The Bayou Tradition

Hi everyone! This is kinda a nano-story, but I didn't intend for it to be under 750 words. A couple weeks ago, I went to a camp and took a writing class there. They gave me topics, and I finally got to type it up and post it. My teacher played on his guitar, and we had to imagine that we were walking through a bayou. Enjoy!

The different music floated through my ear and out the other. I wasn’t paying attention to what people were saying, but instead, of where I was headed.

Different bugs of different colors and shapes flew by, threatening to either fly in my face or land on me and bite me.

A loud noise toward my left caught my attention. I slowly waked over to see what the loud commotion was. When I got closer, the bugs seemed to get louder, and so did the noise. When I got close enough to see what caused the noise, I caught a glimpse of two guys fighting each other; the fighting almost passed for dancing.

The two men stopped and faced each other, staring at one another and not moving an inch. Nearby, many people gathered around to see what was going on.

Then, one of the men moved forward an inch. The second guy followed suit.

All of a sudden, they both started to move at each other. From their movements, I couldn’t tell if they were dancing or fighting each other.

The two men continued doing whatever it was they were doing for about ten minutes.

Suddenly, everyone in the crowd took a step back. Afraid at why they did so, I followed, and took three steps back. I finally found out why a minute later.

The men stopped moving, and turned around and picked up long, sharp swords.

I watched in horror as they fought to, what it seemed like, their deaths.

When it was finally over—many people were fascinated, but I carefully avoided the sight—the two men lay on the ground, in their own blood, as the result of both being stabbed in the stomach.

The crowd started walking away, leaving me behind, still shell-shocked at what just happened. The people of the bayou walked to quickly, so it seemed impossible for me to pull someone aside and ask what just happened.

The place was strange. Beside me, I caught sight of a woman who was lingering by the bodies. I quickly rushed to her, and touched her lightly on the shoulder.

She jumped and stared at me with eerie eyes.

“What just happened?” I asked her hesitantly.

She smiled at me, showing her missing teeth.

“Is our tradition. In the Bayou,” she said, pointing over at an old woman standing close to the two dead men. To think I was watching the battle for over twenty minutes and never noticed the old woman.

Squinting, I could see that in her hands she held two ragged dolls with a stick through each of their chests. Strange, I realized. The dolls look a lot like the victims of the fight.

But before I could ask her a question, the old woman smiled wickedly at me before suddenly disappearing, leaving the dolls on the ground next to the two men.

Well, did you like it? I'm sorry if it didn't make any sense.

Please review! Thanks for reading!

Midnight-Wolfe