𝙻𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙵𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 {𝙼𝚊𝚜𝚔𝚢 𝚡 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛}

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩

I sat up straight and stretched popping my back, I groaned as I stood up and made my way to my bed, I decided I would try to go to sleep early and possibly take a small walk through town tomorrow. I put the sheets back on the bed and placed the pillows back at the head of the bed, I climbed into bed and opened the window above the bed so I could listen to the rain and fall asleep, I pulled the blankets up over my body as I laid down and sighed contently slowly drifting off to sleep

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I groaned as I opened my eyes to light shining in from my window, I yawned as I sat up and pulled the blankets off of me before standing up, I rubbed my eyes and made my way to my dresser to change into better clothes. I was going to go on a walk through town to hopefully clear my head and help me feel better, not that I really thought it would help, I was just very hopeful

I had been struggling for a couple weeks now with work and just life in general, my boss was rude and an absolute pig, not to mention my friend Pam had bailed on me multiple times now. I was struggling with my emotions and past stuff started coming up again making things worse for me. I'd been going to therapy for a while now specifically for my past problems, but now therapy wasn't even helping. I sighed heavily as I made my way downstairs

I grabbed my keys from the bowl and exited before locking the door behind me. I looked over at the forest behind my house, it seemed so ominous and almost scary, which only made me want to explore it even more. I shook my head and continued walking, I knew I shouldn't go into the forest, after all whoever did go in there never came out. I couldn't stop thinking about the forest and knew my curiosity would get the better of me eventually

I stopped walking when I noticed my friend Pam talking to a girl, she seemed happy and so did the girl, only once I got closer did I realize they were holding hands. I sighed as I realized Pam had been ditching me to go hang out with her new girlfriend, I was slightly upset but I felt as though I didn't have the right to be upset so I kept quiet and just walked past them

I stopped when I felt my phone buzz inside my pocket, I pulled it out to see my boss was calling, I answered it with a sigh. "Hey Y/N, I need you to work overtime this week. Janet just quit so now we're low on staff." My boss sounded angry, though he was always angry so that wasn't really saying much, "Oh.. Yeah ok." I simply agreed not wanting to cause any problems, "Good, I'll see you at work tomorrow." And with that he hung up

I put my phone back in my pocket and hung my head, of course Janet quit. I sigh and held my head, I had been wanting to quit for a long time now, work had become too stressful and I just needed some time to myself, but I couldn't quit, I was already struggling enough as is. I took a few deep breaths and put my hands on my pockets, I knew things were only going to become even more stressful and I already dreaded having to go to work tomorrow

I made my way back home deciding maybe it was best for me to just spend the day on the couch. As I made my way back I stopped to look at the forest, all I could think about was taking a nice relaxing walk through the woods, I knew about the possibility of not making it back out but honestly, that wasn't something I was too worried about at that moment. I made my way inside my house and rushed up the stairs

I grabbed my shoulder bag and stuffed my notebook and pencil inside along with a pencil sharpener, I grabbed an oversized hoodie from my closet and slipped it on before grabbing my bag and rushing back downstairs and out the door. I stood at the forest edge and looked up, the trees stood tall yet the forest seemed almost inviting. I sighed and slowly stepped in between two trees slowly but surely making my way into the forest

Now that I was actually in the forest, it didn't seem so scary, instead it was absolutely beautiful. The trees stood tall and almost completely blocked the view of the sky, the forest floor was greener than it was outside of the forest, the animals scurried between trees and the birds flew overheard, even the crickets could be heard chirping away. Everything was so peaceful and quiet, just the way I liked it

I sat down on a tree stump and pulled out my notebook and pencil from my bag, I decided I would draw for once. I looked out at the vast ocean of trees and then down at my notebook and began to draw. As I sat there quietly deer would approach, I would draw them as well and eventually I lost myself in the moment. I closed my notebook, happy with my drawings, and looked up. I couldn't see much of the sky but I noticed that it was now very dark

I couldn't help but wonder what happened to those people that disappeared. I didn't think there could possibly be a killer in the forest, it didn't make sense for someone to just roam the woods and kill anyone they came across. But maybe there was, and for some reason that thought didn't scare me, maybe it was the stress and my emotions getting to me but, the thought almost gave me... Hope?

I shook my head stood up, I decided it would be best for me to go home or at least try to find my way back. I sighed softly as I stretched and popped my aching joints, I smiled and looked towards where I'd entered at. I'd made sure not to venture too far into the woods so that I wouldn't get lost, and thankfully it was just light enough that I could see how to get back out

I looked around and noticed all of the animals were running away, they seemed spooked. I hummed curiously before turning back and going to walk towards the exit of the forest only to freeze when I heard a twig snap from behind me