House on the lake

My family got into a fight about some stupid idea, and I couldn’t stand the yelling. My head felt like it was going to explode so I ran from the house. The best way for me to calm down is if I go exploring the surrounding woods. As I was walking I forgot to mark my passage so I soon became lost. No matter where I looked, nothing seemed to be familiar. I started to run in circles to see if I knew anything around me. I soon lost which way I came from. So from there on out I snapped twigs to know where I went. I was lost in the woods looking for an exit.

I kept walking until I saw light at the end of the path. The farther I went the soggier the ground felt, I started to wonder if there was a body of water around to make the ground so soaked. It started to get very foggy the closer I got to the dim light ahead. As the fog enveloped me, I started hearing strange noises, like a crow calling, or a distant scream of some unknown source. My instinct told me to turn around, don’t go that way, something’s odd, something’s not right up ahead. But I didn’t care, but now that I looked back to that moment, I knew I should’ve listened to my instinct.

Soon the fog was so cold and dense I couldn’t see two feet in front of myself. As I walked ahead...my foot landed in water instead of landing on ground. I was mad, those were my new shoes. I took three steps back and turned right, keeping the water to my left. I stubbed my toe on something hard. It went out into the water and I thought-It’s a plank or dock?

As I walked out onto the dock I saw a shadow out in front of me. It started to look at me and I realized it was a girl. It….She looked at me with a pained look, and I wondered, “What was a girl doing out in this fog?” As I got closer, she disappeared into the fog, so I ran the rest of the way ‘til I got to the end of the dock, but the girl was nowhere to be found. I was shocked. Where did the girl go?

As I was walking back I saw a boat, it surprised me, I didn’t see that on the way there. I thought to myself, “Must have missed it when I was running”.  I decided that I don’t want to go home, and I wanted to solve the mystery of the strange girl. When I got in the boat a man appeared behind me and said, “Are you going to the island?” Startled at first I was about to say no then thought, “What if the girl went to the island?” So I told the strange man, “Sure why not, got nothing else to do.”

 He started piloting the boat through the fog... then half way there he said “Many a man has died here, I would be careful.” I turned around and he was gone. I felt a thud, turned around and found I was beached on the island. I got out looking around and seeing that I was on a beach where I saw part of a skull in the sand. I turned around and the man was back in the boat and was sailing away.

I run to the water’s edge screaming, “Come back! DON’T LEAVE ME HERE!”

He says, “I’ll be back when the light returns!” but all I do is stand there dumb struck.

Then, suddenly, I hear a voice behind me say, “Hello,” I turn around and see the girl I’ve been looking for. I’m so surprised, I jump back five feet and fall into the lake. I swim back and get back up, embarrassed. She looks at me and says, “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.”

I just stare at her, studying, wondering why there was a light glow around her when I saw her earlier but all I say is, “It’s ok. I was going to go for a swim anyway,” And when I say that with sarcasm in my voice I see that my joke made her smile. We talk for a while and learn each other’s names. She tells me hers is Hope and I tell her my name is...

END OF CHAPTER ONE