The Haunted Trail

It was a dark and moonlit night in mid-October. The half moon shone brightly next to the stars in the sky. A slight chill was in the air just enough to make a shiver go up your spine. Rebecca and her friends had just arrived at the infamous, rustic, and isolated Carvington Farm in the country. They had heard rumors from the local townspeople of the strange events going on there and wanted to explore things for themselves.

The young friends slowly walked arm in arm around the farm being sure that no one was following them. Jessica suggested that they take the trail through the woods to find the abandoned log cabin rumored to be on the other side of the farm. Delia was hesitant to follow the trail through the woods without exactly knowing where the cabin was located. “Shouldn’t we just stick to this dirt road to try to find the cabin?” she asked. “No, going through the woods should lead us straight to it,” Jessica insisted. “Okay let’s try it and see,” Rebecca said confidently.

They started hiking down a steep incline while trying not to slip. “Wait! Shouldn’t we go get our flashlights out of the car first?” Delia asked. “No, let’s just use the moonlight as our guide,” Jessica said. “Well… okay, I guess,” Delia said hesitantly. “Don’t worry, we’ll be fine,” Rebecca replied.

The girls continued hiking down the trail cautiously watching their steps so they would not trip. As they trotted along the trail the air seemed to get colder and the sky darkened. Occasionally a breeze would rustle through the trees and make the leaves shuffle and scratch each other. Suddenly, the girls heard a twig break along the trail somewhere behind them.

“Did you hear that?” said Jessica. “Yeah I heard it,” Delia replied. “It was probably just a raccoon or something.” The girls continued walking a little more cautiously than they were before. A moment later they heard some leaves rustling and crunching on the ground behind them. They looked back but saw nothing in the shadow lined woods. They started walking a little faster toward their destination.

A few minutes later the friends heard a whispering noise followed by heavy breathing coming from behind them. They tried to ignore the strange noises until Jessica finally broke the silence and said, “Okay maybe this was a bad idea. Can we just turn around and go back now?”

“No, we can’t go back now Jessica. It was your idea to take this shortcut through the woods in the first place,” Rebecca replied in an annoyed tone. “Let’s just keep going.”

The unusual sounds continued as the girls walked along until Delia felt something touch her shoulder. She screamed and turned around only to see that no one was there. “What happened?” asked Jessica. “I felt someone touch my shoulder, but no one was there,” Delia replied. “Maybe it was just a leaf that fell from one of the trees,” Rebecca reasoned. “Yeah you’re probably right,” Delia said.

They continued hiking until someone grabbed Delia hand. She gasped and turned around to see little eyes peering up at her. “Hi Delia,” said the little boy. “Jesse what are you doing here?” Delia asked frantically. “I wanted to see where you guys were going so I followed you,” Jesse replied. “You know Mom doesn’t like it when you go out by yourself after dark,” said Delia. “I know, but I wasn’t by myself. I was with you,” Jesse said with a little smirk.

“Well next time let me know that you’re with me,” said Delia. “I’m sorry Delia. I didn’t mean to scare you,” said Jesse. “It’s okay,” said Delia. “So can we keep going now?” asked Jesse. “Yeah I guess,” Delia replied. “Well at least now we know what all those strange noises we heard were,” said Rebecca. “Yeah for sure,” said Jessica. “Let’s keep going,” said Rebecca.

So once again they all started walking along the trail. A few moments later they heard a twig crack and leaves crunch in the bushes behind them. “What was that?” said Jesse. “Well if it wasn’t you then who was it?” Delia nervously asked. Everyone looked at each other with frightened expressions on their faces. Then Rebecca hesitantly responded, “Maybe this trail really is haunted.”

Word Count: 729