The Forest (A Phanfic)

Chapter One

"Why on earth did they build this playground so close to the woods? It's practically begging for little kids to get lost..." Phil thinks, walking by on the rain-soaked gravel road. He really should get back to the train station and head home, but something about those woods gave him an uneasy feeling...

Suddenly, he notices something. A flash of pink, just inside the cover of the trees. "Little girl! Little girl, you really shouldn't go in there!" Phil calls, hoping some soccer mom didn't yell at him for intervening. Phil looks around, hoping he might be able to find her mom and tell her, but the playground was empty.

Then, there was a scream. For someone who never runs, one might have mistaken Phil for an Olympian, with how fast he was off the path and between the trees. The scream continues, accompanied by the snapping of twigs and the crunching of leaves. Phil scrambles after the sound, feet catching on brambles and shrubs, low branches smacking across his face.

"Help! Someone he-" Her cries were cut off suddenly, and Phil freezes. What could he do now? He spins around, looking for any signs of something, anything. Who had grabbed her? Or what? Then, from above him, he hears a scream.

He looks up. Dangling by her pink overcoat, was the little girl. She was at least fifteen feet up, her hands reaching desperately for a handhold, but there were none. "Hold on! I'll get you down! Just-" His words were interrupted by an awful cracking sound. There was no time to climb the tree. "Okay, I'm going to catch you alright?" He tries to sound as soothing as he can, but his voice was cracking just like the tree branch.

"I want you unbutton your coat, then drop. I promise I'll catch you, I promise." She shakes her head, unable to speak through tears. "Just trust me!" Phil begs, "If that branch falls too, it'll be hard to catch you!" He couldn't say impossible, but it would be.

"Just let go. I'll catch you." His eyes meet hers, and she nods, hiccupping. He holds out his arms and breathes a quiet prayer and her little fingers fumble with the flower shaped buttons on her coat. One down, now two. Then, the last button. A scream. Then, a thud.