A knock sounded on my front door. I stayed still unwilling to answer it, I had just sat down and I was determined to stay seated until I finished my meal. My little sister was more than willing to hurdle herself towards the door.

 Outside stood my best friend Gloria, “Can Kathy come outside?” I heard her question, her voice muffled from the distance. 

“Yeah,” My sister answered back, most likely nodding. She quickly turned and hollered into the once quiet house “Kathy get up and go play with your friend you lazy bum!”. 

I rolled my eyes, setting down my bowl of dinner, 'until next time' I thought as I turned away from the soon to be cold supper and approached the hallway. 

I slid on my shoes as I approached the large white door that led to my front yard. I opened the door smiling at Gloria who stood there staring off into space, her brunette hair tied back into a high ponytail. She lazily blinked her dark brown eyes at me and then her lips rolled back into a welcoming smile. I sat down and began to talk with her about trivial things such as school, the weather, and neighborhood gossip. We both were clearly bored until the topic of the forest came up. I was eager to go because I had just recently gotten permission to visit it. The forest wasn't too deep but it offered shelter from the outside world it seemed, a haven from outside issues and a frequent meeting spot for me and my friends. Gloria and I knew or at least thought it was a simple forest, mistaking it as separate from the world. We soon decided to go and relax there and explore, after telling my parents we would be heading off to the forest we ran towards the woods of presumed bliss.

We finally reached our destination and cut through the unfenced backyard of a neighbor we had previously asked permission from. I paused and looked up at the tall swaying trees, their vibrant green leaves fluttered and danced as the wind blew through them as if singing a long-forgotten hymn. I inhaled the sweet smell of the forest, a mixture between dirt, leaves, and life. I snapped from my trance and quickly entered the forest with Gloria on my heels, dodging honey locust trees and overgrown honeysuckle bushes. A new humidity hit my face along with about six honeysuckle branches as I crawled through the opening in the brush that led to an old deer path that was called the main path of the forest. It led to everything, a neighborhood, a pond, even a road if you followed it long enough. I could tell Gloria felt the new heat too as her normally calm demeanor twisted into one of confusion but I shrugged it off reminding myself there was both a stream and pond nearby and we were in a forest. 

Gloria and I trudged into the forest dodging and swatting away shrubs branches. The stickiness of the humidity felt like a weighted blanket against us but seemed to let up as we ventured deeper into the greenwood. We eventually made it to the main path after sustaining only a few minor scrapes. The both of us doddled for a bit talking about summer plans as we climbed on fallen oak and maple tree trunks and branches along the narrow slightly overgrown deer trails and makeshift paths. We were just about to reach the small pond in the center of the green and lively forest before we noticed an eerie stillness in the woodland surrounding us. We both stood still not sure what to make of it. The wind seemed to stop, the birds were quiet and even the familiar smell of the forest had seemed to hideaway. Gloria and I paused, looking at each other as we stood silently hoping we could hear even a bird. The offsettingness of the quiet made my stomach churn. We both knew something was very wrong as we stood frozen. Three loud hollow bangs filled the once quiet woods snapping us from our daze. The sound was clearly resonating from across the pond which was blocked from our view with thick brush and trees. As peculiar as it was I shrugged writing it off as the forest being the forest. Gloria too, quickly disregarded her worries agreeing with me. Eager to push down our feelings of dismay and explore the forest, we trekked further down the path and deeper into the thicket.

The noise of the forest had seemed to return along with the scent of dirt and leaves that every place in nature seems to hold. I inhaled letting my dirty blond hair fall over my shoulder as I bent down to examine the dirt. The smell of the forest was almost overwhelming but at the same time reassuring. I stood back up quickly jogging back to Gloria.  She and I passed some decaying planks of wood held onto an ancient tree with only a few rusty bent nails. It was clear at one time a  long time ago there was an old treehouse here but it had long rotted and fell apart. 

“It's too bad.” I sighed looking down at a few fallen planks of moss-covered wood partially buried beneath dead leaves, “We could have used that treehouse.”I exclaimed, examining a blue rotting swing tied up on one of the tree's thick gray branches. 

Gloria smiled at the thought of it, her brown eyes calmly examining the tree, “Yeah but maybe we can get that swing down one day and build up a new treehouse.” she remarked wistfully as if reading my mind. Gloria paused for a moment examining the crooked weather-beaten nails, “A better one.” She finished nodding to herself as she turned her back towards the old tree and started walking towards the pond.

