by David Estes
Chapter Two: The disappearing path into the haunted forest
Nikki ran harder than she had ever run. She tripped once, scrambled to her feet, and tripped again. Her legs felt like jelly. Lying face down on the ground, she waited to be torn to shreds by the savage beast. Twenty seconds passed, and then thirty, but the attack never came.
A million questions rattled through Nikki’s brain like, “What if the animal is just really slow and is still coming after me?” or, “I wonder what it feels like to be dinner for a man-eating porcupine-beaver?”
Wanting to find out whether she was still being chased, Nikki rolled over onto her back and sat up, pulling her legs under her to sit cross-legged on the ground. She looked back toward the woods where the path had first appeared. Scanning the tree line, she couldn’t see the opening anymore. She would need to take a closer look.
Nikki marched bravely back to the forest and crept along the edge, watching for any signs of movement. After she had tiptoed about a hundred steps or so, she realized that the path into the forest had disappeared.