By Erik Reichmeider

Tw: mentions of slavery, dead ancestors, light violence

The drums were the first thing that could be heard ringing out in the darkening sky. Hawa’s heart rate picked up in her chest as she slowly crept out from the porch, the old wood of her grandmother’s house creaking under her steps as she placed her feet down. The house stood in the outskirts of Cape Fear, near the large, ever expansive woodlands of the Carolinas, where the haints1resided. 

Hawa took a quiet step further away from the porch, anxiety filling her feet as they connected with the grass at the base of the steps. Her grandmother would certainly punish her if she found out Hawa was going to see the haints at night. 

“A little black girl shouldn’t be out at night, you don’t know if there be a slave catcher waiting in the bush, waiting for his next prey,” she would say. 

But Hawa couldn’t hide away from the beat of drums rhythmically matching her heart. She would often listen, longing, waiting for the chance to sneak out and join the ring shout. Hawa, often at night, hearing the drums, would think of her mother. The way her long braided hair would sway and move with her hips as she stomped out the rhythm and tune to their family’s music. She would often laugh and chant encouraging Hawa to feel the music and dance with her. And Smile. How her mother’s bright smile would light up a room as her laugh pried happiness out of even the most sullen of her uncles. She was truly the life of her town. 

Hawa quickly shook the thoughts out of her head as she took a deep breath, calming her mind, before taking a final large step away from the house, the last she needed to break free from her anxiety and to truly feel alive. 

The Carolina grass felt cool and soft under her feet as she quietly ran through the field surrounding her house. The blue bottles that hung from the trees in the yard clunk softly as the night time breeze blew through the fields. The overgrown grass swayed in the direction of the air, brushing up against her calves as fireflies erupted from where she ran. 

Hawa’s heart raced as she jumped up into the air and spun around in the grass, messing up the plaits her grandmother had done before putting her to bed. The drumming in the forest had grown louder, echoing through the land as chanting could be heard above the rhythm, filling her spirit with excitement. 

She quickend her pace not wanting to miss the haints’ ring shout. This is when her people felt alive, this is when she would feel alive, when she would be free. 

The forest was dark and cold as if consuming the light from the full moon. The tall maple and oak trees casted long, bushy shadows along the trail, darkening Hawa’s path. The drumming could still be heard through the trees, though it was now faint, forcing her to strain to hear it. Nerves were building in her stomach as she swung her head back to look behind her, staring back at her grandmother’s little gothic house, the moon casting a halo of light around its silhouette. She could go back and no one would ever know. 

Hawa quickly turned her head back to face the trail, she was determined to join the haints tonight. 

Just then light could be seen coming from in between the trees as the forest thinned into a clearing. Hawa’s nerves dissipated as she sprinted towards the large circle of open grass in the center of the woods, the drumming and chants getting louder as she neared the ring shout. 

As she made it to the clearing she stopped just beyond the forest edge, taking in the sight of the magical sight. The haints glowed a soft blue as their ethereal figures moved back and forth to the rhythm of the drum. A large elderly haint with a white beard and afro, beat on a large gourd, which had been turned into a drum, as four other haints dressed in older petticoats, their hair braided, sang a chant which echoed through Hawa’s being. 

There were as many as twenty of them dancing in the circle, stomping, clapping and jumping to the rhythm of music and Hawa couldn’t help but feel the longing she felt towards her people’s traditions, and she ran into the middle of the dancing. 

Hawa felt the rhythm pulse throughout her body and she stamped to the beat of it, feeling the ground vibrate underneath her feet. The haints all welcomed her as they spun her around and danced with her, their colors warping and shifting from cool blues to warm oranges. Her body felt as light as a feather. Hawa felt alive. She felt as if she’d live forever 

Suddenly, she noticed that one of the haints glowed brighter than the rest. A vibrant yellow filled the circle as Hawa along with many of the haints stopped and stared at the magnificent being. Hawa couldn’t see past the beings around her and had to push to the other side of the clearing to see where the vibrant color was coming from. The light felt familiar to her and she was drawn to it, unable to stop her feet from moving closer. Each step she took she felt more and more at peace. 

Finally she pushed past the last spirit in the way and there standing in the clearing, the most beautiful woman Hawa had ever seen. Her mother, radiating bright yellow and green light smiled widely at Hawa, tears brimming her eyes. Hawa immediately rushed over to her mother and jumped into her arms, embracing her in the biggest hug her tiny body could muster. 

“MAMA!” Hawa cried into the spirits’ dress, the feeling of a comfortable warmth radiating into her body. 

