This is the winning story from the youth category of The Woodruff Times and Stone Soup Storytelling’s first ghost story contest held in October 2019.
By: Ashton Mock, 7th Grade
One Halloween night long ago, a small village was cooking and baking treats for their big dinners until the forest caught on fire. The forest was destroyed. All the people except a little boy were burned to death.
The boy grew up and raised a family. He had a boy named Bryson and a girl named Alexis. Bryson had a friend named Corey. Corey’s neighborhood was built around the old burned area. The trees had grown back over time, and the area was thick with foliage.
Bryson and Corey planned to trick-or-treating for Halloween. They started their journey for candy through Corey’s neighborhood. During their trip, two teenagers followed them until a chance came to grab the young boys. The boys ran frantically into the woods to escape the teenagers. The teenagers knew about the woods, and they ended the chase. They refused to enter the woods.
Bryson and Corey thought they were safe until there was a rustle in the trees. Bryson sat down his bag of candy while he tried to catch his breath from the running. Corey placed his bag of candy on a moss-covered rock. To the boys’ surprise, the bags of candy began to float in mid-air and piece by piece it began to disappear as if it were being eaten.
The spirits from the old village came out to scare and hunt the children…and to steal baked treats and candy.
The boys do not remember the trip home due to the fear pumping in their veins. They learned their lesson never to venture into the woods again.
