In the land
of autumn and maple lived two young men. Stephen the goat farmer and Nathan the
candy maker. These two were the best of friends and enjoyed their lives in the
ever-lasting beauty of the autumn forest.
One night
while Nathan was closing up his store he spotted a piece of candy on the
ground. “I don’t remember dropping this” he said. He picked up the candy,
unwrapped it and ate it. The flavor was magical to say the least. It was some
kind of super refined maple candy and was better than anything he had ever made
or tasted in his life. His eyes went wide and he looked around to see if there
were anymore. It was strange because he was the only candy maker for miles, so
it must have come from a traveler and dropped out of a bag.
To Nathan’s
excitement he spotted another candy. “Sweetnesss!” He cheered and pounced onto
the next piece of candy with cat like agility and excitement. Normally Nathan
and Stephen would tell eachother about everything, especially if it was amazing
mysterious candy, but Nathan was distracted as he kept finding more pieces and
ended up following a trail. If he stopped for even a moment he would have
realized the candy was set up as a perfect trail that was leading him right
into the haunted forest.
This forest
was dangerous to everyone and people from the autumn forest would only travel
through the Haunted forest in groups and it was only one night a year,
Halloween. On the other side of the Haunted forest was a joyous land were it
looked like Halloween every day! The town was called Hallows end and had the
biggest and best parties every year.
It might
have been October, but Halloween was a few weeks away. So the Haunted forest
was dark and didn’t have any guides or lights posted through it. Nathan
followed the trail of delicious candy very intently, then the candy trail ended
abruptly. Nathan frowned as he chewed a mouthful of Maple candy. No longer
fixated on candy, he had time to look around. He realized immediately that he
had walked right into the haunted forest and the exit was nowhere in sight.
Nathan let
out a long sad sigh as he continued to eat the candy he had collected. Before
Nathan could have time to ponder his fate a freezing cold wind blew through him
and a large shadow moved quickly through the air. It moved like a giant bird
but made the rustling sounds of a cloak in the wind. Then within a blink of an
eye the Grim Reaper floated in front of Nathan. Death guided the dead to the
after life and generally looked really cool with his skull face and flowing
black cloak and hood.
“Are you
here you here to kill me?” Nathan asked as he winced, making a face like he was
about to be punched. “No…to use your terms. It is not, how I roll” Death said,
its voice was deep and echoed through the air. Every word it spoke gave Nathan
chills. “I’ve never said tha-“ Nathan started to say. Death put a single bone
finger up to his mouth “Shhhh-Shuh-shuh-shuh“ Death shushed. Nathan stopped
talking. He didn’t think this is how an interaction with death would go.
“How do I put this, I am just
waiting for you to die. It saves time to follow you around” The Grim Reaper
said. “I do not want to scare anyone away or make monsters think I am guarding
you, so I will disappear for now but will remain close. Just give a bone
chilling scream when you’re about to die” Death said then disappeared.
Nathan walked through the Haunted
forest on high alert. He wasn’t about to let anyone get the jump on him. The
forest was full of black and dark gray leafless trees. They were all twisted
and looked ancient. When a cold wind blew the branches would sway and creak.
Leaves rustled on the ground making it sound like someone was always behind
Nathan and wolves, owls and crickets called into the night.
Nathan walked and walked until his
feet began to hurt. Just as he grew too tired to walk anymore he noticed a
small cottage up ahead. It was brick, with wood smoke drifting gently out of
the chimney and warm lighting coming from the windows. The cottage was
decorated with flowers and looked like the most inviting place in the whole
world. “Hot-dog! Everything is coming up Nathan!” Nathan said then ran up to
the house and knocked on the door. He hoped that if there was someone living in
this forest than maybe they knew a way out.
A kindly old man and woman answered
the door. “Hello?” the woman said with a sweet voice. She reminded Nathan of
his grandmother back home and felt more at ease the more time he spent talking
to her. “Hello, I am lost in this forest. Do you know the way out of here?”
Nathan asked. The elderly man nodded and smiled.
“Oh yes, my husband seems to know.
But you look so tired. Why don’t you come inside and rest while my husband
gives you directions” The old woman said. Nathan was skeptical and had already
walked into big enough trouble. “I really…better be going” Nathan said
hesitantly. The old woman noticed candy wrappers by Nathan’s feet. “Do you like
maple candy? I got a whole bag down in the basement for storage!” The old woman
said. Nathan’s eyes lit up. “Oh you do?! I’ve been eating this mysterious maple
candy and have been trying to find its source” Nathan said with a smile as the
old couple led him into the house.
“Oh well my husband does all the
shopping, but I am sure he would be happy to tell you. He does so love to talk
and tell his stories…” the old woman said as Nathan and the old man went inside
the house. The woman gave a quick look back and forth and then went inside the
house, slamming the door shut.
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