“Rope Duty”
Author’s Note: This is a Take Ten to Write story and has not been proofread for errors. If I feel inspired or if there’s interest in the story, I’ll post a revised, edited, and extended version at a later date. Happy reading!
I point to the other side of the island.
“There!” I exclaim. “Didn’t you see that?!”
Greg rushes to my side and peers over the water, shading his eyes from the sun. “There’s nothing there, Riley,” he says, his voice tinged with annoyance. “That’s the third time today that you’ve called me over for no reason. You know what that means.”
I groan. “Seriously, Greg, I swear I saw something. It was tall and dark and covered with fur. A bear, maybe, or a giant panther.”
Greg lets out a disgusted sigh and turns away. “Rope,” he snaps. “Now.” As he walks away through the sand, he mutters, “A bear… right… stinking island…”
I drag my feet as I return to camp. Julia shoots me a sympathetic glance as I pick up the pocket knife.
“I swear, there’s something else on this island with us,” I say.
“I know, sweetheart,” Julia says soothingly. “Don’t mind Greg. He’s just having a bad day.”
“Every day’s a bad day for Greg,” I mumble, but I trudge into the jungle nonetheless.
As I get deeper into the trees, I begin slicing at the vines. Rope duty is just the worst. I can’t believe I let Greg talk me into that stupid deal. Three strikes and it’s rope duty? What a pathetic excuse to get rid of me. For all I know, he could be lying about not seeing anything just so that he can have a few moments of peace while I endure torture in this stupid jungle.
The sound of a twig snapping behind me makes me pause. It’s probably just some wild creature, like a boar or a snake, but I still freeze and listen.
More snapping. That can’t be a small animal. It’s making way too much noise.
I turn slowly, my knuckles white around my knife. A shadow blocks all the sunlight. My eyes slowly move upward.
I scream.
Final Comments: I feel like I could’ve made the first person POV more descriptive and gave the protagonist more characterization. I also really wish I could be on that beach right now (minus the scary unknown monster thing of course…).
Overall Rating: 🤔
