Page 27 - GINGER

“Listen carefully, Haanz. Listen.” Ginger shushed him and insisted.

Both of them froze to the ground, as they heard a barely audible but a frightening
enough sound.

It was his turn to hear now.

CLINK CLUNK it resonated. CLANK CLUNK and a few heavy thuds.. The air called for them
to turn around, and warned them in the same moment.

“You shouldn’t have!” A heavy low pitch voice gurgled angrily from a yet unseen face, but
what was to be seen first was a pair of huge hairy legs partly covered with withered
pants and accompanied with two clinking metal sticks.

This creature emerged from the direction of the land most dreaded and forbidden,
especially from Ginger. The one Wobbly had dutifully warned her of.

“GINGER..” The creature blurted with a tilted neck and the falsest tone of adoration.
“Welcome to my world!”, he announced almost laughing like a lion already proud of his
kill.

Haanz, Ginger, Wobbly and Pristly, everyone looked as the huge creature four times their
size appeared in front of them, with square rugged heavy browed face, half a metre
spiralling fingernails, and the sticks they held that clunked unnecessarily.

The sticks did not seem to make any sense either, his legs were anything but limp.

But only Ginger recognised, for the first time in her life, as the air cleared off her foggy
memory. She was breathing heavy, eyes wide open, unable to blink, to think, or feel. She
felt a fear so strong it consumed her and left her insides to ashes. There was no voice left
in her to speak, no thought in her brain to think.

Nothing but Haanz. “You do not belong here. This is not your world!” Haanz screamed,
that smelt largely of fear, but bluntly of protection.

“You prick! You found a way to your dreams!”

The creature said aimed at Ginger. “BAD DREAMS!!” He clarified bending to tease her.

“Ginger, Ginger run!” Everyone seemed to scream this in chorus to a still, statued Ginger
staring at him.

“Ginger!!” They had to shake her to wake her up.

“He’s my father.” A voiceless voice spoke.

“My real father.” She finally said.