Ghost Story

 

            “It is said that whoever enters the forest starts to feel nauseous, or as if they’re always being watched, when nothing is following them.” I spoke with the most terrifying voice I could make.

            “Really?” My friend Sherry asks with wide and curious eyes.

            “Yes,” I answer, “And rumor has it that once a shepherd and his flock of two hundred sheep went inside that forest. However, they never came back out, and there was no trace of them left anywhere.” I continue.

            “They never came back out? That’s scary!” Maya exclaims with a quivering voice.

            “And that’s not all,” I start.

            “Tell us Miranda!” Sherry begs.

            “There is a house near the Bantuit forest that is now possessed. A family used to live there. The youngest daughter, who was merely five years old, wandered into the forest wearing a brand new white summer dress. After entering the forest, she disappeared without a trace. The young girls family searched for years before giving up hope. Then, as suddenly as the forest took her, it let her out of its grasp five years later wearing the same clean white dress. However, that girl was never the same. Now her spirit haunts the house she once lived in, warning any new inhabitants of the house to stay away.” My friends stared at me, eyes wide with shock of the story I just told them.

            “That’s really freaky.” Maya says as she broke the silence.

“It’s getting really late.” Sherry says, “We should probably start heading home.”

“You’re right. It’s eight-fifty, we should go.” I answer.

“See you on Monday.” Maya says already walking away.

“Bye!” Sherry and I called as we each walk our own separate ways.

As I walk home, I think of the Bantuit forest that I told my friends about. It is a real place. I’ve been there many times before, but only during the day. All those scary things I said about, people getting anxiety and feel like they’re being watched, that only happens at night. However, I know that it’s true because many of my neighbors who have gone into the forest at night have had those exact feelings. One of my neighbors has gone in and saw a red ball of light hovering two meters above him. It scared him so much that he still has that mark of fear in his eyes. I know him, and he is not the type to get scared.

Here in Romania, everyone knows about the Bantuit forest. Ask anyone around, and their first answer will be “It’s haunted,” even if they’ve never been inside it before. Many tourists from all over the world come to check out the many strange phenomena that happen in that very forest. Even scientists from Canada and the United States check it out, but they have never found an explanation for these anomalies.

Finally home, I walk up the stairs and head inside to hear,

“Miranda Inger Stangi! Where have you been all night long? I’ve been worried sick about you!” My mother yells furiously.

“Well hello to you too.” I answer in frustration.

“Don’t joke around young lady! You have been out for so long, you don’t call me to tell me where you are, you turn off your phone and you come back in the dead of night when you could have been kidnapped, or worse, killed!” My mom shouts.

There is absolutely no reason to worry,” I answer very annoyed, “It’s only nine’o’clock. It’s not like I’m not old enough now.”

I start heading to my room and mumble to myself through clenched teeth.