What lies in the Woods

         Questioning the safety of the woods, Jacob stared out his window into the dark trees that lined the backyard.  His mother never told him why the woods were too dangerous to enter, but for fourteen years, he accepted her advice.  Tonight, however, as he sat watching shadows in the trees, a light caught his attention.  It looked like a flashlight flickering through the trees.  Soon it was joined by a second beam. 



         After he had spent the evening watching crime shows with his parents, Jacob was compelled to find the source of the light.  His parents were still up watching tv, so leaving through the backdoor was not possible.  Jacob decided to creep out through the window. He looked out at the ground; he would need a way to get down from his second story window.  Seeing it done on television so many times, Jacob decided tying his sheets together was the best solution.  His desk was the closest object to the window, so he fastened his sheets to it, and climbed out the window.



         Surely it was a mistake, Jacob thought as he looked down at the ground.  The two bed sheets only brought him about halfway down the wall.  He wondered if he should abandon all attempts at finding the light source, or if he should just jump.  As he clung to the sheets pondering his choice, Jacob heard a distinct sound of fabric ripping.  The next thing he knew, he had landed with a rather loud thump on the ground.  The porch light suddenly flicked on, Jacob grabbed the torn sheet and ran for cover behind a tree.

 

         “Wind must have blown something over,” he heard his dad say. 



         The lights went out in the backyard.  Jacob came out from behind the trees, leaving the sheet there, and made his way to the edge of the woods.  He could still make out the distant flickering of lights which seemed to be getting further by the minute.  Quietly but quickly, Jacob ran through the trees.  Suddenly Jacob felt a tug on the back of his shirt.



         Jacob tried not to scream.  He struggled, twisted, turned, and attempted to run away.



         “Let go!” Jacob demanded.  But still, he was trapped.  Jacob turned his head to face his attacker, readying his fists.  He looked into the face of a large tree.  His shirt had gotten caught on one of the branches.  Letting out a sigh of relief, Jacob untangled his shirt, and proceeded a little more carefully into the woods.  He could see the lights getting closer.



         Wandering for some time, Jacob felt sure that the lights were just up ahead, he approached very slowly and edged his way through the trees.  He wasn’t so sure that tracking down the source of the light had been a good idea, but it grew into an obsession.  Jacob could make out a very small clearing up ahead.  He knelt next to a fallen tree log to get a better look.  Two people, not much older then Jacob, were in the clearing.  There was one boy and one girl.  The male was digging a hole in the dirt, while the female held both flashlights.  Between them, there was a garbage bag. 



         For a few moments, Jacob couldn’t move.  He couldn’t believe what he was seeing.  He tried to slowly back away, but instead he fell backwards.  He made a loud ruckus as he fell into the branches.  The boy and girl both turned and looked right into his eyes.  Jacob screamed.  He ran through the trees in the direction he thought was home.  The boy ran after him.  Jacob felt dozens of branches whipping him in the face, but he didn’t care.  He would listen to his mom from now on, if only he find a way out. 



         Jacob glanced behind him several times as he ran, the distance between him and the boy was getting greater.  While he was glancing over his shoulder, Jacob miscalculated his steps and tripped over a fallen tree branch.  He flew foward, landing ackwardly.  Jacob lay motionless for a few moments trying to regain his thoughts.  He could hear dead leaves crunching as the other boy struggled to catch up with him.  Jacob tried to stand, but his ankle had been injured in the fall. 



         He was within an arms grasp of the boy when he managed to stand.  His ankle was throbbing, but he ignored the pain and ran.  He heard the boy yelling at him, but he couldn't make out what he was saying.  Jacob moved as quickly as possible, he didn’t know which way was home.  He briefly paused and glanzed over his shoulder.  It looked as though he lost his pursuer.  Jacob came to the edge of the woods.  He found himself at the corner store a few blocks from his house. 



         Jacob entered the store and made his way to the counter.



         “I need to borrow the phone.  It’s an emergency,” he said.  The clerk looked him over.  Jacob was wearing his pajama pants and a torn t-shirt.  The clerk placed the phone on the counter.



         “911 what is the emergency,” said a female voice on the other end of the phone.



         “Two people were burying a bag in the woods, I think it might be a body,” said Jacob.  After hanging up with the operator, Jacob went outside to wait.  A short while later, a single police car arrive to investigate the complaint.  Jacob slowly made his way through the woods, carefully avoiding placing too much weight on his sore ankle.  It took some time, but he finally emerged into the small clearing with two police officers right behind him.  The boy and girl were nowhere to be seen.  A small mound of dirt marked the spot they had been digging.



         One of the officers dug the spot up and pulled the garbage bag out of the dirt.  He carefully opened the bag.  The office backed away.



         “Never in all my years have I seen anything quite like this,” the officer said.  The other officer took a look in the bag.  Both looked at each other, unsure how to proceed.  Jacob stood waiting to find out what had been unearthed.  Suddenly, the second officer reached into the bag and pulled out the contents.  It contained a broken violin.  Attached to the violin was a note that read: This violin died a tragic death due to bad playing.  With the mystery uncovered, there was nothing left to do but bring Jacob home.



         One of the officers helped Jacob back to his yard where he found the sheet behind the tree, and then hobbled across the lawn to the back door.  Jacob apologized for his mistake and thanked the officer for helping him home.  As he turned the door handle to go inside, Jacob wondered just how his parents would react to his swollen ankle and adventures through the woods.





word count: 1156