The October Series

October 6th: Lost in the Woods

It was late at night, I was tired and hungry. I woke up shivering from the cold. I had been asleep for who knows how long, and I was scared. I didn't know what to do, I didn't know what was happening to me. I felt a couple of tiny drops of blood, dripping from the back of my head. I came to the conclusion that I had somehow hit my head with a rock that was nearby, but I didn't feel hurt or sick, so I

assumed it wasn't that serious. I stood up and looked around. I was in this forest, my clothes were ripped, dirty, and I was near a stream. I decided to walk around and maybe find my way to a town, but I could barely remember who I was, if I found a phone, who would I call. Maybe this rock thing was serious. The woods were cold and dark. I could hear the night sounds of woodland creatures tucked away in their burrows. Normal people might be afraid of this circumstance, but I wasn't normal. I was distracted by the cool gentle breeze and the beauty and splendor of the moon.
It's a beautiful night, I thought to myself.
You'd expect a dark forest at night to be scary, but it wasn't. I guess I'm out of harm's way.

My crazy dumb imagination started conjuring up different ideas. Maybe I would live out the rest of my life in this forest, maybe I could build myself a treehouse and learn to communicate with the chipmunks. It all sounded like a fairy tale because when something is beautiful, no one expects anything to go wrong, right? When something is peaceful, no one expects anything to go wrong, right. When there is a layer of happiness and warmth above the dark secrets buried deep beneath this surface, no one thinks the worst of it.
I was that stupid.
I found a cabin that looked cute. It looked like somewhere an old retired couple would go to spend time with their grandchildren. I decided

that maybe someone there could help me, and if they couldn't at least I'd have shelter. I knocked on the door and there was no answer. I knocked again. No answer. The door was locked and I couldn't do anything to open it, so I decided to leave. As I was stepping away from the doorstep, I heard the door unlock and slowly open. I walked inside, not realizing that no one had physically opened the door and let me in.
"Thank you so much", I said, hanging my torn-up coat as if I lived there. There was no one there except for a black, cloaked figure with no face. It threw me to the ground and tore me apart limb by limb, blood viciously pouring out of me. My screams of terror filled up that entire forest, and by the time it was done, I was

nothing but a tortured soul. I was dead inside. The creature handed me a cloak, and death was not my sweet release. Instead, I was put to work as a slave, torturing anyone who wandered into the forest as I did. I guess I did end up living the rest of my days in this forest, didn't I?