Waiting

By Joe Doherty

I’m waiting at night outside my mum’s house all alone, waiting for her to arrive. I can hear the rustling of trees, the echo of hooting from owls. I can see movement and hear strange noises coming from the near by forest. The trees seems to be talking. Leaves are swaying from side to side and something touches my shoulder. It’s only a falling leaf from the tree. I take a deep breath still waiting fro my mum to come back. I can still hear the leaves, I take steps toward the forest but there’s nothing to see but darkness. The only light I have is the light from my phone, and the little light reflected off the house from the moon. I look up and see the beautiful sky full of stars with a full moon, when I hear the howl of a wolf.
In the distance I can see the flashing of car lights but not my mum’s car, maybe some neighbours. The engine stops, there’s no noise, just silence and darkness. I’ve been waiting over an hour now, and there’s no signal on my phone. I stand in there cold and worried. The wind gets stronger as there is a loud rustling sound in the dark trees. There’s a sudden bite on my neck and I swing around but all it is is a little fly. I can smell the cooking of a barbeque and my belly starts to rumble and there’s the sweet smell of a storm coming. I look up to the sky as the stars are disappearing and the moon goes behind a dark cloud. Minutes later I feel a dribble of rain and hear a roar of thunder as a beam of light soars from the sky. I have had enough, so I go into the forest to look for her.