At the time of writing this I’m currently 29 years old. The only reason I’m writing this, revisiting this memory. Is because my friend just showed up at my house. The only issue.. he’s been missing for 14 years.
From a young age my father always told me to stay away from the forest. I never asked any questions and I agreed. I’ve never been very popular in school. My main friends are Dylan, Jack and Joshua. Dylan is brave, never backs down from a fight. Jack is smart, getting straight A’s in every class. And Joshua shows no emotion, he just stares into thin air.
One night we were all out and we realised we were right next to the forest. I asked them if we could turn back but they knew how scared I was of that place so they nudged me closer. And so very hesitantly I entered. Dylan and Jack were making jokes about how creepy it all was while Joshua just slowly followed behind.
Every few minutes I could have sworn I saw something out of the corner of my eye but every time I turned to look there was nothing there. Suddenly, all the joking stopped. We approached an opening in the forest in the shape of a perfect circle. No trees, no rocks. Just dirt.
We all froze in fear as we heard a branch snap. We looked around but there was nothing to be seen. I felt something tug at my shirt and when I looked around there was a little boy. Maybe 8 years old if I had to guess.
“Can you help me find my mommy” the boy said in a unsettling voice.
Again we heard a branch snap but once more, there was nothing there. When I looked back the little boy was nowhere to be seen. Dylan cried out in pain and we all looked over and saw a claw mark going up his arm. Joshua was the first to run and we all followed.
I ran home and explained to my dad what happened. He had this angry tone to his voice that soon turned into panic. He sat me down and started to explain.
“Son, I’ve told you many times to never enter that forest. There’s a reason it’s so dark even during the day, why you constantly feel like you’re being watched, why you can swear you see something moving out of the corner of your eye.” He sighed before getting emotional “when I was your age, my best friend Simon and I went into that forest. We were drunk and barely knew what day it was. But we knew something was wrong. I can’t remember all the details but there was a boy who approached us and we ran for it. Simon acted strange the next few days and within a week, no one knew where he was. He was never found. Please son, don’t go back to that forest”
I agreed, I’d never step foot anywhere close to that place ever again. I went to bed and forced myself to sleep. The next day at school Dylan had his arm wrapped in a bandage. But he never spoke. He sat in his seat with a blank expression on his face. He didn’t do work, didn’t join in at recess, never moved. Weeks went by and eventually Dylan and his family moved house to try and find help for him.
One day my father showed me a post on Facebook. During the night Dylans mother awoke to find their front door wide open. Dylan was nowhere to be found. About 3 days later my father drove us past the forest due to roadwork. I could have sworn with every bone in my body that I saw Dylan standing at the edge just by the trees. I begged my dad to stop the car but he told me to stop being silly. There was no way Dylan could be here since his new home was over an 8 hour drive from here. He couldn’t have just walked here.
I was forced to believe what I saw was my eyes playing tricks on me. I forgot all about the incident. I grew up, I moved out, had a few rocky relationships before finding my wife and having a daughter together. And here we are in the present day. I woke up at roughly 4am to someone knocking on my door. I looked through the peep hole and there he was. Dylan… with that same blank expression on his face. The knocks were slow and became weaker as he continued.
The scariest part.. he hasn’t aged a day. 14 years later and he still looks like that 15 year old boy I grew up with. The knocking stopped. I looked through the peep hole once more and there was no one there. I leaned my back against the door and sat down. I was shaking, on the verge of breaking down. That’s when I heard it..
“Excuse me… can you help me find my mommy…”