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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

Write a story in which characters are warned not to go into the woods.

Posted in Mystery on Jan 7, 2021

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✍️ 98 stories

“A Second Chance” by Melissa Kay Bishop

Submitted to Contest #16

  “You can’t do that!” Mabel screeched. “You have arthritis and a heart arrhythmia! Not to mention you haven’t so much as walked around the block in years.”Merle slumped over his plate of dry scrambled eggs and mumbled to his wife, “But I’ve heard it’s a beautiful hike.”“It very well may be,” Mabel said over the dishes she was crashing into the sink of running water. “But you can see all those nature things on the Discovery Channel. And you won’t have to risk your neck. Just because some kid told you he had a good time hiking this ...

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“The Strange Tale Of Avina Vaillancourt” by Tobi Anderson

Submitted to Contest #16

Avina Vaillancourt was an idiosyncratic child according to her peers. Substantially, she was such a bizarre child that she did not care about the fact that she was an oddity. Avina really only cared about her one friend, Louie, who in an even more ghastly turn of events was a talking dog. “Lou-ie,” she huffed, leaning over in her seat to shake the curled figure beside her. Louie was a brown spotted Picardy Spaniel from Avina’s home country. He was a pup given to her on her eleventh birthday. Her father, Gibson Vaillancourt, had taken him in ...

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“Alan into the Woods” by Kan Jittapramoulboon

Submitted to Contest #16

Alan Smith lived with his parents in a small village by the Dark Woods. His parents always left early after breakfast for work and came back late evening. Every time before they left, his Mum would always warn him the same thing.         ‘Remember, Alan, bread and jam for your lunch is in the cupboard. You can play at the yard in front of the house, or play with Peter. But don’t you ever go near the Dark Woods, understood?’         And when he asked why...

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“Olympian Files” by Jay Nicole

Submitted to Contest #16

“Zachary stay out of that room” “Zach stay out of the basement” “Zach there’s a lock on the shed for a reason” “Zachary stay away from those woods” These words have been drilled into my  head, pretty much all my life. I can be halfway out of my room, trying to sneak my way down to the basement and my Aunt is in the other room yelling at me. Nothing gets past my Aunt Kelly, although every once in awhile, I’m able to get away with things. For instance, that room I was talking about earlier, is my mom’s room, when I was 11, I found the key...

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“"You must never go into the Woods alone."” by Alannah Norton

Submitted to Contest #16

Ever since little Penelope was young, she had heard the words of her grandmother echo in her mind: “You must never go into the woods alone.”    Every time she heard it echo in her mind, she had this peculiar feeling, she wanted to defy her family. She felt like the woods were always calling out to her.    The woods were part of the village, just past the windmill and the crumbling church. It was part of their life and they used it to their advantage, greedily, they chopped it d...

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“A Tight Grain and A Rich Stain” by Grant Gordon

Submitted to Contest #16

I pushed the sturdy wooden chair back from the table as slowly and quietly as I could manage, yet somehow my mother still heard and poked her head into the dining room. “Is your breakfast done?”  “Almost,” I replied, shoveling eggs into my mouth, leaning far enough forward to not make a mess, “done! Can I go out and say good morning to dad now?”  “If you’re really done,” she offered with a smile in a tone of mock severity. My parents enjoyed making it seem as though they ran a disciplined and structured home. However, we all unders...

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“Sparta and the Wolf” by Niko Alexander

Submitted to Contest #16

It's a tale as old as time itself; Stay away from the woods or you will never return. Both the parents of Rome and Constantine warned them nearly every day of the threat posed by the woods near the edge of town so being obedient boys, they never strayed away from their safe streets and houses. Every day the two boys studied in class, went home, ate with their families then laid their heads to rest. On a day like any other, Sparta had showed up to town. Sparta was an old soldier from the days when the town was not perfect. His face showed the...