  I laughed and nodded following her excitement about the idea of a cool new hideout in this tiny forest. 

As we reached the pond a familiar stillness seemed to surround us once again. Silence. Gloria looked at me and I looked at Gloria. We both shared concerned expressions as we knew something was off. It was that indescribable gut feeling you get when you know you’ve done something wrong but don’t know what's going to happen yet. I narrowed my eyes squinting around the forest, examining and searching for something, anything that could have caused this. Three loud hollow bangs sounded throughout the forest only closer to us than before. Both Gloria and I booked it down the path dodging outstretched branches that seemed to reach out and snag us as we passed them. Whoever or whatever was doing that was not happy. 

We reached the decaying treehouse, and I stopped. 

Gloria noticed I stopped and turned back to me, “What are you doing?!” She demanded looking at me as if I was a lunatic ( I probably was). Then repeated again louder with more disbelief in her voice, “What are you doing?!” 

I stood there looking back over my shoulder, my dark blonde hair falling behind my back as my hazel eyes scanned the narrow path behind us. The sound of the forest had once again returned along with the forest's familiar smell. I laughed to myself then looked at Gloria whose face softened and she joined in.

 “We’re being ridiculous,” I chuckled looking back at the pond. “It’s probably just a fallen branch hitting a tree.” I denied, pausing to look back at Gloria and reassuring her, “It must have been the wind.” I proclaimed smiling as Gloria nodded but the uneasy feeling remained.

We decided not to approach the pond again and instead sat and talked by a fallen log. We had become too caught up in talking to notice the forest had quieted again. Except for this time it was different. This time loud banging seemed to be right next to us. BANG, BANG, BANG, Gloria and I jumped up with a start. I was fed up but she and I still ran. We ran deeper into the forest back towards the pond.

The forest sounds didn't return nor did the smells or the feeling of peace. Gloria and I paced around underneath a large and dying pine tree by the pond unsure of what we should do. The banging sound was approaching slowly. BANG, BANG, BANG, The person or thing was clearly stopping at every couple of trees and hitting it violently with a large branch or metal object as it followed us through the woods, herding us deeper into the woods and closer to the pond. I was confused as to what was following us and I attempted to squint my eyes to see through the thick brush but the forest was too dense and green to see very far. As the sound approached us Gloria thought of a plan.

 “Kathy.” She called to me as she grabbed a branch of a nearby pine tree, “I’m going to climb this tree to see if I can catch a glimpse of what it is from above, stay at the ground and watch for it there. Call up to me if you see it and we’ll jump into the pond and swim away.” She motioned to the pond as she relayed the plan and began to climb. I nodded up to her and agreed. 

My stomach was turning as she climbed the tree. I frantically searched the surrounding trees with my eyes as the pounding of the trees seemed to stay constant but never get too close to us. The person or thing seemed to be behind us and moving very, very slowly. 

Gloria called down to me as she reached the top of the pine tree, “I can’t see anything up here. We need to just leave.” I agreed and helped her down as she reached the bottom and the banging had stopped temporarily.

We began running as quickly as our legs would carry us. Like deer from a wolf, we fled out of the deepest part of the woods, flinging ourselves over logs and obstacles on the path, our eyes darting at our surroundings as we ran. Only stopping to catch our breaths near a fallen tree across the path.

 “It's following us!” I gasped, struggling for breath. 

“We need to leave. Now!” Gloria yelled, her voice sounding equally as exhausted.

I opened my mouth to speak but I was interrupted by three loud bangs directly across from us just a bit deeper in the forest. I let out an annoyed grunt, I was finished with this and I knew exactly where the person or thing was. 

I began to walk into the forest “I’ll be right back.” I croaked, fear and curiosity intertwined with my voice.

  Gloria grabbed my hand “Stop being stupid Kathy.” She demanded, her dark brown hair swaying as she moved, “We don’t know what that thing is, plus that's how people die in horror movies.” she finished. I nodded realizing she was right.

We quickly turned and ran the rest of the way out of the forest. As I left I turned and looked back. The forest wasn’t how I’d seen it before. It didn’t look like a peaceful escape from the dark outside world. It looked dark and menacing. Not the forest I had just entered an hour before. Then came the sad realization that the forest wasn’t an escape, it was only a cover for darker things.