Lions, Tigers and Zombie Squirrels - Oh my!

So once upon a time I was really bored so I wrote a story about zombie squirrel's modeled off a friend's real life experiences. I wrote this at about 1 in the morning so pardon the suckish ending. Enjoy! Or not, really, it's up to you.

Once upon a time in a land far far away there was a lovely maiden named Jenniez from the Block. Jenniez from the Block was a smart, able bodied woman who had penchant for changing scummy ponds into beautiful pools of crystalline water. Jenniez from the Block was a very dedicated recreational worker: her pools of water were known to be the cleanest in the land and she took immense pride in her work, lords and ladies from kingdoms far and away begged her to work on their landscapes - however, Jenniez from the Block declined them all as she only worked on her pools of water. Jenniez from the Block was peculiar in this way.

However, one day, Jenniez from the Block was strolling along a beautiful path in the forest: oak trees, flowers, bushes as far as the eye could see. On this particular day Jenniez from the Block was distracted: a distressing event had happened the prior day, one which shook the very core of her being. A squirrel, a poor innocent creature, had drowned in her pool. She thought, 'how could such a dreadful thing happen? Surely squirrels are God's creatures too'. As Jenniez from the Block walked along the lovely forest path, she noticed an odd creature darting to and fro: as if it were following her.

Immediately chills shot down Jenniez from the Block's back: she had many childhood experiences in which seemingly innocent creatures attacked her mercilessly. Her pace quickened, along with her heart beat; her mind raced furiously. The clouds suddenly swelled, darkness enveloped her - the forest, a once calm place, suddenly became dark and menacing: a place where unfathomable nightmares could, and did, reside.

Jenniez from the Block began to run as fast as she could. However, despite being able-bodied, she was not a fast runner, nor did she have the endurance ideal for a situation such as this. Slowly but surely her pace slowed, yet she still headed into the dark abyss of the unknown.

The curious creature ran along side Jenniez from the Block, unbeknown to her: it darted to and fro, to and fro, to and fro.

After what seemed like a very long time, but in reality was only a few minutes, Jenniez from the Block was unable to continue; she collapsed dramatically to the forest floor, covering her dress in leaves and twigs. She gasped, trying to catch her breath, trying to muster up the strength that she would need in order to continue on, yet she could not.

The curious creature, seeing its window of opportunity, bounded ahead and situated itself directly on the path that Jenniez from the Block was traveling on. It stared at her, a venomous look in its eyes, one that clearly illustrated its desire to see Jenniez from the Block's demise.

It took a few moments for Jenniez from the Block to collect herself; no longer was she gasping for air, no longer was she sprawled out on the ground seemingly dying. Slowly energy seeped back into her muscles, slowly she gained the will to begin running, for her life, again. Gradually Jenniez from the Block stood up, carefully brushing off her dress. She looked directly ahead and felt her heart flutter a million beats per second.

The creature, the one staring at her, it looked so familiar to her. She inched closer and closer, focusing her eyes as best as she could, racking her brain for an idea of how she knew this creature.

The creature simply sat there. Its eyes unblinking and glazed over, a peculiar smell exuding from its rotting skin.

Jenniez from the Block moved closer still, fearful yet curious at the same time. Eventually, when she was within a mere foot of the creature, the atmosphere swiftly changed: black smoke billowed out from the creature, its size magnified tenfold, its eyes turned a deep blood red colour.

Jenniez from the Block shrank back: a sudden realization hit her, this creature, this horrifying creature, was the very same one that drowned in her pool earlier. Scared, she held her sweaty palms together in a quick prayer.

The creature, the ghost of the dead squirrel, clearly wanting to be avenged, bellowed, "Jenniez from the Block you are responsible for my death. It was your pool that I fell in, you failed to save me, you failed to add precautionary measures that would prevent an innocent death such as mine. You fail. Here me Jenniez from the Block, you are forever cursed. I will allow you once chance at redemption: one chance to change your ways, but only one. Never shall an innocent creature perish in your pool ever again: if you fail to meet this standard, an creature straight from the fiery depths of hell shall forever haunt you. Consider this your warning Jenniez from the Block, you have been told." An evil laugh, one that sent shudders down the entire forest's back, followed: it echoed, resonating down the path, getting louder and louder with each passing second.

With that, the intensity of the smoke surrounding the creature increased, swirling around Jenniez from the Block in such a ferocious manner she was sure that it would vacuum all the air from her lungs. Soon all she could see was darkness, she felt her grasp on Earth, on life, slipping away. Few conscious thoughts entered her mind as she fell to the hard forest floor once again.

Jenniez from the Block woke up with a start. Her eyelids fluttered as she frantically looked around the room, desperately trying to figure out her surroundings. The memory of what had happened in the forest still haunted her. Her breathing slowed, her heart no longer beat furiously in her chest: she recognized her surroundings, she was in her bed quarters.

