A walk in the woods at night.

A Story by Carrie

A group of children break curfew. What will they find in the woods?

Clouds floated in an aquarium sky. A bluejay sang. A dog barked. The smell of charcoal smoke filled the air.

My sister, brother 2 cousins and I sat under the shade of a huge oak tree. We huddled making plans. My parents my aunt and my uncle went bowling.. They left me in charge of my brother, my sister and 2 cousins. I was 10 years old, my sister 9, my cousins 8 and 7 and my brother was 4. We were ordered to stay in the house, but it was a beautiful summer evening. We locked the doors to the house and walked to the woods.

The woods were huge. There were dirt trails, squirrels, birds, moss and fallen oak trees.We believed in fairies, leprechauns and banshees. We searched the woods for pots of gold and fairy rings. We played till the moon rose and owls hooted. We were no strangers to the dark, but wanted to be home when our parents came back.

We arrived home. The front door was open, the lights were on. My parent's car was not in the driveway. Inside the house we saw a stranger. He was a tall thin man, clean cut wearing a plaid shirt. He moved from room to room. He opened and shut closet doors. He moved back and forth in front of the windows.

What to do? We were terrified, scared to get caught letting a stranger in the house. Into the garage we crept looking for weapons. My sister found a metal garbage can lid and a hammer. My brother a whistle. My cousins and I found a rope, a baseball bat, a shovel and a can of WD 40. Just like Scooby Doo we were gonna trap the bad guy.

We tied the rope across the stairs in front of the door. My cousins and I grabbed our weapons and hid in the bushes next to the door. My brother ran to the back of the house. He blew the whistle. My sister pounded on the garage can lid. She screamed like a banshee. The stranger sprinted out the front door and fell on the rope. As he lay on the ground, we screamed, beating him with our weapons. My cousin sprayed him with WD 40. He screamed. I hit him again and again, afrid to let him up.

Someone took the baseball bat from me. Sirens screeched, red and blue flashing lights blinded me. Someone cried.

A pair of blue pants stood in front of me. A police officer, he started asking questions. I was in trouble big big trouble. The questions made no sense. I saw my sister, brother and cousins huddled together. My counsin sucked her thumb. We were gonna get beat for this one. Officer it was like Scooby Doo. We got the bad guy, who was robbing our house. Are we going to prison? The cop walked away, he told a woman, you deal with this.

A tall thin woman dressed like a bum, asked questions. Shaking I shoved my thumb in my mouth. Babbling, stared at my feet. Sighed she strolled away.

Through tears I saw my parent's car in the driveway. My dad spoke to the police. The police drove away. My counsins left with their parents. My sister and brother and I went to bed.

The next week my parents, aunt and uncle went bowling. They left me in charge. Again my brother, sister, two cousins and I skipped to the woods searching for fairies.

© 2026 Carrie

Author's Note

Thank you for reading, this is just a short story for fun. Please leave a review.

My Review

Would you like to review this Story?
Login | Register

Featured Review

RKB

I've noticed when there's a pattern of placing the plural form of woman where it should be singular. For example, "A tall thin women [should be woman] dressed like a bum" and "The cop walked away, he told a women [should be woman], you deal with this." Also, there's quite a bit of run-on sentences (was that intentional?). Also, was it intentional to leave out quotation marks (some authors do this). Otherwise, I thought it was a fun short story. The beginning definitely sets this childhood wonder tone that drew me in. Also thought the reference to Scooby Doo was funny. I loved the description in the beginning and wanted to know some sensory details regarding the forest and the house, but if your intention is to strictly emphasize the plot, then it works fine.

Thanks for sharing!