bushes and trees alike, until wham! The poor Terra tripped onto a branch, before being face to face with another one of these monstrous creatures. The Terra backed away, too frightened to scream for help, until they picked a path and ran. They ran past the darkened emerald trees and ran past the rugged rocks. They ran past the sounds of insects buzzing and nighttime life howling. They ran past the plants as they narrowly nipped at their hooves, and it wasn’t until they saw the glow of the moonlight did they slow their pace.

The poor terra scrambled out of the woods, but not before looking back one more time. They won’t forget about this otherworldly rumor.

(Word count: 420)