The Project
The Swamp’s Dark Centre
A Short Story
By Isaac Ugolini
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Part One: Childhood Trauma
October 15th, 1998
Pinecrest, Florida
The sun was shinning brightly on a lukewarm Thursday morning. The birds were whizzing by, occasionally stopping to chirp every once in a while. An airliner was flying above the suburban town in Florida. Down below, an alligator was walking across the road, making its way to the nearest swamp. In one of the backyards, behind one of the many cookie cutter houses, there were the sounds of a ball being kicked around. Over the fence, there were two young boys from the Freeman family in the neighborhood. Jonathan was the older of the two brothers. He was wearing a soccer t-shirt, blue shorts, and running shoes, and was kicking the ball towards his younger brother Matthew, who was wearing a green dinosaur t-shirt with black pants and orange crocs. The ball bounced upwards as Matthew kicked it up towards the sky. Both boys were fighting, trying to take the ball from each other as soon as it landed on the ground. Matthew managed to gain control of the ball at first, but Jonathan snatched it from him quickly, and sent the ball flying into Matthew’s soccer net on his side of the backyard.
“Score!”, yelled Jonathan triumphantly, raising his hands in the air, jumping up and down with glee.
“Oh, not again…You always win every time we play”, moaned Matthew, sulking as he walked away in shame.
“Hey, cheer up little bro, Its just a game. Besides, you seem to enjoy Soccer, whether or not you win or lose.” Said Jonathan, comforting his younger brother. “Tell you what, how about we play something else, like a game of tag, or go for a walk in the park, or- “
“Or how about we go there.” Declared Matthew, pointing at the set of dark, shady trees behind the fence.
“The Swamp! I don’t know if that’s safe. It’s probably filled to the brim with all kinds of dangers. Like, what happens if we go in there and you end up getting your leg chomped of by an alligator or something.” Asked Jonathan with a worried look on his face. “Forget it, we are not going into that place!”
“What’s wrong Johnny, chicken?” teased Matthew, making clucking sounds and flapping his arms to mock his older brother.
“Alright, fine! I’ll go with you. Just stop calling me chicken, okay!”
The two boys began their journey into the swamp. They passed through the towering trees, with a coloration similar to a charred corpse. The deeper they trudged into the swamp, the darker it seemed to become, as the trees and the water practically began to devour and surround them. The duo continued to wade through the murky water, and they crossed paths with a few creatures. A Cottonmouth, a venomous snake, floated on the surface of the water, gliding towards a patch of reeds for shelter. A Snail Kite, a bird of prey, flew through the trees above, dodging branches as it flew by. After moving for a bit, the two brothers stopped to catch their breath, and figure out what to do next.
“Hey, this is going by pretty slowly since we have to slow down for each other. What say we split up and explore by ourselves?” Matthew suggests, nearly out of breath.
“What! Are you kidding me? I’m not just going to abandon you here in the middle of the swamp all alone! We have to stick together!”
Jonathan turns back around and continues walking, with Matthew following suit. Both boys move through the reeds with Matthew lagging slightly behind. Matthew stops again to breath, but Jonathan does not notice. Matthew gasps for air to regain his stamina, then stops as his eyes go wide.
“What the hell is that?” he asks himself. A nasally breathing begins to make itself audible, with the sound coming from behind him. Matthew turns around and is frozen with terror. He tries to scream but finds some sort of force preventing him from doing so. His throat begins to swell, and he begins to cry from the excruciating pain. Just as his voice is being compromised, so too is his vision, as he is blinded by a sudden, loud white flash of light.
Jonathan stops his pace, as he hears the noise from the flash. He turns to look where his brother was before, only to find him gone without a trace.
“What happened? Matthew? Where are you?”. Jonathan looks around trying to catch a glimpse of where his younger brother is, but doesn’t find anything.
“Matthew! Where are you!”, Jonathan cries out in desperation, hoping someone will answer his call, but he gets not response, at least not one that he recognizes. The normal sounds of the swamp around him have been replaced with a horrible, ghostly cackle, that strikes fear into Jonathan’s soul.
“I have to get out of here! Mom, Dad, someone, anyone, help me!”, Jonathan screams, as he runs like the wind, making splashes in the swamp water as he runs out of the darkness in terror. He does not turn back, for fear that whatever took his brother will take him next.
