Peter and I turned and ran along a line of tall bushes. I kept losing my balance and stumbling over the leafy ground.
I heard the thud of footsteps. Glancing back, I could see the tall insects leaping after us on their hind legs. Their wings were spread high above their backs. Their antennae fluttered and swayed wildly.
Eeh eeh eeh!
The shrill sound became their battle cry.
They were too tall. Too fast. No way could Peter and I outrun them.
“They — they’re going to catch us,” I choked out, running close behind my brother. “They’re going to wrap us both in cocoons.”
“No!” Peter shouted. He turned without warning and threw himself into a bush.
In seconds, he disappeared. Pushed his way to the other side.
I glanced back. The giant insects came running toward me. They reached out their spindly front legs, ready to grab me.
I knew I had only seconds to act.
I turned to the bush. So thick. I couldn’t find an opening.
The thread over my hands was unraveling. I tugged at it. It was amazingly strong.
I had a crazy idea. Frantically, I pulled off a length of the thread. With a desperate heave, I tossed one end to the top of the bush.
I got lucky. It caught.
As the insects closed in, I took a running leap at the bush. And gripping the thread in both hands, I swung myself out of their grasp. I landed on the top of the bush — and dropped to the other side beside my brother.
Peter jumped back, startled.
We both stood there, hiding behind the solid row of bushes. Inside the insect mask, my face was drenched in sweat. My whole body tingled. Patches of sticky webbing clung to my arms and chest.
Would the ugly mantises come leaping through the bushes?
If they did, they would capture us. Peter and I were too winded to run anymore.
I listened hard. Listened for their tapping footsteps, their eeh eeh eeh chirp.
But no. Silence.
I stared through the eyeholes of the mask. I felt cold all over. Pure, cold dread.
But still … silence.
I turned — and gasped. I blinked several times, trying to focus my eyes.
Then I grabbed Peter by the shoulder and spun him around. “Look,” I said. “Peter — where are we? The trees are gone. We’re not in the woods. Where has everything gone?”
“It — it’s so dark,” Peter murmured. “So totally dark.”
We were standing nowhere.
I mean, there were no trees. No houses. No moon in the sky.
No sky.
I couldn’t see the ground we were standing on.
I spun around. The long row of bushes was gone. Just the inky darkness everywhere.
My ears rang from the silence. A deep hush all around.
“Peter,” I whispered, “I don’t … like … this.”