The Curse of Willow Creek
It was a cool, silent day in the Willow Creek woods. A few of my friends and I had walked down here after going down to Dairy Queen to grab milkshakes. There were five of us. The only other girl in the group, Michelle, was texting her boyfriend. The three guys, Josh, Kyle, and Timmy, were huddled in a small circle talking about the usual stuff. Video games, cars, and just the things all teenage guys like to talk about. This was the result of five teenagers bored to death on the weekend. Our mid term exams were over and this is how we celebrated. Going to Dairy Queen and hiking down into the woods. We might not be the smartest of all teenagers, but we knew how to have fun.
Michelle whispered to me, “Lillian, they keep looking at you!”
“I can tell. It’s probably Josh trying to get them to stop making fun of my clumsiness.”
“Of course it is. And stop showing off your boyfriend. We all know Josh is a prize to be won.”
I smiled to myself, then overheard the group of boys talking. I listened intently to what the guys were saying. Timmy seemed to be telling Josh and Kyle about a blog he had read off the Internet. The blog was about a terrible curse placed on this part of the woods. I decided to listen in a bit.
“An old woman by the name of Esmerelda Golding,” the blog read, “Once lived in the woods in a cottage by the Willow Creek. One day she had gone out to fetch some water from the well in her back yard, but something unfortunate occurred. She had tripped over a tree root, tumbled downhill, and landed face-down in the water. Esmerelda had drowned shortly after. Now she haunts these terrible woods. She controls the trees and bushes. She makes them sway in the wind and fall in summer. Their leaves fall in autumn and flowers bloom in spring because of her. Beware, for if you cross their path, watch out for their deadly roots.”
All of us in the group leaned forward with every word Timmy spoke. As the story progressed, Michelle let out a terrible scream of terror. Something touched her back; it was not a human hand. We all stared in shock as a tree root wrapped itself around Michelle's ankle. Michelle screamed and reached for help, but none of us could move. Her last words to us were, "You traitors can go to hell!" before being dragged lifeless deep into the woods.
The rest of us tripped and stumbled as far away from the woods as possible, believing we were safe from the deadly curse. We were sadly mistaken. As we ran farther away from the woods, we somehow ended up right where we started running. Shocked and horrified, we decided there was no other option but to go through the woods to try to get home. We were were vulnerable and unsure, but we progressed quickly into the woods.
Dark shadows moved in the trees and animals squeaked around in bushes and untrimmed grass. The sun was setting low, brilliant orange and red streaks stretched across the treetops. Dusk soon fell upon Willow Creek. There was a light breeze , making us shiver and cling to each other for warmth. As we got farther and farther into the woods, the shadows seemed to grow darker, almost evil. Despite our conditions, we knew what kind of danger we were in. If we made any sudden or unstable moves, the trees might catch one of us as well. Everyone kept a distance from the undergrowth, making sure that there was nothing that could wrap around their ankles, legs, or arms.
A few miles down the winding path toward the town, something touched Timmy’s shoulder. Then the back of his leg. He jumped back and tumbled into a dead rosebush. The remaining three of us looked, with horrified eyes, as another friend slipped deeper into the woods, already as lifeless as Michelle had looked. Timmy's last words had been, "I'm safe with God and Michelle."
We couldn't believe what they had encountered tonight. First we lost a very fun-loving girl who was as innocent as a lost puppy on the side of the road. Definitely not the brains of the group, but she was amazing just the way she was. Second lost was the whole backbone to the circle of us friends. The leader of the pack. One thing is for sure. The group was strongly impacted by the loses of our best friends.
"Well," stated Josh. "At least Michelle is not alone now. Timmy is with her now and I'm more than certain they're up in heaven making out."
"That's not funny, Josh," I exclaimed. "Sure they have each other for company but they're not making out. I'm sure they're looking out for us and trying to keep us safe."
"They always did like each other a lot," mumbled Kyle.
"Y'all hush up! I'm sure their watching over us. Now we have got to keep going or we won't make it home," I replied.
"Fine," Josh gave in. "Gosh Lil, no need to be so uptight."
"Let's just get a move on."
