DOG CALLED BO

“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