The Creature

"RUN!" I screamed out in terror, as Poppy and I turned the corner onto my street at a full on sprint. "It's coming! It's coming!" Poppy shouted in return, as she pulled ahead of me, running faster than I could.

We ran as fast as we could, panting heavily as we raced for our lives.

     Suddenly, out of nowhere, I tripped on my own two feet like a loser, and fell, crashing down onto my stomach.

"Go on without me!" I screamed up to Poppy, being super dramatic. "Save yourself!"
"Okay!" Poppy yelled back to me almost instantly without even a second thought, as she continued running, not even looking back.

     "Poppy!" I yelled, glaring up at her, surprised that she had actually listened to me. "It's a figure of speech! Save me!"

     She stopped, blinking in confusion for a moment before realization finally kicked in.

     "Oh... okay," she said, quickly turning around, so that she could come back for me, helping me up to my feet. "Hurry up!" she demanded, beginning to run again, me following close behind.

"Quick! In here!" I yelled, as I passed her, opening my shed doors as quickly as possible. "We'll be safe..." But before I could even fully finish my sentence, Poppy pushed me out of the way, running into the shed before I could.

     After just a brief moment of shock, I quickly followed her inside, immediately shutting the door, before jamming my experimental hoverboard under the doorknob, so that it couldn't be opened from the other side.

We sat under the window, breathing heavily in fear, as we listened closely for any signs of the creature outside.

     "Did... did we lose it?" Poppy asked in a whisper, looking at me with wide fearful eyes. "I don't... know," I responded, still trying to catch my breath. "Go... check."
"No way!" Poppy suddenly yelled out, as if we weren't currently hiding from a gigantic beast. "You go check!"

     We looked at each other for a moment, neither one of us wanting to check to see if the creature was gone.

     Suddenly, as if we had read each other's minds, we both put up one hand in a fist.

"Rock. Paper. Scissors. Shoot!"

"HA!" Poppy shouted out in victory. "Scissors cut paper!"
"Best two out of three?" I begged with an innocent grin.
"Go check, Branch."

With a sigh of defeat, I slowly rose up to my feet, my legs trembling in fear as I looked out the window.

     No signs of anything suspicious. Maybe we had lost the beast after all...

     Slowly, I turned back to Poppy with a slight smile.

"I think it's go..." I started in relief, but my statement was quickly cut off when the thing suddenly came crashing in through the window, knocking me to the ground.

"AHHHHH!" both Poppy and I screamed out in terror, as I quickly forced the creature off of me.

     Jumping to my feet, I made a break for the exit, grabbing my hoverboard out of the way, and throwing it to the side, before quickly opening the door.

     "We have to get to the rocket!" I yelled, looking back at Poppy. "It's the only way to escape!"
"Me first!" Poppy shouted out quickly as she pushed me out of the way again, running out the door to escape the beast.

I went to follow, but as I started to run, the thing suddenly grabbed my ankle, pulling me down to the ground.

"Poppy!" I shouted out in pure terror.

     At the sound of my scream, Poppy turned to me, as the creature began to drag me back into the shed.

     "Poppy!" I cried out, desperately trying to break free of the monster's grasp. "Help me!"

She looked back and forth between me and the rocket, as if debating weather to come back for me, or save herself.

     "Poppy!" I cried out again, as I dug my fingernails into the dirt, trying desperately to keep the creature from getting me. "Poppy! Please!"

My heart raced in terror, as the thing pulled me farther and farther into my shed.

     "Help, Poppy! Help!"

     She looked at me one last time, and then turned, running away towards the rocket. She was leaving me!

     "Nooooo!"

Clinging onto the side of my shed, I cried out desperately for help, struggling against the strength of the monster.

     "HEEEEEELLLLLLPPPPPP!" I screamed, hoping someone... anyone... would hear me, and come to my rescue, but no one did...

This was it. I couldn't hold on any longer. The creature was about to drag me to my doom, when I finally saw Poppy running back towards me with a baseball bat. She hadn't left me after all!

"Don't worry, Branch!" she yelled out, running as fast as she could to reach me. "I'll save you!"

     Quickly, she swung the bat at the monster, trying to get it to release me, but kept hitting my leg instead of it's hand. Paw? Whatever...

Suddenly, fed up with the pink troll, the creature reached out it's other arm, swatting the bat right out of Poppy's hands.

     "Hey!" she yelled out in anger, as the monster tugged on my leg. "That wasn't nice!"
"Neither is trying to eat me!" I screamed back at her, still clinging onto my shed for dear life. "I don't think it really cares about being nice! Just save me!"

She nodded, beginning to run towards the bat again, but there wasn't enough time. My hands were slipping...

     "Poppy!" I yelled, trying to get her to come back. I could feel the thing nibbling on my toes, as I finally lost my grip on the shed. "AHHHHH!"

At the sound of my scream, Poppy looked back at me with a gasp.

     Quickly, she turned, grabbing onto my hands before the creature could take me completely, as she began to pull hard on my arms.

     "Ahhh!" I screamed out in fear and pain, as she and the monster played tug of war with my body.

Trying again to save myself, I kicked at the beast's face, until it finally lost it's grip, and I was able to get up, and continue running with Poppy.

We ran quickly away from the creature, finally spotting our only chance of survival as the massive beast trailed behind us, it's heavy breathing getting louder as it came closer.

"There! The rocket!" Poppy shouted, pointing over at the rocket with a large smile on her face. "Come on! Hurry!" I yelled, as I ran up ahead of her.

     Quickly, I opened the gigantic metal door, climbing inside before helping Poppy in afterwards.

"It's right behind me!" she shouted, her fear being heard clearly in her shaky voice. "Hurry! Close the door!"

     I pulled her the rest of the way in, and then quickly began to shut the door, pushing it closed as fast as I possibly could.

"Hurry up!" Poppy yelled, her hands on my shoulder as she shook me rapidly. "It's getting closer!"
"The door is too heavy!" I shouted back, struggling against the weight of the door.

     Poppy looked out the door nervously, seeing the creature getting closer and closer, and then quickly began pushing as well, trying to help me seal up the rocket so we could blast off.

The door slowly slid shut, as the monster's arm suddenly shot in at us through the crack.

     "AHHHHH!" we both screamed in pure terror, as we pushed on the door as hard as we possibly could, the beast trying to force it back open.

     It's arm swung at us through the opening in the door, it's claws barely missing our skin.

"Push!" Poppy shouted.

     We both pushed on the door one last time, the monster suddenly screaming out in pain as it's arm left our sights.

The door slammed shut, and locked, the sound of banging immediately filling our ears from the other side.

     Suddenly, a loud siren began to roar, burning our eardrums.

"It's trying to get in!" Poppy yelled, covering her ears as she shut her eyes tight.
"We have to blast off!" I announced. "Quick! Start jumping!"

     We both immediately began to jump as fast and as high as we possibly could, trying desperately to get the rocket to take off into the sky.

Suddenly, the door flew right off of the hinges, just as the rocket took flight.

     "Keep jumping!" I ordered, as the wind from the open door pulled at us, trying to yank us out of the rocket.

We began to jump even faster, hopping up and down on the bouncy floor, as we shot up higher and higher into the sky. We jumped so high, that Poppy lost her balance, flying through the doorway, and falling off of the rocket with a scream.

     "Poppy!" I cried out, watching her leave my sight. "Noooooo!"