Eugene and Casper
Chapter Six: Magic Mountain
They'd been walking through the woods for hours, trudging over hills and through dried-up streams. After a short while the underbrush started getting thick and tangled. With a wave of Milagro's hand, however, the briars and thorns and thistles all curled back away from them as they approached. Eugene briefly thought of Moses and the Red Sea, but the comparison seemed hardly appropriate. Most of the time Eugene thought of Yinks and the spiders. He said nothing. Milagro didn't seem to care, either.
They reached the edge of the woods and came out onto a knoll. Grass had once covered it, but now most of it was gone and the rest was dead, like a bald head.
"You wait here," said Milagro. He released control and Eugene collapsed to the ground. "Don't try anything." And with that he disappeared into the woods, but he left the dogs behind in a circle around Eugene.
In the other direction stood a solitary mountain. Its grim crags seemed to frown at Eugene somehow, and the white peaks felt unbearably harsh and cold, even from this distance. Then Eugene noticed something odd: if he looked hard enough, he could see details on the mountain as if he was looking through binoculars. When he blinked and glanced at the dogs, they were out of focus for a moment and then with a blur they became sharp again.
When he tried to stand up, the dogs began growling and hissing, so he quickly sat back down again and started examining the mountain. After a few minutes he noticed a narrow, winding path leading steeply up the face. It disappeared into a cave at one point, but farther up he thought he caught sight of it again.
His gaze drifted up to the summit. Lots of snow. And...no, could it really be him? Casper was standing there, waving desperately to catch his attention. It couldn't be. He was just imagining it, he told himself. He looked down at the dogs and then back up at the summit. Casper was still there. Eugene timidly waved back. Casper gave a weak smile and reached into his pockets, pulling out a crumpled piece of paper. Before he could flatten it out, however, Eugene saw him look behind him as if he'd heard someone approach. When he turned back again, his eyes were wide and confused. He dropped to his knees and quickly dug up some of the dirt, dropping the paper in and covering it back up again. He groped around on the ground, found a rock, and put it on top of the paper. Then he stood up and mouthed the words, "Help!" Goosebumps erupted all over Eugene. One of the huge spiders crawled up behind Casper. It raised one of its legs and touched him, and instantly he disappeared. Gone, just like that.
A twig-snapping sound from the woods behind him spun him around. The dogs began howling loudly. More noises. And then Eugene's stomach filled with caterpillars. Spiders. Lots of them, coming from all parts of the wood, creeping up slowly. The dogs were pacing around Eugene, their hair all bristly and theirs ears pointed straight up. When the first wave of spiders reached the edge of the wood, they charged.
To be continued...
