1 Prologue

Papa had always said to make sure to stay away from the woods. I never knew why he wanted me to. I assumed it was to keep me safe from the bears and wolves that patrolled the woods. It was really a folk's tale that kept anyone from entering them. Folk tale or not, it still scared me. I'd always hear these odd howls of wolves but they never sounded like wolves at all.

One day I tried entering the woods after I lost a basketball to a bad throw. I was only able to get a few feet into the woods before I heard a deep growl that sounded both close and far away at the same time. At that same moment, papa ran over and yanked me out of the woods before I could even react. When he sat me down on the porch and gave me another lecture about going into the woods, saying to never enter at any cost. If anything, a toy, pet, was lost to the woods, it was better off lost, unless you wish to risk your life.

Even after every lecture, I still couldn't understand why he wanted me to never enter. Maybe it was just a family instinct to not let your kids have fun? No matter how many of my relatives or random folks I asked on the streets or at parties, no one ever said anything about the woods, avoiding the subject and changing the conversation at the first opportunity.

After so many questions, I made it my goal to figure out why no one would talk about or enter the woods at all. Any other types of wooded areas were alright but in our town, it was a death trap to some.