I don't remember ever seeing this part of the woods before. Wait, what am I doing in the woods? I swear I was in town minutes ago. I stop walking to take a look all around me. Since I have no idea how I got here in the first place, I don't know how to go back either. This isn't good. What if I remain lost forever? What if these unknown woods are home to some crazy axe murderer or –

I should find a way to leave the forest before dark instead of just standing here. I take my phone from my shoulder bag ; I remember downloading some GPS app the other day. Oh, wait, there's no wi-fi or any network and the app doesn't know where I am either. Great.

I put the phone back in my bag and keep walking on the trail. Once I reach civilisation again, getting back home should be easier, right? I'll be able to call my dads and they'll bring me back to the safety of our home and everything will be fine, mostly.

The forest is progressively getting darker as hours pass and I'm still walking on the same trail. Don't these woods end at some point? Dad and daddy will be dead worried if they don't see me get back home tonight!

An owl hoots in the distance as night falls. A few steps further on the path, a fallen tree trunk blocks the way. Maybe I can get around it…

I step on something and fall face first in the dirt right in front of the obstacle. I stand up, dust myself off and look down to find the culprit.

Turns out it is a little black turtle that is now upside down and doesn't seem to be able to get up.

"You ok?" I ask it, crouching down.

The animal doesn't seem injured. I help it get back on its little feet and watch it crawl away towards another trail perpendicular to the one I've been following. Let's go this way too since the first path is blocked. I quickly go past the turtle I stepped on but find another, identical one further down the path. And a third one a few metres away. Where are they going? Some nearby body of water maybe? 'Guess I'll soon find out.

It is night time now. The only source of light in the forest is the screen of my phone and I have to keep it focused on the ground so I don't step on another black turtle. There are more and more of those as I keep walking. As I enter a clearing in the woods, the moonlight reveals a tall, humanoid silhouette near its centre. I stop walking and hold my breath, not knowing if I should ask them for help or run away.

Whoever it is doesn't seem to be moving.

I quietly start breathing again then whisper :

"…Hello?"

I repeat the question louder but don't get any reply.

There are dozens of those turtles in the clearing and they all seem to crawl towards the stranger for some reason. What is going on here?

Even though I probably shouldn't, I slowly approach the dark silhouette, careful not to hurt any reptile in the process.

"Excuse me?" I ask. "I'm lost and…"

I finally direct my tiny light right on the silhouette… and drop my phone.

"What the hell is that?!" I scream as I take a few steps back.

Whatever this thing is, it definitely isn't human.

I trip and fall on the black turtles right in front of it. Good job, Aileen… Hey, are those… tree roots? It was a tree all along? I feel really stupid now. Granted it is the creepiest tree I've ever seen, but still…

And what is that thing between the roots? I reach with my arms to grab it before standing up again. It looks like some old oil lamp. Who could have left that here?

Actually, it doesn't matter right now. If I can light it up, it could help me find my way through the darkness. After all, my phone battery won't last forever.

Turning my back to the spooky tree, I look for the glow of my phone on the ground. Ah, here it is, under one of the many critters. I pick it up then inspect the lantern a bit more. Looks like there still is a little bit of oil in there. Good thing : my cellphone is going to die soon.

Let's see if I still have that lighter Greg gave to me that one time. I knew it would come in handy one day! Oh, here it is, at the very bottom of my little bag.

Time to light up the lantern.

I didn't expect an old-fashioned lantern to be so bright! It blinded me for a second before I turned it around so the light was away from my face. Now that's better. I guess I should –

I can't help but let out a loud scream as pain strikes my entire body and soul, making me fall on my knees, still clutching the oil lamp. And then the pain disappears just as fast as it came. What was that? Was it because I looked into the light? Wait, no, that doesn't make sense. Then again, finding myself in unknown woods while on my way home from school doesn't make sense either and it still happened. Maybe lightning up the lantern wasn't such a good idea, but either way I need this thing.

As I take a few steps forwards, the turtles move aside to let me pass. Well, that's new.

I glance back at the weird tree behind me. I only got a glimpse of it under the weak light of my cellphone ; maybe after a second glance under my new light it won't be so bad…

I was wrong. It's still bad. Even though the bottom part looks almost like a normal tree, the top part looks pretty much human, if humans were covered in anguished faces and holes everywhere and had branches coming out of their heads like some kind of antlers. And also, some kind of oil is oozing from all of these holes. Gross.

Wait, oil? Why does it ooze oil?

Nevermind, let's leave this creepy place immediately. The sooner I get out of these woods, the sooner I'll be back home with my dads. I run out of the clearing and as far away as I can from whatever that tree thing is.