Julia waited on the park bench farthest from the parking lot. She was told to meet a boy from her math class here at 8:00 tonight. It was now 9:00 and Julie was getting cold and impatient. She crossed her arms. Why did she have to like someone who was rude enough to leave her alone at the park, waiting for them for over an hour. She wouldn’t have minded so much if she’d had someone to talk to. The park was nearly deserted except for a few joggers and a group of teenagers who were sitting on the swings and laughing loudly. Julia shivered and checked the time on her cell phone; 9:20.
Julia rubbed her hands together to keep them warm. She sighed as she headed for the forest. “While I’m here, I might as well explore” she muttered to herself. As she approached the fringe of trees the teenagers on the swings stopped laughing and one of them called out “You better not go in there, I heard it’s haunted.” Julia rolled her eyes and turned around. “Good. Maybe I’ll get lucky and something will kill me” she called back. Julia turned away from the laughter and headed into the forest.
Things seemed to grow dim immediately. It took Julia’s eyes a few seconds to adjust to the sudden darkness. Now she could see just enough to navigate through the trees and vines. Julia walked easily and quickly through the forest for about an hour and a half before it hard to see. Then, she got clumsy.
As Julia pushed her way through a tangle of branches, she stumbled and dropped her phone. She bent down and felt around for it. “Oh, well” she said shrugging “I needed a new one anyway.” Instead of going back to the park Julia kept walking, though it was darker and much harder to see. After a while, Julia decided it was time to head back to the park. She stopped walking and stood completely still, listening for the sound of laughter. All she heard was silence. Julia turned around the way she had come and started walking. After about a half hour, she stopped again to listen. Still nothing. “Don’t panic” she whispered to herself “Maybe they left.” Julia was starting to wish that she had left the park a long time ago also. She sat down against the trunk of a tree and wrapped her arms around her knees. “I’ll find the way out in the morning” she whispered into the darkness.
