“How can you prove it?” he said, doubting me.
      “Well… Honestly I can’t, but I swear it happened,” I said. I knew I had seen something, heard something, felt something. And there was no one who could tell me otherwise.
      It had happened yesterday. It was a bright summer day, and the chill of twilight was beginning to fill the air. I was taking a walk in the neighborhood woods, just to cool my nerves. The woods were very large, going on for miles, but I had been in them a lot and knew my way around quite well. It was beginning to get dark and I decided to take a shortcut I had walked many times with my friend Jerry who also lived in the area. I lived in the country, so he was the only real friend I had and we were real close. As I started to walk down the trail it got even darker from the unnatural amount of trees in the small patch of woods. Noticing this, I started to walk even faster. After a while it seemed like this “shortcut” was taking too long and I began to worry if I took a wrong turn when I saw a dark silhouette of a house. It was about 300 feet off the trail, and it was pitch-black dark inside and looked abandoned. I ignored it and kept walking. Out of nowhere I heard a whimper of a girl. I swung around and looked behind me. Nothing was there. It happened again, a little louder this time. Then I heard footsteps with the sharp snaps of twigs, thudding, quickly running in my direction. Then they stopped. Everything was silent. I was frozen in fright, staring into the darkness. I could see a human shadow very far in the distance, dashing in and out of cover, tree to tree. “Who’s there?” I yelled. Suddenly the shadow appeared only 50 feet away from me down the trail. We were staring at each other. I couldn’t breathe. I began to run. And I didn’t stop until I collapsed.
      I stayed there for awhile, afraid to move. It seemed like an hour when I finally decided to get up. I took a look around, trying to recognize my surroundings. The night had finally become fully emerged in darkness; therefore, I had no idea where I was. I had been in the woods at night before, but I never strayed too far from my house. I had always kept track of where I was. But I had run blindly, any way to get away. I wanted to scream for help, but I couldn’t manage more than a whimper. My throat was closed up, my legs where shaking, and I wanted to just lie down and die.
      I woke up the next morning to the birds cheeping. I now knew where I was. I started to walk home like nothing had happened when memories hit me of the last night. They stopped me in my tracks. I must have fallen asleep on the forest ground. I began to run home. When I got home there were two cop cars in my driveway. I ran inside the house. As soon as my mom saw she gave me a giant hug, then pushed me away. 
      “Where have you been!?” she screamed at me. The cops just watched.
      “I got lost in the woods… and… and…” I said recalling the events of last night. I decided to say no more. I just got lost in the woods, I said to myself.
      “The woods!?” my mom yelled back, obviously not believing me.
      “ I swear mom, it got dark and I couldn’t find my way out,” I said. The cops began to ask me questions. It all became a blur, but eventually they left. After the doors closed behind the cops my mom swiveled to me.
      “I don’t ever want you going in those woods without an adult again,” she said.
      Heck, I would be happy to never go in those woods again. I thought to myself. “Okay,” I said simply.
      The next day I went to Jerry’s house. I told him what really happened. “How can you prove it?” he said, doubting it.
      “Well honestly I can’t, but I swear it happened,” I said.
      “When I went down that path I didn’t see a house,” he said.
      “You probably just missed it,” I said, getting a little angry because he didn’t believe me.
      “Well I guess there’s only one way to find out,” he said smiling.
      “Oh no no no…” I said, panicking. I was trying not to sound scared. 
      “C’mon man… we’ll go right now, it’s bright as the devil today, it won’t be scary,” he said. An idea came to my head.
      “My mom said I couldn’t go in there without an adult,” I said, hoping this would convince him to give it up.
      “So?” he said. “No one will know.”
      I thought about it for a second.
      “Okay fine,” I agreed. “But as soon as we see it there we’re heading back.” I was terrified.
      “Okay,” he replied, not asking for anything more the then what I already agreed to do.
      When we walked into the woods it got darker from the overhanging trees. A shiver went down my back. Everything in my body was telling me not to go any farther. But I did anyway. Jerry led the way as I followed, looking around carefully, jumping at everything that moved. Normally I would be happy in the damp, cool area. But today it just made it more terrifying. That’s when we got into the area where the house was.
      “Stop,” I said, looking around. “I could swear it was right there,” I said, pointing where it was two nights ago.
      “I told you it was just your imagination, no one lives or has ever lived in these woods,” Jerry said, amused. I couldn’t believe it.
      “This must be the wrong spot,” I said.
      “Why can’t you accept that it was your imagination?” Jerry said harshly. I could tell he didn’t want to believe my story was real, while he knew it was. He was scared. I decided to act it out. “I guess you’re right…” I said. “Let’s go”.