A few days later…
Jonathan sat silently in the Police Station, sitting in between his mom and dad. Both of his parental figures had wet stains below their eyes from tears, looks of distress and horror were formed on their faces. They sat there, waiting for anything to be announced. They hoped that their youngest son would be found. Suddenly, the door creaked open, putting both of them on high alert. An officer walked in, asking both Freemans for their attention. They immediately turned their focus to the officer, hoping, praying he would deliver them good news about their missing child.
“Hello Mr. and Ms. Freeman, I have some news for you.” Said the officer, as the parents moved closer to him.
“What is it? Please tell me that you have found our son! I would die for him!” declared Mr. Freeman.
“I would rather die, than not see my youngest child again. I can’t live without both!”, cried Ms. Freeman.
“Unfortunately, we have found nothing about the whereabouts of your first son. I’m sorry Mr. and Ms. Freeman, but your son is gone.” The officer answered, looking down to the floor out of shame.
Both of his parents began to weep with sorrow. Jonathan joined their despair, bre4aking down and crying. He fell down from his seat, tucking in his knees and hugging them, as he rocked back and forth on the floor. The two adults heard their son crying. They walked over to Jonathan and embraced him, in an attempt to comfort him.
“I should have been there for him! It’s all my fault! I’m so sorry! Now he’s gone forever, all because of me!”
The family of three began to weep in their circle, to the point where the world began to collapse around them as their lives were changed forever.
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Part 2: Childhood Remembered
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September 23rd, 2006
Brooklyn Heights, New York City
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The rain seemed to be endlessly pouring onto the cold stone buildings, sprouting out of the ground, all across the island that is New York City. The sounds of honking cars, chatter from pedestrians, and squawking pigeons flying in the rain, drowned out any opportunity for the average person to be able hear their own voice speak to themselves inside their head. Jonathan sat there quietly, motionless inside his apartment, staring off into the black screen of his computer, wearing a green sweater, jeans, and slip on loafers. He was lost in the memories from that day: the hideous cackle, the white flash, Matthew… he had never forgot about his brother. He wished he had never gone into that swamp. If he had not accepted his brother’s offer to go into the swamp, Matthew would still be here. He turned in his swivel chair, staring at his bookshelf, trying to find a book to read. He wanted to take his mind off of this event for once, and not torment himself with these nightmares. After searching, one book he had bought caught his eye. A book titled “Monsters from the South: Myths and Legends from the Southern United States”. For some reason, he felt drawn to the book. He didn’t know why yet. He flipped through the pages, until he arrived at a section of the book that described a peculiar tale, called “The Witch of the Dark Swamp”. The description is as follows:
“The Witch of the Dark Swamp is an urban legend that originated in Florida in the Southern region of the United States. It is a creature described as having a large warty nose, green scaly skin, and long silver hair as tough as steel. Many accounts say that the Witch captures her victims, usually young children, and takes them to her castle, hidden in the heart of the swamp, where she conducts various experiments on her victims. Legend has it, if you hear her hideous laugh, you are probably near her lair.”
Jonathan began to realize why he was drawn to this book in the first place. It held the clue to resolving this conflict, once and for all. Even if his brother is dead, he will avenge him by killing that horrible witch for her crimes.
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Part 3: Childhood Reclaimed
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September 23rd, 2006
Pinecrest, Florida
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The moon was glowing in the night sky, the cold wind was blowing, and the leaves from the autumn season were rolling across the ground. Jonathan stood in front of the fence of his old childhood home, a fence he has known for many years. He took a deep breath, then ventured out into the swamp, in the same direction him and his brother took all those years ago. Jonathan had come prepared for this trip. He had gotten a pocketknife and a grappling hook for the mission. As he approached the location, he had first heard the laugh, he saw a strange aura, formed in a massive ring around an enormous body of water in the part of the swamp. Jonathan became curious, and walked closer to the aura. Suddenly, as he touched the aura, a massive structure appeared right in front of him! It was a massive castle, similar to those found in Medieval England. It had two towers, one on either side of the building at the front entrance. It had a large window just below the turret that formed the top of the castle. The entire structure was made of stone, silver-grey in coloration. The doors to the castle were made of cedarwood, with a ring on each door to knock on.
“If I go from the door, she will surely hear me!” thought Jonathan to himself. He looked up and saw the window, then got an idea. He pulled out the grappling hook and threw it at the opening, and it locked onto the stone with ease. Jonathan began to slowly climb up on the rope until he reached the window. Once he made it there, he hoisted up the grappling hook in case he needed to use it again. He made his way through the dimly lit hallways of the castle, which he kept alit by torches mounted on the walls. He caught a whiff of a peculiar scent, and followed it to a dark room.
