Creepy Creature's Arc

Chapter 3 of 5

The girl stepped deeper into the cave, her footsteps quiet on the stone floor. Creepy Creature walked ahead of her, his shoulders tight. She was here. Inside. The thing he had imagined for four full moons was happening now, and his hands felt numb. He wanted to show her the back wall, the crystals he had mapped in darkness, but his feet wouldn't move. What if she didn't care? What if she looked and left and never came back? He stood frozen until she walked past him toward the far corner where the pink crystals caught the dim light. She made a soft sound of wonder. His chest loosened. He stepped forward and pointed to the upper left, where the leaves covered his secret. The girl wandered toward the back wall and reached for the leaves hiding the purple crystal. Creepy Creature's breath stopped. She pushed the small purple pebbles aside, the ones he had scattered there to hide the spot even more. Her fingers found the wire frame he had built years ago, a delicate gate he had woven from scraps to protect the crystal from falling rocks. She looked back at him, her eyes asking permission. He nodded. She lifted the wire gate carefully and the purple crystal caught the light, brighter than any of the others. She didn't take it. She didn't even touch it. She just looked, then turned to him and smiled. "It's the most beautiful one," she said. Something in his chest cracked open. He had shown her the thing he kept hidden, and she had seen it the way he did. When she left the cave an hour later, he didn't feel invisible anymore. The terror plan was finished. He wanted something different now.