Eyes of the Past

By Phil Le Couilliard

The creature looked at him and winked with both its tiny, obsidian eyes.   Through the bleariness of half sleep, William realised he had seen this thing in the shadows of his campfire’s flames before.  

Cold, unparalleled dread exploded down his spine as his reflexes reached for the well-worn blade laying with him beneath his threadbare blanket. As he lurched from his slumber, his blanket fell away from him as did his much needed sleep.  He stared beyond the dying flames, willing the creature to disappear as no more than a figment of his frayed subconscious.

However, to his consternation, far from disappearing, the creature recoiled in seeming fright at his sudden movement. It blinked again and again, wide black eyes fixed intently upon him. William guessed the creature stood no taller than three inches.  Grey damp skin was stretched over a thin frame of frail bones.  

Wide eyed, fearing to blink as he remained fixed on the creature, William rose slowly, keeping his weapon concealed. The cold memory of this creature was vague and long buried and yet William knew the last time he had seen it, his life had been changed.  

The feeling of dread had subsided, though it still lingered – toying with his fear. He peered more closely at the tiny face that surrounded the creature’s wide black eyes.  Its nose was little more than two slashes in its flat face above its thin-slitted mouth.  Rows of minute, sharp, serrated teeth appeared and disappeared as it smiled almost wickedly at him.

Realisation of this buried link to his past flooded through him; he had to know what the creature was.

Without removing his sight from the creature, William judged that by discarding his trusted blade he could snatch the creature if he were to dive directly across
the flames.  

Without further thought he found himself in mid-air over the fire, strong calloused hands outstretched reaching for more than just the thing itself, reaching for answers to long-buried questions.

Seemingly startled by his action the creature leaped into the air.  Flimsy, thin, leather-like wings appeared from behind its small body, keeping the creature comfortably a couple of feet from the hard-packed earth. William, however, his arms still out stretched, crashed down before the creature, which now hovered just out of his reach.  

As if unsure of what William intended, the creature seemingly winked once again with both its strange obsidian eyes.

Phil Le Couillard is a founding member of Docklands Writers.  For enquiries about joining the group, contact [email protected]