      When we got out of the woods he seemed to calm down. I on the other hand was even more panicked. We got back to his house and there was a car in his driveway that wasn’t there before. It was Jerry’s mom. When we got inside she was sitting at the dinner table. She turned to us. “Hey guys,” she said, engrossed in the Sunday paper.
      “Hey mom, can Henry stay for dinner?” he said.
      “It’s fine with me if his parents aren't expecting him,” she said.
      “I’ll give them a call and ask if that’s alright,” I said as I walked over to the phone. It only rang once when my dad picked up the phone. 
      “Come home now,” he said. My heart dropped.
      “Sorry Jerry, I can’t stay. My parents want me home for dinner,” I said, trying to hide how worried I was.
      “That’s okay. Is there something wrong?” he said, obviously noticing the look on my face.
      “N-n-no” I said, stuttering. I couldn’t talk to Jerry right now. I haden’t heard that voice come out of my dad’s mouth since the day I came home from school early because I got in a fight. Something was wrong. I ran home.
      When I got to the front porch I was afraid to go in, afraid of what news was awaiting me. I stood out there for a minute or two, thinking about all the different possibilities that he would be mad about. “Did he figure out I was in the woods with Jerry? “Did he thi-“ The door flew open. It was my dad, but instead of looking angry, he looked sad. “A man has been killed in the woods,” he said.
      “How?” I said immediately.
      “No one knows. He was found just laying there in shock. He died in the hospital.”
I was stunned. “When?”
	“Just today,” he said grimly.
	“Wow… “ I said. I had that feeling in my stomach you get when you’re nervous, except ten times worse. I talked with my parents awhile, and after dinner I walked to my room. I was very tired, but couldn’t sleep. I spent most of the night staring at the ceiling. I couldn’t believe I had just a few hours ago been in the woods at the same time a man died. I swore to myself to never go in them again.
	Before long it was winter and the event had long been forgotten. Nothing else had happened and life went on as usual. The bell rang. All the kids jumped from the desks and ran out of the classroom, though the halls and burst out the doors to the winter wonderland that had accumulated as we were in school. Kids threw snowballs and made snow angels in the year’s first snow.  Jerry and I were walking home as usual when he suggested we cut through the woods like we used to. Without thinking I agreed.
      Snow fell between the cracks in the forest ceiling. It was beautiful. I was shaken from this trance by a snowball to the back of the head. This was war. I dived into cover, right as a snowball hit the ground behind me. I soon made my own and winged it back at him as hard as I could. Square hit to the chest! I ducked back to make another, but when I turned back around Jerry was nowhere to be seen. I looked around. He must be hiding. I scouted the perimeter of the small group of trees around me. He was nowhere to be seen. That’s when I saw him, he wasn’t hiding at all. Just walking slowly towards a house off the trail. Then it hit me, I remembered every detail. “Jerry!” I yelled, running after him. When I reached him he paid barely any attention to me at all. “What are you doing?” I asked.
      “Check out this house!” he said in a whisper, as if to not wake someone up.
      “Don’t you remember?” I said.
      “Of course! But we’re on a totally different side of the woods! Come on let’s go check it out!” he said. I looked back at the house. My stomach sank.
      “But it looks the exact same as the one I saw…” I said, starting to slowly walk backwards.
      “Oh come on, why are you so afraid of this house?” he mocked. I thought to myself. The sun was still high in the sky. What’s to be afraid of? A few mice? We walked up the front porch steps, creaking with every step. The shades were closed but it looked like it was pitch back inside. Jerry tested the doorknob. It turned. We walked inside into a small living room area. The couches were dusty and torn apart and the smelled like mold. Jerry started walking around the house.
      “This place is awesome!” he said, turning a corner into what looked like the kitchen, leaving me standing in the doorway. I decide to walk up the stairs. On the second step the wood collapsed. I yet out a yelp as I pulled my foot away and slowly walked down the stairs.
      “Well I guess we’re not going upstairs!” I yelled. “What did you find Jerry I yelled from the living room into the kitchen. No response. I walked into the kitchen. It looked as if there had been a fire in here a some point. The walls were blackened and the stove wasn’t much of a stove anymore. I walked through the kitchen to see some steps going downstairs. “Jerry?” I yelled downstairs. Still nothing. If he was pulling a prank this wasn’t funny at all. I scaled the stairs and reached the basement. I was so dark I could only see from the light coming down the stairs. I look for a light switch. I was ready for Jerry to jump out. Then I heard the whimper of a girl.
	
       
      
Mysterious Events in Marrow Woods, 6-8, p.1