“Wait, there’s nothing here? I thought- “he stopped, then looked down directly in front of him. On the floor was a massive hole in the floor, the bottom of which was pitch black. He couldn’t see what was in it, but judging by the smell, Jonathan figured that this is the entrance to the Witch’s laboratory. He stabbed the stone floor with the grappling hook again, then tossed the other end down, then began to climb downward. He had reached the bottom, and further ahead, Jonathan could see a faint light coming from the end of that hallway.
He headed in the direction of the light, and finally reached the lab. He was greeted with the most horrifying sight in his life. He saw the witch, a large, reptilian creature, with a large warty nose, silver hair, long arms, scaly skin, a reptilian body with a long tail, a brown ragged robe, and razor-sharp claws. She was holding Matthew, who was now older than before, with dirty skin and shaggy hair, being dangled over a giant cauldron of boiling green liquid. From the corner he was watching from, Jonathan sprang up from behind his hiding spot, and confronted the witch.
“Don’t you dare hurt my brother! Now hand him over! I am here to take him back home!” Jonathan demanded.
“Oh, why would do that? He seems pretty happy living with me as my test subject! Besides, I have been expecting you.”, sneered the Witch, a malicious grin stretched across her face.
“Let him go now!” demanded Jonathan. He pulled out the pocketknife and aimed it at the Witch.
“Empty threats mean nothing to me. Not like the threat I will tell the world once I have gain control of the whole planet!”
“What are you talking about? There is no way a person with such a small supply of resources could threaten the most powerful countries on the planet!”, said Jonathan.
“True”, said the witch, “But I have a way to fix that. You see, the potion I have stirring around in the pot of mine is unique, as anyone who it subjected to it is transformed into a powerful beast that will be under my control. When I have your brother changed into my new pet, I will send him to collect more of those little brats for me to repeat the process of transformation. Then, once I have amassed an army of beasts with their magical powers, I will take over the world! The world will never know another tyrant like me when I take power!”
The Witch then dropped Matthew into the cauldron, and the water began to stir. That bit of calm was interrupted by an explosion from the liquid. Jonathan turned his head away from the blast. He turned back to look, and was greeted with a horrible sight. What was once his brother, was now a massive alligator, floating in the air. Turquoise colored skin, shielded by green and black scales covered the entire creature. There were rows of blue spikes running down the back and tail of the reptile. Its eyes were white, with a black slit pupil at the centre, with an aura of white smoke emitting from each eye.
“It’s dinner time, Matthew. Now go get him!” commanded the Witch.
Jonathan ran from the room, climbing up the rope as fast as he could. He was quickly approaching the window he entered from. He leaped out and landed into the swamp water below, which broke his fall. Matthew broke through the front doors of the castle flying through the air, the focused his eyes on his prey, Jonathan sprang up from the water, and ran for his life. Matthew began to unleash fire from his sharp-toothed jaws, scorching the ground and setting the reeds ablaze. He trapped Jonathan in a ring of fire, and started to close in on his target. Jonathan looked around, finding no chance of escape. He stared up at the creature staring him down.
“Matthew, I know you are still in there. Please, speak to me little bro!” pleaded Jonathan.
Suddenly the creature stopped. It stared at the human in front of it, realizing who it was. Tears began to form in its eyes, its destructive nature was beginning to fade away. It was becoming human again. The alligator reached it’s claw out, and grasped Jonathan before hauling him out of the fire. He placed him down safely, before licking his face as a sign of peace.
“What do you think you’re doing? Kill him! Do it now! Listen to me, your master!”, yelled the Witch, watching from the window Jonathan had exited from.
Matthew had turned around, a look of hate forming on his scaly visage. He took at deep breath, and blew a stream of fire at the Witch, obliterating her. The castle was engulfed in flames, before being completely destroyed in an incinerating explosion. As the structure was crumbling to pieces, Matthew began to transform back to his human form, his beastly features and nature fading away.
“Jonathan, is that you? Thank you! I missed you so much!”
Both brothers embraced, after years apart. They were finally back together again. Nothing could rip them apart now.
“It feels good to have you back little bro. Say, what say we play some soccer?”
“No, I’m sick of that. How about some basketball at the park for a change?”, suggested Matthew.
“Sure! That sounds like a plan!”
The brothers made their way out of the swamp, and into the neighborhood, ready to reclaim the time they never had together.
The End.