I Bet She Wished She Hadn't

• Hannah Jose, Grade 5
• Short Story
• 2016

I remember when I was just a little kid my family and I used to always go camping in California. We used to love swimming in the crystal clear lakes and catching fish. It doesn’t feel like that anymore. I don’t want to go back there after the unidentified leave of Kerry Blake.
Kerry was 16 at the time. Wild and full of adventure. When the family was asleep she would sneak off to the deepest parts of the woods with her camera waiting for anything supernatural to happen. There were patrolling cameras in that area watching and waiting. Of course nothing did really happen except for the slight rustling as if someone or something…was watching her. Now we come back to the part where Kerry was just about off to her routine. When she arrived to her spot the rustling came again. Except this time it sounded firm like somebody was treading on the leaves to make it rustle (if that’s even possible). She waited for a while then left again for camp. The next night the same thing happened except now it sounded like actual soundless footsteps. She ignored the sound again saying it was just the wind, and then headed back to her camp. The last night until she went home she went to her special spot again this time eager to find something. So desperate she went even farther into the woods, not knowing that she was going in the direction of the footsteps. This time when the footsteps came they were loud and clear. Kerry panicked thinking that it was her parents who had followed her. Quickly she dropped to the ground her camera accidentally falling somewhere in the leaves. She rolled over into some high grass not daring to breath. “Kerry come out we know you’re in there.” Thinking that it was just her parents and they had finally caught her she revealed herself. I bet she wished she hadn’t. The next morning the cameras were checked. That’s how I know all this. So what really happened you ask? I wish I could tell you but not even I know as the camera had run out just a few seconds before whatever was going to happen…happened.