Her hands ran up the scratchy linen sheets that lined her bed, her eyes devoured the sight of her silk nightgown. Once she became certain that she was indeed in her own rooms, her mind worked, trying to figure out what had happened. It was merely a dream she thought to herself, just a bad dream.

She chided herself, 'that's why I should not have cheese right before bedtime. No matter how good cheese is, it's simply not worth such realistic nightmares'.

Jenniez from the Block climbed out of her bed, grabbing her robe and slippers nearby, as she went outside to the castle grounds. As she stepped across the threshold, a sense of foreboding hung heavily in the air. She made her way to the pool, her stomach fluttering with butterflies: 'calm down,' she thought to herself, 'it was only a dream'.

The pool gleamed in the moonlight; the moon was unusually bright, and the reflections shimmered on the water. The stones that surrounded the pool were as perfectly placed as ever, creating an astounding visual effect. Jenniez from the Block walked slowly to the pool, with bated breath, just to make sure that no squirrels had fallen in. Her eyes searched the water greedily, afraid of what they would find, yet still wanting to find it anyway, however they saw nothing disturbing the pool.

A sigh of relief emitted from Jenniez from the Block's lips. She turned towards her castle, eager to resume sleeping, happy that she would not be haunted as the ghost had warned. On her way in, she conversed with her loyal guard of five years, Edgard, and instructed him to arrange shifts to watch the pool at night and ensure that no innocent animals met an untimely demise. ‘Better safe than sorry’, she thought to herself.

Edgard, amused by her request, gave her a strange look. However, it was not odd to receive questionable instructions from his master, as, despite her brilliance, she tended to be quite peculiar in many aspects. Edgard simply did what any other loyal servant would do, he followed her instructions and ensured that no innocent animals were harmed.

This arrangement lasted a few nights, Edgard made sure that no innocent creatures drowned, and Jenniez from the Block was not haunted by a creature from the depths of hell.

However, soon after Jenniez from the Block established the arrangement, she forgot about the ghost’s warning, and continued her life on as if everything was normal: she continued to design and create magnificent pools of water in her yard.

One night Jenniez from the Block dismissed Edgard from his duty of watching the pool; she had a craving for cheese, yet her stocks were depleted, so she tasked Edgard to make some for her. While Jenniez from the Block was waiting for her servant to finish, she stood calmly on the porch of her castle, looking contently at her outside creations.

The sight was a marvellous one indeed, as once again the moon was shining brightly, its reflections bouncing off the many pools of water she had created. The wind was calm, and the trees were only swaying gently, their leaving grazing the pools ever so slightly. Jenniez from the Block closed her eyes, took deep breaths and was thanking God that she was alive.

All of a sudden, she heard a splash sound made from far away. ‘How peculiar,’ she thought to herself, ‘whatever could that have been?’ Curious, Jenniez from the Block slowly made her way towards the direction that she heard the sound come from. Her pace was unhurried, and she continued to admire the scenery that surrounded her.

Eventually she reached a pool of water, similar to many others that she had passed, with one key difference: in this pool, a squirrel was lying on the bottom, dead. Upon seeing this dreadful sight, panic welled in her stomach: the memory of her ‘dream’ came rushing back all at once, knocking the breath out of her.

Jenniez from the Block frantically dove to the bottom of the pools, with the vain hope of being able to save the squirrel. Alas, despite several attempts of clumsy resuscitation, she could not save the innocent creature: her fate was sealed. Shaking, Jenniez from the Block made a small hole in the ground to bury the creature; she had hoped that by giving it a final resting place, that the ghost’s grisly warning would not come true.

Upon filling the clumsy hole, Jenniez from the Block uttered a prayer for the poor creature’s soul, and for her own - hoping that her actions would be enough to appease God, or, in this particular case, the devil. She turned away from the shallow grave, and began to walk the other way.

Jenniez from the Block had not even made it five metres away when the ground began shake furiously. The clouds instantly covered up the once gleaming moon, welcoming the dark abyss once again. As the ground shook, the trees began to uproot, the stones cracked, the ponds split: Jenniez from the Block’s paradise was ruined.

Jenniez from the Block wanted to run away, so badly she wanted to run away, yet her feet would not move. She stared at the sight of her oasis crumbling to ruins, too numb to have a thought in her head. The ground continued to shake and, right where she had just buried the squirrel, the ground began to split: a huge black arm rose out of the Earth, followed by a head and torso, and then the legs.

Jenniez from the Block stuttered in disbelief: the squirrel that she had just buried, rose again impossibly larger, looking much like the one she had saw in her ‘dream’, only bigger, more intimidating - before she could even begin to scream, the monster lunged and grabbed her.

And then swallowed her whole.

The End. :)