Skip to main content

DOG CALLED BO

Image
SANGEETHA KAMATH

“Yoo-hoo! Here boy! Bo! Where did you disappear to now, you lil furry brat!”

“Do you think he's fine, Ethan? I'm not having a good feeling about this. Usually he comes bounding up to us as soon as we call him.”

“Can you not panic, Jezel? I'm sure he's alright. Must have chased a wild hare deep into the forest and may be out of hearing. C'mon, let's keep calling him.”

The woods which usually looked welcoming and enchanting didn't look too inviting at this time of the day, with the trees casting long, sinister shadows and strange sounds echoing through the slow rising mist.

Jezel and Ethan couldn't possibly abandon their pet dog in the wilderness and mustering every inch of courage, they wade through the thickets and meander through the clumps of swelling bushes. 

Whistling and calling out yielded no sign or response from Bo. 

It was past sundown and the light was fast fading, 

“We should hurry back. We can return in the morning for Bo, Ethan…I don't think it's a good idea to wander further lest we lose our way back.”

“Are you out of your mind? Leave without Bo? Never! Bo! Bo! Come here right now else we're leaving without you!" 

Ethan finally agrees that Jezel is right and they should head back. They're just about to turn around when they both jump out of their skins, their hearts pounding.

"Did you call for me? Here I am! Tell me…"

Jezel and Ethan stop in their tracks, petrified, as they hear an unfamiliar voice ring out at close quarters but there was no one in sight.

Gathering his bearings first, Ethan shields his sister while putting on a brave front. Standing his ground, his voice comes out slightly more than a whimper, " Who are you? Where are you? Show yourself!"

"Here I am", hisses a tree next to them. My name is Bo. And whoever comes into these woods and calls my name is forever mine and can never leave."

“We weren't calling out for you, whoever you are. We're in no mood for pranks.We want our pet dog.”

“He's not your dog. We, the Dryads, send him to children, to stay with them, gain their trust and lure them here. Now you can't leave.’'

Outstretching his wraith like branches, the tree captured the children in a stranglehold. The hollow in his trunk widened as he crammed the screaming and writhing children inside. 

The hollow in the tree seals shut and the woods are shrouded in silence engulfed in the now rolling thick fog.

Jezel and Ethan were  never seen again!

****

“Oh look there! A beagle outside our gate. Poor critter looks lost and homeless. Pa, can we keep him?”

The children squeal in delight when they're allowed to keep him. 

“What shall we name him?”

The beagle's eyes gleams ominously at the same time as the children excitedly and spontaneously shout “Bo!”

©️ Sangeetha Kamath 

Pic Courtesy :Image by StockSnap from Pixabay

Labels:

Comments

  1. Srivalli RekhaApril 4, 2024 at 1:31 PM

    Ohh, a creepy story today! Fab twist and love how the tree comes alive. Superb!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

CHAPTER 1: THE JADE SHAMBHALA

SANGEETHA KAMATH
This post is Chapter 1 of short story series titled The Jade Shambhala. Tasseography is as old as time. The stories in the tea leaves will leave you in a spin, while the healing tea that precedes it anchors you like gripping oak roots. Every day for the next seven days, Xiu-Ying will welcome a new traveler seeking refuge from their heavy burdens, reading their futures in the settled leaves and guiding them toward peace as the seasons shift on the ridge. Welcome to The Jade Shambhala Tea House!                               CHAPTER 1                            EARLY SPRING  Ko-San Tê Bai Mudan (White Peony and Red Dates) The morning mist in the rolling hills of the 1980s Taiwanese countryside did not rise; it dissolved, burning away into thin silver threads under the persistent warmth of the early spring sun.  The Yun-Shan Ridge grew f...
2 comments
Read more

QUEST FOR THE BEARS (DAY 18, LETTER Q)

SANGEETHA KAMATH
                      CHAPTER 17             QUEST FOR THE BEARS  The next day, the pigs trotted off to spread mischief in the woodland, their ricky-ticky steps scuffing the damp path into a mess of overturned leaves and broken twigs. Goldwynn stayed crouched behind the wonky rain barrel until the sound of their pig-trouble thinned, then thinned again, then dissolved into the larger quiet of the trees. She didn’t move right away. The woods had a way of listening after the pigs left, as if it wasn’t sure they were truly gone. The air held its breath with her. When she finally stood, the silence felt heavier than noise. No birds called. The light came down in broken pieces, the sun playing hide-and-seek through beech and alder, dappling the forest floor with spools of pale gold. The ground under her boots was soft and cold, a black earth that smelled of truffles gone to rot and old rain. It stuck to ...
6 comments
Read more

THE BIG BAD WOLF( DAY 17, LETTER T)

SANGEETHA KAMATH
                          CHAPTER 16                    THE BIG BAD WOLF  The pigs snarled like proper rascals, fixing their cold steely eyes on the Wolf's cottage. How dare he refuse to part with his cottage! When the pigs demand, it's given to them---no questions asked! Porkinn limped, Baconne was soggy, Swinedell rubbed a sore bump on his head, but they were far from defeated. Swinedell snorted, a crooked grin spreading across his face. "Wolf thinks 'e's posh, don't 'e? " Baconne sniffed the air, his nostrils flaring. "We want the cottage!” He growled. Porkinn cracked his fingers, his sly glance darting about.  The pigs crept towards the back door, their footsteps silent on the soft grass. They spotted the Wolf through the kitchen window, stirring a pot of steaming stew for dinner. They kicked the door in, the wood splintering jaggedly. The latch gave in....
6 comments
Read more

RUTHLESS REVELATIONS (DAY 16, LETTER R)

SANGEETHA KAMATH
                            CHAPTER 15                RUTHLESS REVELATIONS The Three Little Pigs stood triumphant in the whimsical cottage's living room, surrounded by mismatched furniture and waltzing dust motes. Baconne , Porkinn , and Swinedell grinned at each other, puffing out their chests like gangsters. Baconne swaggered closer to the makeshift bar. "You know," he said, stroking his shoulder, "the Big Bad Wolf wasn't so bad after all, was he?" His grin split wide, showing a gold-capped tooth. The pigs snorted, their belly laughs vibrating the chandeliers above. Swinedell poured three tiny glasses of wild truffle liqueur with a theatrical flourish. "Cheers to us!" he growled, hoisting a glass. "We wanted his posh cottage for ourselves. Wolfie mutt was just defending his pad." His eyes glinted like cheap jewels. Goldwynn's face paled. She stammered as she whispered, " Wha...
4 comments
Read more

CHAPTER 2: THE JADE SHAMBHALA

SANGEETHA KAMATH
      This is a part of a short story series titled The Jade Shambhala. 7 days, 7 stories, 7 different exotic tea blends from the Far East and unique tea leaves reading for each. Welcome to the tea house!                             CHAPTER 2                      LUNAR NEW YEAR          Kim-huan Tê ( Golden Lily Oolong) The early spring air hanging over Sian-Phô village was heavy, smelling faintly of spent sulfur from the Lunar New Year firecrackers and the cold, sharp scent of wet pine needles.  Up on the Yun-Shan Ridge, the festive red lanterns hanging from the eaves of the low wooden cottages were damp and water-logged, their brilliant scarlet dye bleeding slowly into the persistent gray mountain mist. The holiday had just ended, and while the rest of the village was settling into the quiet hope of a new agricultural...
Post a Comment
Read more