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“Sixteenth Birthday” by Isabella Janicki

Submitted to Contest #16

Once upon a time, in a faraway land near a forest, lived a boy called Edwin, and his mother. They had lived there for all their lives, and they had never gone into the forest. When he was a child, Edwin often asked his mother why they never went there. “Surely,” he said, “there are fruits and things to be had?” But his mother said the same thing each time he asked: “It is forbidden.” When he got to be a bit older, Edwin often liked to go play by the edge of the trees. To see what he could see inside the depths of them. He never did see much,...

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“Saved by the rings” by Jeanne Lejeune

Submitted to Contest #16

“You must never pass the mile marker beside the poppy field, or wander under the guarding oaks, otherwise you’ll be caught by the creature in the woods.”This was the typical scary story told to children to stop them from misbehaving. There are many different versions;“Clean your room, or the monster of the forest will get you.”“Be nice to your sister, or the tree man will take you away.”“Never wander off from your parents, or the wood thing will find you.”From a young age, a healthy fear of the forest bordering the town of valae was instille...

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“Midnight Moon II” by Lilith Sylvaine

Submitted to Contest #16

 Once upon a time in a little village in the countryside, along a twisting, bumpy road, there sat a beautiful cottage. In the cottage there lived a kind young woman by the name of Rose Winters, and on this sunny afternoon she was exceedingly excited as she hurried through the rickety wooden gate and up the cobblestone path. The garden bloomed bright with wild flowers and the sun sparkled on the wind-rippled pond as she unlocked the front door and slipped inside, the reason for her excitement clutched tightly in her hand.Rose abandoned h...

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“Don’t go into the forest” by Kathleen Tison

Submitted to Contest #16

There's only a few more hours. Hours, like weights on her. They hold her down, keep her anchored. They are like shackles. She is bound by them. She needs them even as she strains against them.  They are what she has.What she doesn't know is if they are enough. The day began with out so much ominous thought. The day began without so much blood and drama. Lilly stood in the parking lot at the basin of the mountain and shuffled her feet. She was the only solo traveler. The only single perso...

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“The Crystal Girl” by Wolf Royalty

Submitted to Contest #16

Once upon a time, there lived a beautiful princess named Leilany. She had long classic Hawaiian curls, a beautiful chai skin tone, cute monolid eyes, and iris’ a warm sable tone. She resided in a magnificent castle. A castle so big and beautiful that it could be seen for miles. The castle sat in the middle of an enchanted forest that was home to many fantastical creatures such as Griffins, Unicorns, Dragons, Faries, anything you could imagine.  Except it’s the 21st century, Leilany was just a normal 7 year old girl, and she didn’t have ...

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“Going into the woods” by Kristin DeLong

Submitted to Contest #16

All of my life, I had been warned, “Don’t go into the woods!” and I would answer back, "Why not?" I was most insistent on finding out, however, no one ever had a good enough reason. It was almost as if it had started out as a rumor which eventually had grown into an urban legend. That is, until I asked Granny Taylor. She isn’t my grandma, she is the town’s local homeless person. Most of the time she was seen walking around, pushing a grocery store shopping cart loaded with her belongings. She wore giant sunglasses, red lipstick and a giant w...

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“Porridge” by Kate Napper

Submitted to Contest #16

I’d always hated the smell of oatmeal and that morning, the same as every morning, the hot wheaty-cardboard stench clawed its way up to my bedroom as Dad yelled Time to get up, baby! Baby. One day I’d get out of this house, I promised myself as I slunk downstairs in the semi-darkness: I’d get out of this forest, like Mr Piper next door, and go somewhere no one called me baby. Mom was lacing her running shoes by the front door and Dad, already squeezed into his spandex, was stirring the large vat of oatmeal on the stove. “Come on, baby, get...

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“Mother Knows Best, or does she?” by Taya Yanoschick

Submitted to Contest #16

Once upon a time… “Kacey, Johnathan! Come back here this instant! How many times do I have to tell you don’t EVER go into those woods!” Mother yelled at us from the other side of the yard. My brother and I turn at the wooded line and look back at her. Once we return to a distance that was far enough from the woods she returned to our big house. “I don’t know why she refuses to let us go in the woods. What could be so bad?” I ask my brother who is 3 years younger than me.“Maybe the trees come alive and they would try to eat us?” My 10-ye...

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