A Journey Through The Woods

Robert and Rachel, left school at the same time they do everyday. It was the usual ritual. Robert would get out of class around 2:55 and wait for his little sister, who was only seven, by the water fountain. She would finally come running out with excitement and news of the day’s events around 3:05. After meeting up, the two of them would walk the three blocks to their roomy historic, three-story house.



Their walk would usually take them down sunny streets with tall oak trees which for most of the year would provide a nice shady breeze. The sidewalks that paralleled the streets were in perfect shape. Not a place for a foot to catch and trip somebody. The houses were warm and inviting. The people were as warm and friendly as those houses along Maple Drive; everyone knew one another. It is as one could say it, the perfect neighborhood.



The day was nice. The fall weather was perfect and pleasing. Robert had loved fall and had loved it for as long as he could remember. He would remember the time when he was nine years old and was walking home from school. Every time he came to a pile of leaves he would jump into them. He smiled as he thought of this. “Ah, the joys of being little,” he thought. Before he knew it, the leaves would soon be falling again and he could enjoy watching his sister experience the same joy.



With the day being so pleasant, Robert turned to his sister and said “Why don’t we take the long way home and go through the woods?” “Why would you want to go through the scary woods?” Rachel replied. “Because it is a nice day and I’d like to enjoy it more. Besides, the woods aren’t scary but if it makes you feel better, I’ll hold your hand.” Rachel gave in, took her brother’s hand, and the two of them headed off to the woods.



Before they knew it, they found themselves at the end of a street facing a dark, forbidden looking area of towering trees and monstrous overgrown shrubs. Amongst the shrubbery was a narrow winding, dirt path that eventually ended in the back of a field, behind their house. The trail would usually take about an hour to walk. As the two stood there, Robert began to have a creepy feeling about his plan but decided to go on head with it. So Robert and Rachel headed off into the deep, dark woods not knowing what was ahead.



The two kids walked along the trail silently. Only once in a while would little Rachel ask questions such as “Why do trees grow like that?” or “How come those things look like that?” Robert would make up something since he really didn’t know how to explain it to her.



About halfway down the trail, Rachel asked “Can we rest a minute? I’m tired.” So the two of them found a log and sat down. Rachel looked around and became very interested in her surroundings. Robert sat thinking of the day’s events and how he was going to explain to his dad that he had picked a fight with somebody and he was supposes to fight him tomorrow right after school. He also thought of how he was going to explain the F on his math test to his mom.



All of a sudden, there was a loud crash behind them. Startled, they both turned around to find to their surprise nothing going on. Trying to reassure himself and his sister, Robert said “Must have been something off in the distance somewhere. May be there was something like a car backfiring on the highway or something. Yeah, that’s what it was; a truck or car backfiring on the highway.” The two sat there for a minute longer when yet another noise came from behind. This time, it was even louder. They both turned around to look and again found nothing happening.



“I’m scared!” said the small seven year old to her older brother. Robert looked down and tried to calm her. “Rachel, I’m sure it was another car backfiring on the highway. I don’t think you have anything to worry about.” He gave her a hug, took her hand again, and said “Come on, let’s go home.”



As the two started down the trail toward home, a third sound, much louder than the other two, came from behind them. This time, the thud was followed by laughter. Once again, the two turned around. To their surprise, they saw a house. It was an old house, made of old rotten logs. It came from nowhere. It just appeared as if it had been there the entire time. The sight of this caused the two children to become frozen in their tracks with fear.



An older, grandmotherly-looking woman appeared at the door. “Why, my children, are you so frightened?” All Rachel and Robert could do was stand as if they were frozen in time and stare at her. The old woman began walking toward them. “There is no need to be frightened, my dears. Oh, you poor things look so tired and hungry.” When she finally got close enough to them, she put both of her aged hands on their shoulders and began walking them to the door of the rugged house. “Come in and have some food and rest awhile,” she said as she nudged them forward. Robert and Rachel were so stricken with fear that the only thing they could do was follow her in.



Once inside, the two siblings sat down at the table in the center of the room. The house itself only had three rooms: a bathroom, bedroom, and kitchen/living area. The two sat and looked wondrously at the surroundings about them. Everything appeared to be from a past time period. The ancient relics sat around covered with mounds of dust and cobwebs hung from every corner and rafter. The furniture was old and had appeared to be extremely used.



The food, however, smelled delicious. The smell could be compared to their mother’s cooking at home. The aroma of chicken stew, hamburger steak, and mash potatoes filled the room much like it did when their mother cooked it. The lady pulled out two glass plates and began to spoon the food onto it. She then put the food in front of them and asked, “Would either of you like to say Grace?”.



For the first time since they’d met the woman, Rachel spoke up and responded back, “What’s that?” “My dear, you don’t know what saying Grace is? You’ve never prayed to bless the food before you eat?” “Oh, you mean praying that prayer before you eat. We do that too,” the young girl replied. “Well, why don’t you say it then?” Rachel then went on to bless the food saying the prayer she always said at home when asked to bless the food.



Robert sat there, intrigued by the fact that his sister didn’t seemed to be bothered by the situation. He, unlike Rachel, had a bad feeling about it all. Nothing made sense to him. Was he dreaming? Was he hallucinating? All Robert knew is that he was sitting in this strange house that appeared out of nowhere, eating food with a woman he didn’t know, in the middle of the woods where no humans lived.



He watched as his sister finished her food. He then glanced up at the old woman to find her glaring at his sister intently. Then he turned back to his sister and said, “Rachel, I think we need to be heading home.” “But I’m not ready to leave, Robert.” The wrinkled woman chimed in “Robert, why such a rush. You haven’t even finished your supper.” “I’m not hungry!” he replied then turned back to his sister. “You know mom wants us to be back by a certain time.” “I’m not ready to leave though. I want to stay a while longer.”



Getting irritated by his sister’s stubbornness, he grabbed her hand and said “Rachel, let’s go, now!” “Oh, ok then” she replied in an upset manner. The two headed out the door but once he crossed the threshold, something felt different. He turned to look at his hand that was holding Rachel’s only to find that hers wasn’t there. Then he turned around to see if she was behind him. She wasn’t there! As he looked around him frantically for his young sister, he came to a horrible discovery. The house that had so mysteriously appeared had vanished. Nothing was left.



“Rachel!” he yelled again and again but there was no reply. Only silence. He didn’t think it was true, but he just had a sinking feeling. He was afraid for the worst. He had felt that he had lost her hand just as they crossed the threshold. Suddenly, it set in. She had disappeared along with the house and the mysterious old woman.