The Long Walk Home

I was never afraid of walking alone at night. In fact, I used to be fond of it. But ever since that incident, I was never able to walk at night ever again. It all started when my friend Aaron invited us to dinner. I had recently moved to a new town and making new friends was always difficult for me. After a while though, I did manage to meet a few people who were as geeky as me. They were Aaron and Isaiah. They both were in the book club I joined and we instantly clicked with our Star Wars and video game references. One day during school, Aaron invited us for dinner at his house. Aaron and Isaiah lived close by, while my house was farther away. We decided after our last class that instead of going back to my house after school, I would go home with Aaron to his house and hang out there for dinner. Isaiah had come over too and we played video games all through dinner. All of us were so absorbed in the game that we didn’t realize it was approaching midnight. Isaiah only needed to cross the road to get home, but I had a little journey ahead. Aaron’s mom kept insisting that she’d drop me off, but I wanted to walk. After politely declining, I told her that I wished to walk back home since that was something I always wanted to do since moving to this new town. I knew which streets to take to get back home so I said goodnight and set out under the starry night.

The streets were hardly lit, but there was enough moonlight to light the way. After walking for some time I realized I had underestimated the distance home. On top of that, the cold was getting to me. I really regretted not taking the offer when I had the chance. I was so far out that it didn't make sense to turn back and ask for a ride. So I continued on... I soon approached a bus stop. There were no buses at that time, but there was a map of the region. I could see that my place was still far away, but there was a shortcut. If I took the path through the woods, then I would cut the distance by more than half. That seemed like the perfect idea at that time! So, without any further thought, I jumped the fence and dashed towards the woods.

The woods were eerily quiet. There were barely any noises, not even crickets. After walking a little I noticed there was a trail of blood on the ground. My heart sank after seeing it. The trail led to some bushes illuminated by the moonlight. I don’t know why, but I went to explore it. After peeping ahead of the bushes I saw something which made me sick to my stomach. There was a dead animal on the ground, with its body ripped open wide. I couldn't even tell what kind of animal it was, it was so mangled. It was like someone drew a line across the middle of the animal and sliced it in half. Its entrails were pulled out and placed on the ground. Its eyes were gouged out from the sockets. It wasn't hunting season and this was no hunter's kill. Before I could comprehend what was happening, I heard a loud shriek followed by a long sustained scream. The forest was so quiet and the sudden sound made me jump. My whole body was gripped in fear. I ran as fast as my legs could run. I didn’t even pay attention to which direction I was running. I heard the scream getting closer to me. Something or someone was chasing me and I wasn't about to stop and find out what it was. It wailed endlessly. My whole body went cold, I couldn’t even feel the bitter wind on my face as I ran in fear.

After some time, I managed to get away from whatever was on my tail. I was only able to briefly stop to catch my breath. I ran for what seemed like hours and still couldn’t find an exit from the woods. I soon found myself at an old trailer park. The place reeked of something horrible. I hoped there might be someone there to help me, but from the looks of it, it had been abandoned for a long time. As I began to back away, a tall figure emerged from the darkness in front of me. A chill ran down my spine. It was a shell of a man, with his eyes deep in their sockets. He looked pale and had the most unnerving grin. On one hand, he was gripping something that looked like intestines which were oozing out of his hand. The other hand was mangled and stained with blood. He looked at me and asked, “Are you lost, little lamb?”. I felt my skin crawl as he placed his hand in front of me and opened his grip, revealing the gore inside. My legs felt like collapsing. I let out a frightened scream and dashed in the opposite direction. My body was too gripped in horror to react or else I would have thrown up all over the place. As I ran, I could tell no one was chasing me, but I was too frightened to check. My only motivation was to escape the woods alive. After running a good couple miles I finally found the road. Terrified and shaking, with a pale face and haunting memory, I made my way back home... promising myself to never to walk home alone in the dark ever again.