Terrors At Redfern Woods

• Lukas Kasadelis, Grade 4
• Short Story
• 2021

As I walked cautiously through Redfern woods, a gust of whistling wind suddenly blew through my grey-black hair. I looked around carefully, with my keen blue-grey eyes for any unknown danger. Nothing. I continued walking down the path I had found.

After a few minutes, I came to a halt in front of a bubbling black substance. If I hadn’t been warned about this sludge, I would have walked straight into it. The local pub owner had earlier introduced me to the locals. He also told me about the terrors that had been happening lately in these woods. Had I been only a simple tourist, I would have stayed well away from this location. But, as the undercover forest trooper I am, assigned to this top secret mission by the forest troop commandant, I went in to investigate these strange happenings. I looked around for an alternate route, but in vain. How would I be able to get past this unusual substance, I pondered. Thank goodness for my training. I took a few steps back, took a massive run up and jumped. I closed my eyes in mid-air, hoping that my feet would not feel an unusual burning sensation. As my feet hit the ground, I rolled over once and stood back up. I continued down the path…

Not long after my experience with the sludge, I started hearing unusual noises. At first, they were faint and I thought that they were just part of my imagination. Then they got louder. And louder. And louder. So loud that I felt as if they were coming from right next to me. I looked around once again, but saw nothing. The noises were getting so loud, I could make out some of the words. “Terror”, “death”, “beware”. I felt the urge to turn back, but a fighting spirit inside me told me to do the opposite. I continued walking down the path, turning around at times to take in what was around me. Though still I could see nothing.

As I continued to walk, the path seemed to be getting more and more narrow. I came to a bend, an ominous figure appeared in front of me. I looked into his dark eyes, then down to his feet. This giant like figure was almost as tall as two horses, and with a voice so deep, it seemed unreal. But I knew it was real. I could see him clearly. Not a hallucination, I reasoned, after blinking over and over. As he spoke, I could just make out the words “GET OUT”, “MY HOME” and "RIP YOU FROM LIMB TO LIMB". These words were not enough to scare me away. I stood, ready for whatever came next. "Will this be the end?" my anxious mind thought...