Scary Stories to Chill Your Bones

Give Me a Hiss

"Penelope, are you coming?" Sophie asked into her phone. She was inviting her best friend Penelope on a hike in the woods at night. Sophie really enjoyed to scare her friends, and she knew that Penelope was afraid of the dark. It wasn't really night yet, but the Sun was just touching down over the hills of Houston and turning the sky pink and orange. Sophie knew that if she wanted to walk, it was now or never. "No thanks," Penelope said. "Oh, come on," Sophie begged. "Are you a little scared baby?" "No," Penelope said. Sophie could tell that her friend was racking her brain, trying to think of an excuse not to go. "My mom just told me I have to stay home and watch my little brother while she goes to the store." Penelope finally said. "Fine," Sophie said. "I'll go by myself."

"Mom, I'm going out," Sophie shouted. She had grabbed a key to her house, a flashlight, a water bottle, and a pack of peanut butter crackers (Who knows? Maybe she would get hungry). She closed the door behind her and locked it with the key. As she started the walk to the woods, she thought, Finally. Peace and quiet at last. The chirp of cicadas accompanied her thoughts as she reached the woods and clicked on her flashlight. The woods were basically a gravel path with trees sprouting from the ground and patches of dying grass where the sunlight couldn't reach. The autumn leaves made a scrunch, scrunch, scrunch noise under Sophie's shoes. Though many people may find walking in the woods just as night was falling by themselves was creepy, Sophie enjoyed the experience. She breathed in the scent of pine needles on the damp ground, feeling totally relaxed. Sophie was the kind of girl other people were jealous of. She had a striking appearance: caramel colored, long, curly hair that fell like a waterfall down her back. She had darting blue eyes and the straightest teeth most people had ever seen. She was athletic and strong. That was probably why she had made the cheerleeading squad at her highschool. Her family was very rich because her dad was the CEO of an important company, so Sophie lived in a very nice house on the nicest street in her neighborhood. She wasn't all that smart, but who cared? She was the pretty, rich, number 1 cheerleader that everyone liked. Numerous boys acted like they were gentlemen in front of her just to impress her. This made her mad. Sophie didn't care that she was pretty. She didn't wear any makeup so that she didn't draw attention to herself, even though about 95% of other 16 year-old girls did. She didn't try to start any fads, though she ended up being the girl everyone wanted to be like. Anyway, here in the woods, she could escape from all that. She didn't have to be Sophie Reed, the popular girl who all the boys screamed for. She could be Sophie Reed, the laid-back, regular girl that no one noticed. She walked along the trail, listening to the rhythm of the cicadas chirping. Every now and then, she would see a rabbit dart across the trail. She smiled to herself as the Sun dipped lower across the horizon, the hills turning from pink to black. She shone her light along the trail as she walked a long the damp trail. She walked for a few minutes, just enjoying the warm night air. Then, she got into a section of the woods that was completely covered by trees. Only the tiniest sliver of sunlight could be seen there. But that was during the day. Now, the only light visible was Sophie's flashlight and a couple of fireflies, flickering on and off, dancing in the breeze. Sophie picked up her pace. The stretch of thick trees was only about 100 yards, but she wanted to get out as quickly as possible. She was starting to understand why Penelope was afraid of the dark. She heard some strange whistling noises, and then some rustling. She whipped around, shining her flashlight on the thick trees. The trees looked like monsters, their arms reaching toward Sophie. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest, her breaths short and sharp. Then the worst possible thing happened. Her flashlight went off. She gasped clicked the switch. Nothing happened. She repeatedly slid the switch back and forth, but the bulb remained dark. "No," Sophie said out loud. "Oh, no. This is not happening." She silently cursed Penelope for not talking her out of coming on this silly hike in the first place. Then she heard a hiss. At first it was soft, but then it started to get louder. Sophie squinted at the ground, but she saw nothing but gravel. Then, she felt an indescribably painful pain in her leg. "OW!" Sophie shouted. She felt herself falling. She landed hard in the dirt, gravel scraping against her face and legs. The pain shot up her leg. Her whole body went numb. Her vision blurred. Snake. She thought. I'm killed by a snake. And then she passed out, never to wake again.