25

When you arrive back home and walk through into the kitchen, your eyes are immediately drawn to your laptop on the table. Seeing the Silvertree Today! banner at the top of the screen, you realize you've left the same page open for the past couple of hours.

You only glance at it at first as you start to walk past—but then you stop. Blinking, you step a little closer, and lean in to get a better look at the words in the headline that has just appeared on the front page of the news site.

Town Council Rejects Calls to Investigate Alberobello Forest, Saying 'not enough evidence' of Unusual Activity

You find yourself holding your breath. Who was asking for an investigation? What were they hoping to find?

Lowering yourself onto a chair, you start to read:

Despite several reports of 'strange' events within Alberobello Forest, the Town Council has opted not to open an investigation into the area.

The forest has been the subject of much discussion lately thanks to the Alberobello Developments, part of which will involve the creation of a new resort within the forest. However, most of the reports of unusual incidents do not appear to be connected with the developments, and instead center around an area closer to the very heart of the forest.

"More than a few times lately I've felt the ground shaking in the forest," said one resident who wished to remain anonymous. "I realized it was always near where that cave was supposed to be, and it never happened before Clarence Industries came to Silvertree. I think they owe it to the public to find out what's going on down there."

Another resident, retiree Samuel Tanner, said that he experienced something he could not explain which on a hiking trip with his wife:

"We had gone take a walk through the forest on the day of the big vote, because we wanted to get out of town while that was going on. It was just starting to get dark when we decided to head home, but before we reached the edge of the forest we both felt something very strange. It was almost like a breeze, except it was like it was going through us somehow. I wondered if it was some kind of electro-wave or whatever you would call it, but my wife was convinced it was some kind of spirit. I'd be willing to believe that as well, but I accept not everybody would."

Although skeptical of any 'supernatural' claims, local researchers have also raised concerns about unusual seismic activity in the same area which they say may have a human origin. However, the Town Council has today released a statement saying that these concerns are not enough for them to open an investigation into the forest, stating that "we will continute to listen to scientific advice, but as of yet it is not believed that there is any new danger either to the public or to wildlife within Alberobello Forest, or as a result of the reported earth tremors."

Even if no investigation is being undertaken, it is likely that there will continue to be a lot of attention placed on the forest; and if enough information comes to light about people's experiences with the area, then it is possible the Town Council may yet change their minds.

"Huknock?"