It's a chilled autumn afternoon and I just got home from school. I'm tired of being around everyone, so I grab my jacket and a flashlight and wander outside. No one notices.
I admire the abundant trees around where I live. The branches are nearly bare, and colored leaves blanket the ground. It's quiet. There is nothing I love more than being alone.
I go into the forest and walk with the turns of the road. After a while, I escape the houses, and it's only me and the wilderness. It hasn't rained in weeks, so the ground isn't muddy. I sit down leaning against a moss-covered oak tree, get comfortable, and become very tired. My mind begins to wander, then I drift off...
It's dark outside; not even a street light to offer a bit of illumination. I'm wide awake and tense because I just heard a loud crack. A stick breaking? I'm not alone. I take out my flashlight and turn it on. I see the path I took to get to this spot. Standing up now, I approach the road... but I don't make it. I'm stopped dead in my tracks by a cold touch on my shoulder. I look and it's a pale, bony hand. I turn around and look her right in the face. What is she?
Her eyes are blood red, her hair blonde and matted with dirt. She manages to utter a few raspy words, but I can't understand. She repeats more loudly, "Help me". I can't move. Oddly enough, I don't fear her... so I don't run. My attention moves from her face to her tattered, blood-stained dress. She is barefoot with cuts and gashes up her legs. She's been running from something. I'm now afraid of what she's trying to escape.
I look behind me, notice that I'm close to the road, then turn back around. She's gone. I don't hesitate to run the distance back to my house. With the wind in my face, I can feel how cold it really is out here.
I dash across my backyard and sneak into my window at the back of the house. I feel safe in my warm room. The feeling of safety doesn't last long. I can't stop thinking of the girl I saw. Was she a ghost?
A week has passed. Not a day went by that I didn't think about what happened in those woods. I can't sleep. I look at the clock. 11:50 pm. Restless, I get dressed and sneak outside, careful not to make a sound. It's easy to locate the spot I was in seven nights ago. I shine my flashlight everywhere in hopes of seeing her again.
I see the oak tree, and behind it is an opening. The ground is damp and the musty smell of rotting wood fills the air. I approach the open space and my flashlight's beam lands on an old shed. I keep walking. An old burned down house comes into view. As many times as I've been out here, it's strange that I've never seen it before.
I think about the girl - her blond hair, unnatural red eyes, and pale skin. My train of thought stops because I think I see her. A mere white outline in the corner of my eye runs through the house and disappears. Then I see it again in the upstairs window. It's her. Now I'm sure she's a ghost. But she seemed so alive...
