In the town of Bassnovia, everyone lived in fear. The town’s workshops and markets were abandoned and everyone stayed inside. Horses were kept in barns with pigs and chickens. Citizens only went out to refill their water jugs or feed the animals. The sky was gray and cloudy; the sun was always hidden by the clouds. No stars shined at night, and the moon only gave off a dim glow. No one danced in the center of town around the giant fountain. It just loomed up twenty feet into the air, only occasionally, drops of black water dripping down and splashing into the very shallow pool in the bottom.

  Now you’re probably wondering why everyone lives in fear. Well, the truth is, no one knows. For as long as the Citizens have lived in Bassnovia, they have been afraid. It might have something to do with the big creepy forest on the edge of the town. A little too close to the huts than the people would like.

    Now there was one young boy named Emanuel Wots who wasn’t scared like the rest of the people. He was a thirteen-year-old boy with wavy black hair and freckles. He wasn’t a very well built boy, with skinny arms and legs. In fact, most of the boys and girls in Bassnovia were scrawny like him.

    He was not so scared of the forest or of the gloomy sky. In fact, sometimes he even played in the black water of the fountain. His mother was very frightened for the boy, not knowing what would happen if he decided to go into the woods.

    And one day he did. He told his mother he was going, then packed some food and water and paper and pencils to make maps. His mother was very sad and scared for Emanuel, but she knew there was no way to stop him.

    So that day, Emanuel trotted into the forest, head held high, marching into the hellish place of the pine forest. It began to grow darker the deeper he went, the branches weaving together, making a dome over his head. He walked deeper yet. When it got too dark to see, he lit the lamp he had packed last minute and continued walking.

    Suddenly, the quiet forest began to come alive. He heard groaning sounds coming from deep in the forest. He stopped. The noise had stopped. So he kept on walking, but as soon as his feet started moving, it came back. The groaning was louder now, accompanied by a screeching yowl erupting from deep within the forest.

    Emanuel’s heart began to beat against his chest. He was starting to get worried. What if he made the wrong decision?

    He kept on walking. This time, the voices didn’t stop. He began to walk a little faster. Suddenly, something tripped him. He landed on his stomach on the dirty leaves. A hissing noise filled his ears. He looked into the shadows, slanted eyes glowing red glowed from the bushes. Emanuel began to tremble.

    A twisted claw with thick dark red blood dripping down from its gnarly  tips emerged from the leaves. Emanuel froze.

      An arm attached to the claws appeared. It was black and twisted, covered in scrapes, and then its body came, big and bulky with a slash down its chest, its yellow flesh visible from the cut. Blood oozed out of the wound, dripping down its chest. It had big crooked spikes sticking out of its spine. Its gaping jaw stretched into a cave filled with millions of sharp and jagged yellowed teeth. Its beady blood-red eyes were filled with murder. An eerie glow shined on its slimy gross skin.

   Emanuel was too scared to move. The town’s people were right about this freaky place. It was a nightmare.

   The creature advanced toward Emanuel. Emanuel stayed frozen. It came so close, the boy could feel its hot stinky breath on his neck. It smelled of death.

    It came even closer, bringing out his long snake-like tongue and licked the boy’s dirty face.

     Emanuel screamed: a piercing noise in the quiet forest.

The creature yowled in the boy’s face, lunging at him with his jaws open. It snapped his neck, blood gushing out of Emanuel’s neck.The creature dragged the boy into the forest.

     And no one ever dared to go into the forest again……..

THE END