The Forest Of Spirits
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Charlize Bathman, Grade 6, St Joseph's Primary School Kilaben Bay
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Short Story
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2018
Excellence Award in the 'Write Along 2018' competition
Dark clouds devour all my surroundings like a wildfire eats up forests. I hear an ear shattering scream and then a loud thud. I cautiously make my way through the secluded forest weaving in and out of thick trunk trees, the grass itching at my legs. As I'm walking, I look down to see a girl, laying limp and motionless on the cold, hard ground of the forest. I quickly cover my mouth to stop me from screaming, I kneel down next to the girl and check to see if she has a pulse, relief washes over me as she does, she must have fainted. Sitting down, I sigh.
I close my eyes and bury my head on top of my weak knees and then wrap my bony arms around my knees. Staying like that for a while felt good, but I wasn’t truly happy, my body was riddled with fear, I was ready to bolt at any moment. *Crack*, a stick breaks, my eyes bolt open and my body follows, I rush behind a tree. Peeking around a thick tree trunk, I see a shadowy figure picking up the limp body and walk off into the darker depths of the never ending forest. Stepping backwards in shock, a stick breaks, alerting the shadow of my presence. My heart jumps, telling my body to run as fast as I can.
I huff, exhausted from racing for a decent hiding place away from the intruder. I slump down on a tree and stare sadly into the dark forest. I have so many questions running through my head, like why was he picking up the body and where was he taking her? I feel bad that I left her, but I need to find a way to escape the forest, before I get taken wherever she was taken. If I find the old camping grounds, I can find my way out of this forest, now I am sort of glad that dad always took me on camping trips here, even though I used to hate them. *Crunch*, my heart freezes, he found me, not now, I need to run somewhere other than here, I jump up and slowly start walking away so I don’t make a noise. I start to run, I run for ages and then I crash into somebody, sending me tumbling on to the ground, and I cover my face, ready for whatever is next.
I wait, nothing happens, I open my eyes to see that the world around me has stopped. I slowly stand up to see that the masked figure is standing there, completely still, not moving an inch. I stare in shock, not believing what I’m seeing. Suddenly I hear a voice.
“Run, go now, while you can,” the voice says eerily. I listen and bolt as fast as I can, as I get to the edge of the dark forest, I trip and everything around me suddenly goes black.