It was just after midnight when a young girl and her mother decided to walk through a quiet park. The night was cool, and the only sounds were the soft wind moving through the trees and their footsteps on the empty path.
The park was almost completely silent. There were no other people around. The girl held her mother’s hand as they walked together.
At first, everything felt normal.
Then a thin layer of fog began to spread across the ground.
“It wasn’t this foggy when we came,” the mother said quietly.
The girl looked around. “It’s kind of pretty.”
As they continued walking, the fog became thicker. Soon it covered the grass. Then it reached their knees.
The trees slowly disappeared into the white mist.
“I can’t see very far anymore,” the girl whispered.
Her mother squeezed her hand tighter.
“Let’s go back.”
But every direction looked the same. The path had almost disappeared under the heavy fog.
The air suddenly became cold.
Very cold.
The girl could see her own breath.
Without warning…
The ground beneath her feet cracked.
Before she could scream, the earth opened like a giant mouth.
She fell.
Her mother’s hand slipped away.
“Mom!”
The girl dropped into complete darkness.
She hit the ground hard.
Pain shot through her arms and legs.
For a few seconds she could not breathe.
Then she slowly stood up, crying.
“Mom!”
Her voice echoed through the darkness.
“Mom! Help me!”
Far above her, she noticed a small circle of light.
It looked like a tiny hole in the ceiling.
She could barely see her mother’s face looking down.
“My baby!” her mother cried. “Reach for my hand!”
The girl jumped as high as she could.
She stretched both arms.
But she wasn’t even close.
She tried again.
And again.
Every jump ended with her falling back onto the cold ground.
“No!” she cried. “Please!”
Her mother reached down as far as possible.
“I’m trying! Hold on!”
But the hole was too high.
Neither of them could reach the other.
The girl fell to her knees, crying harder.
Then…
She felt something cold brush against her ankle.
She froze.
Slowly she looked down.
Out of the darkness, a long, skinny black hand was wrapped around her foot.
Its fingers were unnaturally long.
Its nails were sharp like knives.
The skin looked burned and twisted.
The hand tightened its grip.
The girl screamed with all her strength.
She kicked wildly.
The hand let go.
She threw herself backward across the ground, breathing fast.
“No… no…”
For one second everything became silent again.
Then another hand appeared.
Then another.
Then another.
Dozens of black hands slowly crawled out of the darkness around her.
They moved like spiders.
Their long fingers scratched across the ground.
The sound echoed everywhere.
Scratch…
Scratch…
Scratch…
The girl backed away, but there was nowhere to run.
One hand grabbed her arm.
Another grabbed her shoulder.
Another wrapped around her leg.
Then more.
One by one, every part of her body was caught.
She fought with all her strength.
She kicked.
She screamed.
She cried.
“Mom! Please help me!”
Above her, her mother was screaming too.
“No! Let her go! Somebody help us!”
Her voice filled the night, but nobody answered.
The hands pulled harder.
The girl’s tears ran down her face.
She could barely move anymore.
The hands were too many.
Then the darkness beneath her began to move.
A thick black liquid slowly spread across the ground.
It looked darker than the night itself.
It bubbled quietly.
Cold mist rose from its surface.
From inside the liquid, two enormous black hands slowly reached out.
They were much bigger than all the others.
Each finger was as long as the girl’s leg.
Their sharp nails glistened in the faint light.
The giant hands grabbed both of her feet.
The girl screamed louder than ever before.
“No! Please! Mom!”
Her mother reached down, crying so hard she could hardly breathe.
“I’m here! Please hold on!”
The giant hands pulled.
Slowly at first.
Then harder.
The smaller hands helped drag her toward the black liquid.
The girl clawed at the ground with all her strength.
Her fingernails scraped across the hard stone.
She left long scratch marks behind.
But nothing stopped the hands.
Her body slipped closer.
The cold liquid touched her feet.
Then her legs.
Then her waist.
She fought until her arms shook with exhaustion.
She reached one last time toward the tiny hole above.
Toward her mother’s hand.
They were still impossibly far apart.
Their fingertips never touched.
The black liquid swallowed her chest.
Then her shoulders.
Her cries became quieter.
Finally, only one hand remained above the surface.
It slowly disappeared beneath the black liquid.
Everything became still.
The scratching stopped.
The bubbling stopped.
Silence filled the darkness.
Above, the tiny hole remained open.
The mother stared into it with tears running down her face.
“My daughter…”
No answer came back.
Only silence.
As the fog slowly covered the hole, even her cries disappeared into the night.
Any similarity to real people, living or dead, is purely accidental. This story is entirely fictional.
Writer : Alireza Hazareh
Before You Leave… Read This: The Laugh in the Shadows
