The Forest Path

• Abigail Appelman, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2022

The dinging of the school bell echoes throughout the classroom as a swarm of students stampede toward the door. It’s a friday afternoon and they are all trying to get out as soon as possible, its the weekend and they are all excited because for two entire days they don’t have to sit at boring old desk and listen to teachers going on about how to calculate the diameter of a circle or why it is important to read books. Anyway, most kids are excited because they get to sit around and play video games, or play board games with their family, but unfortunately for me I don’t get to do either. I usually spend my weekends babysitting the Smith kids down the road. They are great kids and all, but they are also 4 years old and require a constant eye to ensure they don’t fall out a window or break their mother’s favorite vase.

The other thing is, on Fridays my mum works late, so I had to trek the long journey along the creepy forest path all the way back to my house. You might be thinking, it’s just a scenic route, it can’t be that bad? Well, it really is that bad, the trees are huge and tower over you, the leaves are also super thick and the branches reach out all the way across the path, so barely any light gets through even during the brightest hour of the day, during the hottest season of the year.
As I gathered my stuff up in my bag, swung it over my shoulder and made my way out of the classroom, I was already dreading the following moments, but when I was walking along the path alone, not another soul around for miles, and I heard a slight rustle in the bushes,I was terrified for my life. I started to pick up my pace, and when I heard footsteps behind me I only got faster. I was practically running when the thought came into my mind that it might be a good idea to turn around and just check that I wasn’t running away from a random stranger who was just taking a walk, so I did just that and I turned around to see who it was, but I only caught a glimpse of bright red hair (or something) before I felt something hit my back, I was sent plummeting to the ground and everything went pitch black.