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FIRST PLACE
In the Night
by Haley C., Age 13
LBC Middle School
Thunder boomed in the sky, lightning crashed, and rain fell from angry, dark clouds in a never-ending downpour. A strong wind pulled at Aiden Richland’s long brown hair in the dark of the stormy night. The long black jacket slapped against the 15-year-old’s skin. Her pajamas were soaked, and the rain beat against her face and the old house that stood behind her. Rain was pouring down, but no matter how hard she tried, she was stuck in place. She was drawn from her warm, dry bed by a loud howl in the middle of the night. It had sounded as if it came from the woods. The same dark woods in which she was standing and staring at now. With every lightning flash that lit up the night, she saw a little flash of the woods.
She could see a shadow of some sort, and it was moving. She wasn’t sure why she was here, but the howl had drawn her like a magnet. All she knew was something was in those woods, watching her……waiting for her. She could feel its gaze, and had felt it the moment she stepped off the last step of the porch.
Suddenly, a branch snapped - which made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. Curiosity took hold of her and she ventured closer to the outskirts of the woods. The rain hadn’t lightened up a bit and the thunder seemed louder. As the water ran down her face it made it even harder to see. However, she did see the outline of some small figure that appeared to be coming closer. It came about to her hip so she assumed it was an animal. Shivering, Aiden crept closer very slowly. In a flash of lightning she realized it was a wolf-like dog.
Aiden stretched out her cold hand slowly. The dog took a few steps closer sticking out its snout to sniff her hand as Aiden went to scratch the top of its head. She had expected to touch a cold, wet dog. Aiden’s heart froze and she moved back, when her hand went through the dog’s head. She stumbled backwards onto the wet ground in complete shock. Her mind was racing.
“Am I dreaming?” Aiden thought. “Is this dog a …..ghost?” she thought as the dog started towards her. It stopped by her feet and looked up at her sadly. The dog then stood and trotted to the ends of the wood, stopping suddenly and casting her a glance over its shoulder.
“He wants me to follow him,” Aiden thought. She felt the pulling feeling in her chest again. So, she stood up and made her way to the dog. She then stopped and looked back into the old house behind them. Her mother and she had just moved in, and Aiden’s mother was fast asleep in her room on the second story.
“I’ll be back before she wakes up,” Aiden reasoned. Then turning she had her mind made up to follow the strange dog. “Besides, this could be a dream anyway,” she thought.
Pulling her black jacket closer to her body, and wiping the brown, soaked hair out of her face, she followed the dog that marched ahead into the dark of the woods around the dark winding trails with tree limbs pulling at her clothes and hair. The dog didn’t have that problem as he just walked right through the limbs. They walked for a while, deeper and deeper into the woods. Aiden occasionally stopped when she heard a noise she thought wasn’t thunder or the rain.
Finally, they reached the last curve in the long path. There they found a woodsman in a hiking outfit was leaning against a tree. The dog ran to the man, who crouched down to pet it. Aiden’s mind was racing; if he could pet the dog was he a ghost too? Her eyes wide and breathing heavily, she took a step back. Her heart almost stopped when she stepped on a limb that made a large cracking noise, just like the lightning around them. He stood up while looking at her. While saying to the dog “Good boy, you got me one.”
The woodsman stood and made his way towards her while smiling evilly. Lightning flashed and in the light she realized half his face was missing. She could see his skeleton for he had no skin or an eye in the right side of his face. She screamed at the top of her lungs, the sound pierced the night.
Two feet away now the man smiled, commenting “Very pretty eyes. I like blue.” Pointing to her left one he said, “I think I’d like that one.” His smile grew wider. “You have nice skin, too.”
Then Aiden turned and tried to run, but was stopped by the dog. The skeleton man grabbed her from behind and dragged her into the woods. She put up a great struggle but could not escape. Hoping to complete his new body, the skeleton man laughed darkly as the thunder rolled.
Aiden was never seen again. And her mother woke up alone the next morning… to a howl.
THE END
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