Hi, I’m Tom. I’ve held this secret for a long time but I think now is a good time to tell it. Every year in Winter, my family and I went to our family cabin. We would stay inside for most of the time and we would do stuff as a family there. One year, when my mother was sick, we decided to go to the cabin in Summer. Since it was summer, we explored the forest around the cabin a bit more.
I explored the forest with my twin sister, Ana. On the first day, we wandered through the forest and found many animals. We also found some animal carcasses which freaked us out as we were 6 at the time but we just ran away. Our dad, however, was angry that we were going around the forest, he was worried that we would get hurt.
That night, I heard my parents argue together.
“They’re kids, it’s summer. Let them look around.” My mum said.
“It’s dangerous. We can’t.” my dad shouted.
“What’s so dangerous. Some bear, yes. I’ll go with them tomorrow.” My mum responded.
“No!” he shouted, “it will be your funeral.”
“What are you hiding?” my mum asked him.
“I can’t tell you.” He whispered.
“Then they’ll g-” my mum said, except she started coughing and started to choke. I ran to their room to see if she’s okay, but my dad just slammed the door in front of me. I went back to bed and pretended to sleep. I heard my dad walk around the house until finally leaving.
Finally, I was able to sleep. I was curious about what happened the day before when my dad left but I decided to tell nobody. In the morning, our dad told us that we can’t leave our home but I still managed to sneak out.
Exploring the forest alone was scary, but I still wanted to find clues of what happened the day before. I stumbled upon a clearing in the forest filled with bags and cages hanging from the treetops. I went to inspect one and saw that there was something squishy inside. I poked the bag and it started to wriggle. I jumped back in fright, but I tripped. I started to crawl away, but I heard a crack behind me. I screamed as loud as I could.
“I didn’t mean to scare you, sweet.” A woman told me.
“Who are you?” I asked her while standing up.
“I’m Jane. I’m looking for my daughter, did you see her?” Jane told me.
“No, sorry.” I shily responded.
“We couldn’t find her this morning. I hope she isn’t lost.” Jane mumbled while a tear dripped down her cheek.
“I-” I tried to tell her before someone grabbed me from behind.
“Who are you!” my dad yelled, “get away from him.”
“Dad no. Her daughter is missing.” I told him.
“I don’t care. I told you not to go out.” He told me, “Come on.”
He started to drag me but Jane ran up to my dad and grabbed him.
“She had brown hair and blue eyes. Did you see her.” Jane begged. Tears streaking down her face.
My dad’s face looked stunned.
“No!” he responded.
Back at the cabin my dad was furious. He locked me in my room and told me that I’ll be able to go out when we leave. I was bored so I looked out the window. Outside I saw many things. The trees that inhabited the forest lush with leaves. Birds flying around the sky. Then, I noticed another clearing. A lake. I knew I had to go to the lake but how, I didn’t know yet.
That night, I waited until everyone was fast asleep and I opened the window and jumped down. The fall was long but I managed to land on some grass which cushioned my fall. I ran in the direction of the lake to look around. The lake was the most beautiful thing I saw. Inside the lake, I saw a tiny glow. I decided to try to swim down and see what it was.
I dived into the lake and went towards the glow. It was a flashlight. The flashlight pointed towards a cave, so I swam into the hole that led to the cave. The cave was huge. I heard footsteps echo from ahead of me. At first, I was going to head back but then my curiosity took held of me and I followed the sound of the steps.
At the end of the cave, I found a horror unimaginable. My dad was holding one of the bags that I saw in the clearing of the forest. He threw the bag at the feet of someone. A girl. She had long green hair that looked like algae. Her eyes as blue as the sea. Her hands and feet were webbed like a frog. She knelt down and used her claws to tear open the bag. Inside, there was a girl, with brown hair. I gasped as I noticed that it had to be Jane’s daughter. My dad and the girl turned to look at me. My dad’s face looked terrified. The girl however had an evil painted across her body. My dad pleaded for her to spare my life but she started to chase for me. I ran as hard as I could through the hole in the wall and up the lake. The girl however was a fast swimmer. The webbed feet helped her. Up on land, I continued to run until I lost her. The girl started to giggle and then started to sing a song.
Sleep sleep, little sheep
Sleep sleep, don’t say a peep
Sleep sleep, little child
Sleep sleep, run until I’ve thrived
The song was hypnotising but I tried to fight it. I heard my dad yell for me as he went around the forest. At last, he stumbled upon me and he looked stern.
“I told you not to go out. I told you it was dangerous.” My dad said.
“Why, why did you take her child?” I asked him.
He started to cry, “I… I was saving your mother.”
I was shocked. He made a deal with the girl to save our mum. I didn’t like the idea but the idea of my mum dying hurt me. I went to hug him but the girl jumped onto him.
“I’ll spare your son. If I get you.” The girl giggled. She started scratching, clawing and biting off pieces of him. I ran as fast as I could. Towards home, I ran up the stairs to get my mum. She didn’t believe me but when the next day she didn’t see my dad, she started to believe me. We quickly packed our bags and left for home.
My sister still doesn’t know anything about it. She still thinks that my dad was killed by a bear but I’m too scared to tell her. Each year I still go to the lake to search for my dad but I haven’t found him. I still sometimes hear the girl’s song, but recently I’ve started to see her, and her song changed.
Sleep sleep, little sheep
Sleep sleep, don’t say a peep
Sleep sleep, hear my belly
Sleep sleep, because I’m hungry