“It’s ok baby, I’m here, I’m here,” her mother said, holding her up in the air. Suddenly the drumming started again as her mother set her back on the ground. Her mother’s smile shone with the same vibrance as the sun, and her afro, which was different from the tight cornrows she had when she was alive, outlined her face perfectly, radiating her light. Her mother’s feet kicked out from under her in time with the chant and the entire circle faded away as she danced. As she moved she encouraged the other haints to follow, each of them synchronizing with her. Hawa was surrounded by them, captured in the middle of this ancient and freeing dance. And Hawa danced too. She danced her troubles away, she danced to feel alive, she danced to feel free… 

“Them Pale faces is comin’, we have to go!” one of the haints said running back from the forest, his light dimming. 

The music abruptly stopped as everyone looked around frantically. Soon, haints left and right were disappearing, fading back into the land of the ancestors, escaping from the forewarned monster. 

“Wait what’s going on, Mama?” Hawa asked as she saw her mothers face plastered with concern. 

“Listen to me my child, we all must go, but remember I am still with you even if you can’t see me, I’m with you,” her mother said as tears began pouring from Hawa’s eyes. “But Ma, I wanna be with you, take me with you,” Hawa said, reaching out to hug her mother. 

“No child, don’t say that, your time will come long from now. Listen, you must run before the white face catches you,” Hawa’s mother said, wiping the tears from her cheeks, “I love you Hawa.” 

Her mother began to fade, but not before pushing Hawa in the direction of the forest edge back towards her grandmother’s house. Hawa took a step back, then another, then broke off in a sprint back to her home, back to her life. 

The moon was now lowering in the sky as the shadows had grown longer and longer, making the already dark forest even darker. Hawa’s heart was beating fast in her chest as terror filled the pits of her stomach. Just then a twig snapped behind her forcing her to turn around. There at the end of the trail was a large, tall man, its body twisted and contorted in ways Hawa knew a human couldn’t. 

Hawa gasped, her heart racing as sweat began trickling down from her forehead. Fear ate at her sprite as she froze in place, hoping the creature wouldn’t notice her. Suddenly the figure motioned towards her, watching… waiting… before breaking off into a sprint, quickly closing the distance between them. 

Hawa ran as fast as she could, jumping over roots, dodging low hanging branches, desperately trying to get back to her grandmother’s house. She peered back behind her again and saw the monster was still charging at her, now closer than it had been before. 

Hawa pushed forward, the moon light casting long shadows of the trees as the path became more and more familiar. Finally she had made it to the edge of the forest just beyond the property of her grandmother’s house. 

Im almost there rang out in her mind as hope began filling her chest. 

Suddenly, her foot crashed against a stone that had been used to mark out her grandmother’s land. Hawa crashed into the dirt as pain shot up from her foot into her leg. Hawa winced and flipped herself over quickly looking down to see the nail of her big toe had been completely ripped off. Tears welled in her eyes as she looked back up to face the figure which now emerged from the forest. Its movements slowed, seeming to move more cautiously trying to see what had happened. Hawa could now see the true form of the monster. Its skin was pale, like the color of fresh white linens and where there should have been a face was replaced with a blank slate of pale skin that pulsed with muscles twitching underneath it. Its hands were large and its fingers ended in long sharp claws that tensed and flexed, waiting to snatch her away. “GET AWAY FROM ME!” Hawa screamed, crawling backwards towards the house. The sun was now emerging from the horizon illuminating the forest and the monster.The Pale face took a step toward her, stalking forward on its long slender legs. It bent further towards her crouching to meet her level. Its head moved sideways as if trying to get a better sense of where she was. Hawa, with the last ounce of adrenaline left in her, rolled over and quickly stood up before rushing back to the house. She looked behind her to see the creature begin its sprint to catch her. 

Just then the creature stopped dead in its tracks, it stood up straight on its legs and began peering around as if trying to find something. Hawa stopped as well and turned around, looking for the source of its pause. Suddenly, as the wind blew, she could hear the sound of the blue glass bottles clinking against each other. 

She looked over to see that the bottles on the tree she ran past were now glowing as the creature stepped closer to them. The Pale face reached a hand out and quickly drew it back, as if being burned by the bottle. 

“Them monsters can’t get past those bottles,” Hawa could hear a voice coming from the house shouting above the wind. 

She turned to see that the voice came from her grandmother. With her short hunched stature, she stood on the porch, cane in hand watching Hawa. 

“Now Hawa get back inside,” her grandmother scolded, motioning for her to get in the house. 

“Yes grandma,” Hawa responded before looking back to the creature. 

The Pale face was still staring at her unmoving, its posture completely straight. Hawa also starred, unmoving, as the sun rose from behind her, illuminating the creature. Slowly the Pale face turned away from her and began walking back towards the forest, into the darkness. Once the creature was long gone, Hawa slowly limped back to her grandmother’s house as the cool morning wind gently blew the grass against her calves. 

1 Haint: ghosts, spirits, or evil entities originating from the Gullah people

Erik is a high schooler who, when he’s not writing, is juggling 8 missing assignments or running multiple organizations for his high school.