When The Sun Goes Down

• Olivia Giannopoulos, Grade 8, Aquinas College -
• Short Story
• 2018

Excellence Award in the 'Write Along 2018' competition

The rays of sunlight which seeped through the forest had faded away and the sun appeared to be setting fast allowing for darkness to take over, leaving the forest slightly dimmed. A chilly breeze was picking up and blowing towards me as I walked making me shiver.
I stopped to grab out my phone from my pocket and turned the flashlight on. I shone it around to try and make out where I was and remember which way I came from when suddenly I heard the faint and distant sound of crunching leaves from behind me. I recognised it as being similar to the sound my feet made when I was walking earlier today. I panicked a little and tried convincing myself that it was probably just an animal but, they were slow and seemed intentionally heavy, it just couldn’t be. I turned, facing in the direction where I heard them coming from and shone the flashlight the same way as I examined the area. I focused greatly on trying to find something but wasn’t able to. Just when I was about to let it go, I heard the footsteps start to speed up. My heart dropped to my stomach as I turned my flashlight off and realised that there was a light shining from that same way of the footsteps and was coming closer towards me. Now I was sure this was a person. I held in my scream as I turned back the way I was heading and sprinted into any direction with my camera rebounding off my chest. At this point, I just wanted to get far enough away from them. My heart was pounding so loud, I could hear it in my ears and I was losing my breath, but there was no way I was stopping. Still running with my phone in my hand, I turned the flashlight back on, pointing it in front of me. I caught small glimpses of the trees surrounding me and was able to recognise exactly where I was. I zig-zagged through the forest still moving as fast and was unable to hear anything over my rowdy breathing and the leaves crushing beneath my feet. Finally, I reached back onto the dirt trail and kept running until I safely reached my house. I pulled my keys out of my pocket and fumbled as I looked for the key for the front door and unlocked it. I slammed the door shut and crashed onto my lounge out of breath. I sat there panting as I reflect on what just happened. I was just relieved to be back, safe away from the danger lurking in the forest. I hope to never know who that person was or what their intentions were. I might be overreacting about the whole situation but for all I know, what could’ve been a great day could’ve ended up turning into almost a nightmare. I just know I am never going back there again. Ever.