The scream

Walking slowly along the cold street, Rachel was making her lonely way home. Her mother was unlikely to be at home to greet her, usually now at the pub, after the untimely leaving of her father.
She slipped the key into the slot in the door of their small semi detached house. The noise had called the cue for their fat tabby to waddle down to get fed. She was old and had something wrong with one of her legs on which she limped.
She let out a high pitched 'meow' before rubbing herself against Rachel's legs letting out a low purr of pleasure.
Rachel fetched the cat food and she then tipped the contents into the bowel then chopping it into smaller pieces for her to chew before laying it on the floor. The cat ate gratefully making a quiet munching sound.
A quick scout around the rest of the house showed that her mother was definitely not in, but there was no point in worrying until tomorrow morning as she usually found her way home by then.
She made her solitary way around the house, finally deciding to go out to a wood near by. Rachel as she walked out grabbed her keys and pulled on a warmer coat. She slammed the door behind her not bothering to lock it, it was doubtful her mother had remembered to take a key and there was nothing worth stealing in the house any way.
As she headed towards the nearby countryside Rachel heard the shrill cry of sirens in the distance. She dismissed it as an everyday occurrence.

She counted the bushes along the verge of the road, until she came to the ninth, behind that shrub an opening in the fence, unnoticeable to the untrained eye, but a gift to Rachel. As she clambered through the hole into the private part of the park she could see blue flashing lights through the lower branches of the trees. She shuffled forward to get a better look. There were ten or twelve police cars parked along a small lane in the woods. Many people were standing around them talking. They had not seen Rachel.
She crawled through the undergrowth feeling the damp seeping through the knees on her jeans. Rachel quietly approached a police man and woman in deep conversation.
"This is the last place she was seen." Said the police woman, "but none can seem to tell us whether she was with anyone, they all say they aren't sure."
Rachel once again crept away in fear of being seen. People always went missing in this area, often found the next day or even week. They had got lost of couldn't get their head straight because of the drink. Once she had got clear of the bustle she stood and made her way back to her tree. It was a large oak which had balanced on one of its high branches a platform. From the ground it couldn't be seen, for it was built hidden in the foliage. The climb was difficult but made slightly better by the help of a rope which hung only from a fairly low branch.
As Rachel scrambled up the great trunk of the tree she heard footsteps. The police had sent out a search party to they were already stooping low to look under shrubs uncomfortably near the great oak.
The platform was never how she had left it, there must have been three or four other users of the sight but Rachel had never seen them.
She laid down looking at the gentle swaying of leaves in the breeze. Slowly she drifted into an uneasy sleep.
She woke with a start; the air was now very muggy. As she peered over some of the smaller trees, she could see dark menacing clouds approaching; they gave a low rumble as a warning. Looking down over the edge of the platform she could see that all the police cars had left. Seeing that the coast was safe she clambered down and headed to a nearby stream. She sat on the bank, the water clear and fresh. The air around her was hot and muggy; she felt dirty needing a wash. The shower in her home had not worked properly for several weeks, just letting out a dribble at a time.
She stripped down seeing there was no one about, and entered the water, letting it flow through her hair. Rachel swam naked through the weeds, the cold sending shivers through her spine.
She froze at seeing something out of the corner of her eye, a person or an animal. Rachel resurfaced suddenly causing the contents of the bottom of the stream to stir up making the water murky. The thing also resurfaced. On first seeing it Rachel thought it was little more than a tire or a piece of rubbish. That was before its hair resurfaced then its face. A small child resurfaced her eyes cold and staring. Her mind just went blank, screaming she ran away to where to the police cars were originally parked. Where were they when you wanted them?
It was not until Rachel was knocking on the door of the nearest house that she realised that she was totally naked and had left her clothes back on the river bank. She gave up quickly as the old woman living there had not answered, and ran out into the street. Screaming she tried to get the attention of a passing police car. It stopped a little further up the pavement, the police woman seeing her naked stepped out of the car.
Rachel explained what she saw quickly aware of how high her voice had become. She was quickly wrapped up in a long police coat, and whisked up to the station. Her mother was soon found and put on an alcohol re- habitation class and they were moved to a smaller council house.