There was a brief silence between the two of them. The wind blew a chill through the forest, washing over Dale and the girl as he looked up at a face smiling down.
It's was human at first glance but had features that reminded him of a cat.
A cat with a smile, dale thought to himself.
"So what will it be? Entertain me, and I'll bring your lady friend back to life," said the girl.
"What are you?" Said Dale, returned to his feet
"What am I? Can't you tell I'm a girl! You never saw a girl before, silly"?
He wasn't sure if she was toying with him or if she was that innocent, 'was it a facade?' Thought Dale.
"I know that... A normal girl wouldn't say the things you say. Plus those eyes-" the girl's eyes were much larger than an average human's, and Iris took up the entire eye and glinted gold in the pale moonlight.
"So I ask you again, what are you?"
"My eyes… you don't like my eyes? I love my eyes! They let me see all the things I love to watch. If anything, your eyes are the bad ones. I don't know how you see all the things worth seeing with those small little eyes-" she leaned in close as she spoke and regarded his eyes closely.
Though she was much smaller than him, the closeness only coming up to his chest made him feel uneasy.
"Guess that's why you couldn't see me when I ran past earlier. I thought you would have caught me for sure and put my fun to an end. But you didn't even look my way. Must be because you have those small little eyes," she giggled to herself.
A new chill ran through Dales' body as he thought about the girls' last statement.
"When did you run past me"? He asked
"Hmmm, a little before you laid your dead old lady friend's body down to kiss it… oh and then after when I jumped down from the tree."
Dale thought hard on his time walking through the woods up to this point. He tried to remember if he had seen anything that resembled the girl before while he was moving.
Traversing the forest during the night came with the occasional jumping shadows. But as much as he tried to sort what was a trick of the eye from what was real, he couldn't.
She continued, "I came down here because I thought you would be fun, but it turns out you're like most people. Bor-ing"
Dale was still left speechless from her earlier comments. Throughout his childhood, he had heard countless tails of monsters lurking in the wood, ready to pop out and attack the unwary who found themselves alone at night. Such stories used to give him nightmares and keep him in at night. Now, as a grown man, such things seemed silly to him.
He had spent countless nights camping under the night sky. But now, the thought crossed this mind. The idea that this little girl...this thing may be one of those fabled "lurkers in the night." If that was so, why would he only be seeing one now? He thought.
"Well, if you're going to just stand there like a lump on a tree, then I'll just go and find something interesting elsewhere."
"Wait!" Yelled Dale as she could turn her back on him.
"Can you bring her back? I mean earlier, you said you could bring her back to life."
"...Something like that. But it will cost you," said the girl.
"Cost me what?" If we were dealing with a fabled monster, his guess was payment in his soul or a firstborn child. The encounter and thoughts seemed surreal to him now, but if there were a chance he could bring the woman he loved back to the living, he would have to take it. Though strange-looking, this little girl is still a little girl. Whatever she takes, I can take back by force, he thought to himself.
The girl tilted her head slightly and looked at him, a bit confused, before answering.
"As I said, I want you to entertain me."
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