Golden leaves twisted in the wind like falling ash as I stepped onto the old trail behind the farm. The air was cold—sharp enough to bite, but quiet. Too quiet. No birdsong, no rustling animals. Just the sound of my boots crunching through the dead things underfoot. The trees loomed tall and brittle, their limbs like twisted fingers reaching for the sky. Most people don’t come out here after October. They say the forest feels… wrong. They’re not wrong. I like it best in the fall. Everything dying, everything shedding its skin. The ground soft enough to dig if you know where to look. Or where to leave things behind. I paused at the stream, where the water barely moved. Stagnant. Cold. I pulled the little wooden fox from my pocket and turned it slowly in my hand. Grandpa carved it the fall before he died. I used to think it was a gift. Now I know it was a warning. There’s a spot just off the trail—past the split tree, down the slope. That’s where I buried it: the box, the letters, the photos. Everything from before. Not a body. Just memories. Ugly ones. Some things are better left in the dark.
Especially when they still have teeth.
Author: Nik
Introducing myself
Hello. I am Nik, I am 15 years old. My birthday is March 27, 2010. I was born in Calgary Alberta Canada and moved to Victoria for grade 1. I have been at Brookes since grade 7 so that is four school years and thats including this grade. One of the things that I love to do is to be outdoors when its sunny and nice out. The things that I like to do on my weekends or in my free time is to go dirt jumping (this is done with a bike), scooter, golf, and play video games. Now lets talk about in school my favourite subjects are Science cant really tell you more specifically what I like in Science because its all good. The other subjects that I like are PE, and Art. The sports that i have played are basketball and badminton. I still play those sports just not competitively but I also play golf and a bit of hockey for fun. I have done a lopt of traveling over the last 7 years and I love doing it. The countries that i have been to are France Mexico, Canada (Toronto, Edmonton) USA (New York, Hawaii, Florida, Bahamas), Puerto Rico, and the Cayman Islands.