Into the Woods

I have been working night shift at a 24 hour supermarket for the past 4 years. I would start work at 9 p.m at night and end at 3 a.m in the morning, after which I would have to drive half an hour back home. At this time of the day, there aren’t many customers, so i was left to do this shift by myself. This day, at 2 a.m in the morning, a woman walked into the store with a crying baby wrapped up in a towel. The baby cried nonstop and I could tell the woman was exhausted from trying to calm the child down. She grabbed an energy drink off the shelves and paid for it, leaving without a word. I felt bad for her. Out at 2 a.m with a crying baby and no one around to help her. The clock struck 3 a.m and I packed up my bags and left for home. While driving home, my phone buzzed and I received a Youtube notification from my favourite youtuber and decided to stop my car by the roadside next to a forest to watch the video. Suddenly, i heard a knock on my window and i looked out to see the same woman who walked into the store just now. She looked panicked and signalled for me to lower my window. I did so. “Please help! My baby is injured in the woods and I need someone to help me call an ambulance! Come with me!” she begged. I stared at her face for a second. Something about it seemed off. Different. She looked lifeless and drained, unlike the person I saw in the supermarket. I unwillingly followed. Something was amiss. I walked briskly behind her as she ran ahead and shouted at me to move faster. I did so and picked up my pace. I was running further and further into the forest. Trying to keep up, I tripped over some twigs. I quickly picked myself up, but the woman was nowhere in sight. In the near distance, I heard a faint sound of a crying baby. Relieved, I followed its cry. Soon, I was there and I knew it because the cry was unusually loud. I stopped in my tracks. Before me, I saw an old, rusty speaker with a towel wrapped around it, where the wailing was coming from. I looked around for the woman and there she was, on my right, standing with a knife in her hand, as she began to run towards me, aiming the knife in my direction. I ran faster than I ever had. “I knew it” I scolded myself in my head, making a straight beeline to my car. Thank goodness, my door was unlocked. I hopped in and drove off, full speed, hearing the horrifying screams from the woman fade off as I drove further away. “I WILL FIND YOU” I managed to pick up from all the yelling. I swear that till this day, i always hear that ‘baby’s’ cry in my head and whenever i hear another child cry, it does not sound that innocent anymore. Adele Yeo 3 Justice