And Just to Drive a Flock to Feed

After all, it isn't that bad.

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There was not a sound in the woods. Neither the whistle of the autumn wind nor the grunts and howls of the bears and wolves. There was just the rustling and crackling of the fallen leaves underneath our steps and the huffs and puffs of our breath filling the silence.

Mark, Ellie and I found ourselves amidst the slightly-barren trees after straying from the chores given by our grandmother. In our young eyes, tending to the chickens and cleaning the gardens were less important than our playtime.

Grandma doesn't really like us going near the woods, let alone into it. So my cousins and I have sneaked our boots into the house and crept out of the kitchen door while Grandma was having her nap upstairs. We were now trudging along the floor of the woods littered with orange and yellow leaves. It took a while to get across the woods to the meadow beyond, but the effort was worth it. Looking out to the vast expanse of the rolling green hills, our young hearts soared with the feeling of freedom.

A large abandoned red barn stood alone at the far end of the meadow where pine trees cut off the view of mountains capped with snow. There was our secluded playground where we explore and scavenge, tinker with the things we found and play hide-and-seek together.We have never entered the barn though. The doors were blocked from the other side and no matter how hard we pushed, they won't budge an inch. Scorch marks darkened the edges of the doors and window panes. A fire must have licked the place into ruins and caused the owners to leave.

It was not of our concern because the crisp early-autumn air and warm rays from the sun presented a perfect opportunity for us to stretch out in the grass and laze around among the leaves.

Baaa! A sudden noise jolted us from our idle chatter, the peace shattered by a bleat. We looked up to see where the sound was coming from. Dots of white were moving in the distance. Upon closer inspection, the dots were actually a flock of sheep. That was strange. Since we found this place a few months ago, nobody had ever came here. But alas our secret place was a secret no more.

A man wearing a brown vest and a patched newsboy cap was herding the flock into the meadow, the stick clutched in his hand drew the sheep together.

"Hey, can we ask him if we could pet his sheep? They look really fluffy." Ellie suddenly asked.

"Sure, why not?" I answered. "Look! He's coming here right now." I said, glancing at the shepherd and his bleating flock.

Ellie turned to her brother, "Marky, do you want to pet them too?" She had asked.

But no reply came.

I was puzzled as I turned to him. "Mark?"

"Marky, are you okay?" Ellie tugged at the sleeve of her brother's shirt.

He didn't speak and he didn't move. Mark stood there staring unblinking at the man and the sheep, his jaw dropped and his eyes wide. I stepped up to him anxiously, he was trembling.

"What's wrong, Mark!?" I raised my voice, hoped to get his attention by shaking him awake, but as soon as I touched his shoulder, he collapsed!

His little sister screamed! I was panicking! I did not know what to do when someone passed out all of a sudden!

"Oh my, he can see it, eh?" I started at the words. They belonged to the shepherd. When did he get here?

"See what!?" Ellie sobbed. Tears were threatening to spill from her eyes.

"What are you talking about?" I demanded in a cold voice, even though I was itching to run back home away from the unbearable situation.

"Nah, you ask your friend there yourself when he wakes up. Now you best get going. Don't want to leave him lying there, don't you?" He drawled. A strange look glazed over his twinkling eyes, almost like hope.

"Yeah..." I muttered as I hastily heaved my cousin up my shoulders.

Ellie, face scrunched up with worry, asked, "What are we going to do?"

"We'll just bring him back to Grandma and see if she can fix him." I gritted out through clenched teeth.

By the time we got back to the house, the sun was already set low in the sky. Grandma had quickly helped Mark into his bed and placed a damp towel on his forehead. Apparently he was struck with a fever. 

Although Grandma was furious when she saw us in the doorway, we could sense her distress after we told her what happened. "Maybe..." she mumbled. "Never mind, darlings. You two just wash up and eat your supper. I'll expect you to be in bed by 9." She curtly ordered. Tired, we nodded and proceeded to get some rest.

The following morning, my cousin told us what he saw. Grandma then contacted the authority to inform them of 'an urgent matter'. We had no idea what was going on. 

The police was outside the large abandoned red barn in an instant. After they broke down the doors, they inspected the inside of the barn. There they found charred remains of bones and wool, and something that suspiciously looked like a human skeleton clad in a brown vest and a patched newsboy cap. The detective confirmed that they were victims of a huge fire that broke out long ago.

We finally realised why Mark fainted that day. What he saw, was not a shepherd and his flock of sheep. What he saw, was a badly-burnt walking corpse and dozens of similarly damaged sheep carcasses. 

Reactions varied at the confession. Ellie had whimpered, "Oh, those poor sheep...".

I, on the other hand, was too shocked to form words. I did not even know what to think of the strange events that occurred.

All that I know was that we will never go near the barn again. My cousins and I will not even skip doing our chores anymore. After all, it isn't that bad.

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Notes: I wrote this by the river. I know, so poetic. But not really, I played with the water and got my notebook damp.

But hey here's a photo of my grandpa's neighbour's lamb:

[30/10/2015] EDIT: I wrote this in secondary school. I reread it and had to stop myself from cringing because of the many flaws. But hey it's fine, we learn from mistakes and get better :)