Don't Go in the Woods

“Once upon a time, there was a girl named Miranda,” my mother told my younger brother. “She was a beautiful girl—”

“Was she prettier than Snow White?” My little brother asked.

I had always stood in the doorway while my mother told my little brother, Hero, stories. I had been waiting for her to tell Hero this story.

“Yes, she was prettier than Snow White. Miranda, while beautiful, was very curious, and curiosity always kills the cat.” 

I wanted to cut in and say that “Curiosity killed the cat,” wasn’t the full phrase. The full phrase was “Curiosity killed the cat but satisfaction brought it back.”

“She lived in this very village, that’s right, the one we live in now. Her mother had raised her right, at least that’s what the mother thought. She had taught Miranda three things, do all your chores, be polite, and never go in the woods. Miranda didn’t listen to her mother. Although I don’t want to scare you, Hero, I must tell you what happened to the poor girl, and what will happen to you if you don’t listen to me.”

“What will happen?” Hero questioned

“At night, Miranda snuck out of her cottage and went into the woods. In the woods, she met many fearsome beast. She fought the beasts all night and in the morning she wasn’t back in her bed as she had planned, instead, her mother didn’t find her and told the police. The police found her dead in the woods, it was a bloody mess. She had many claw marks across her chest. And guess what, Hero? Miranda, she haunts those woods. The woods in our village,”

Mom had never told me this part.

“Hero, this is Miranda’s house,”

I saw Hero halfway under the covers, and I ran, I ran outside I didn’t shut the door behind me and I didn’t look back. Mom never told me that last part. Was it true? I heard my mom calling me.

“Tethys! Where are you?” she called

“I-I-I, uh, I’m getting some fresh air, I’ll be inside in a minute,” I lied through my teeth. I had to go see Basker.

Basker was my best friend, he always stayed up late with his nose in a book and his parents owned the local museum and wrote books on the past of our village. He lived three blocks away, and I ran that three blocks to his house. And knocked on the door violently. 

Basker answered the door. “Tethys? What are you doing here? It’s almost nine!”

“It’s urgent, let me in,” I said, then let myself in,

“What’s up?” he asked as I sat down at his kitchen table. 

“So you know the story about Miranda that every parent tells their child?” He nodded. “When I was younger, my mom told me that Miranda got lost in the woods,” 

“Because according to the story, that’s what happened. What are you getting at here?”

“My mom told Hero that she snuck out in the middle of the night, went into the woods and when her mother came to check on her, she wasn’t there, so as any sensible parent would do, she alerted the authorities. The authorities found her the next day brutally murdered. Basker, Hero is eight,”

Basker looked wide-eyed at me. His brown mop of hair fell in front of his face, he didn’t bother to fix it.

“Then he said that my house was Miranda’s house and that she haunts the woods and sometimes our house.” I continued.

“I think my parents are still up, one second,” Basker said and started running down the hall. He came back a minute later with his parents.

I retold the story. 

“That happened, what your mother told Hero, about where you live, but ghosts aren’t real, the woods are perfectly safe.” Basker’s mom told me.

All was quiet for a few minutes. “I’m going into the woods, Basker, meet me at my house in fifteen minutes.” I ran out that door. 

I ran the three blocks to my house and into my room so pack a backpack with a flashlight, food, and two water bottles. I packed some clothes and a book just in case. As promised, Basker showed up in jeans, a t-shirt, and a small backpack. 

“Time to go,” I said and started running out the door. Basker ran after me. 

“Tethys! You’re running head-first into danger! Stop, you’re going to get hurt!” He yelled after me

“Come on! You’re so slow,” I smiled and continued running into the woods. 

For a while, we kept running, running until you couldn’t see because the forest was so dense, even if it was day. I started hearing growls, and it sounded like the trees were talking. 

Stop it. Everything is fine, the trees aren’t talking-- they’re trees!

“Tethys, I think we should go ba--” I Basker screamed “Tethys! Tethys! Help!” 

I ran towards Basker, there was a girl there, about the same height as me,  she was biting and clawing at Basker. I threw my backpack off and ran at the woman. I hurdled at her and knocked her off of Basker, I found a sharp stick and stabbed it into her chest. She looked down and showed no sign of pain. She ran to me, baring her teeth, she had jet black hair and looked like she was in a nightgown.

Miranda?

I hesitated and that was almost my downfall. I came to my senses and she cut three gashes in my chest with the stick I had stabbed her with. I fell backward and my vision faded in and out and the last thing I saw was Basker getting up and running at the girl. 

“Don’t hurt her!” He yelled

Then, I blacked out; I became lost to the dense wilderness that had trapped Miranda in. I would forever be in the endless void that the small population of my former village called the "Haunted Woods”.     

Soon, I would bring them all down. Miranda and I would rule them all.