Exploring the woods

I was sitting in my room, bored out of my mind, when the doorbell rang. To my surprise, it was my best friend, Tom. You see, Tom is the laziest person I have ever met—he even asks others to tie his shoelaces.

“Hi Tom, how are you?” I asked. Without answering, he walked straight into my room and sat on my bed.

Was he still mad at me for spilling soup in his bag yesterday? Nervously, I asked, “What happened?”

“Nothing,” he replied. “I just came to play.” Relieved, I joined him. We ate chips and played some games, but soon got bored again. That’s when Tom asked, “Have you heard the new rumor about the forest nearby?”

I shook my head nervously. He gave me a strange look. “Okay, no worries, I’ll tell you. At the end of the forest, there’s a haunted house ruled by twelve spirits. Even during the daytime, a candle flickers in the window.”

I didn’t believe him. “Let’s go check it out and see if it’s real,” I challenged.

“I don’t want to!” Tom whined. “I’m scared!” But after some convincing, he finally agreed.

Wrong house

We set off into the forest. After a while, we reached a fork in the road. “Let’s split up,” I suggested. “We’ll call each other when we find the house.”

Reluctantly, Tom agreed. I walked and walked, staring at the ground, when suddenly—bam! I bumped into someone.

“AAAHHH!” I screamed. “AAAHHH!” the other person screamed back.

It was Tom! Somehow, our paths crossed again. Laughing nervously, we continued together until, in the distance, we spotted a massive house.

“That’s the haunted house!” Tom whispered.

We raced toward it, but once inside the gate, we realized it didn’t look haunted at all. Flowers bloomed in the garden, and a beautiful chandelier sparkled inside.

We explored the mansion, passing through endless halls and climbing a grand staircase, until we opened a small door. Inside, a family of six sat around a table.

“Come in, boys,” the mother said kindly. Nervously, we sat down. She asked, “What are you searching for?”

“A haunted house,” we replied. She laughed. “There’s no haunted house in this forest.” “I knew it!” I shouted.

But Tom leaned over and whispered, “She’s lying. I just know it.”

That night, the family gave us dinner and showed us to a room. Exhausted, we fell asleep quickly.

Something strange

The next morning, the house was empty. No family, no voices—just silence. We ran through the halls calling out, but no one was there. It was eerie. “Let’s leave now,” I told Tom. We grabbed some food from the kitchen for the journey and hurried outside. Suddenly, someone called our names. “AAAGGGHHHHH!” we screamed.

It was our parents. Furious and relieved, they told us they had searched all night and even put up missing posters all over town. Without another word, they dragged us home. Our adventure had ended.

The missing posters

The very next day, we went to school. On the projector screen during assembly, our missing poster was displayed. Even the principal looked emotional. Then a fifth grader shouted, “OH MY GOD! THE MISSING GUYS ARE HERE!”

Everyone turned to stare at us like we were aliens from another planet. The principal called us on stage. “Where were you two?” he asked politely. We said nothing. “WHERE WERE YOU?” he repeated, louder this time.

Still, we stayed silent. Furious, he scolded us in front of the whole school. For the rest of the day, classmates, teachers, even strangers kept asking the same question. An old lady stopped us on the street, the shopkeeper asked too—it was endless. Tired and annoyed, we just ignored them.

The news

That evening, I finally felt some relief sitting at home. After finishing homework and dinner, I sat with my family to watch the news. Suddenly, the reporter showed the photos of two boys who had been lost and found.

I leaned closer. It was me and Tom! “AAARRRRGGGHHHH!” I screamed.

My parents gave me a puzzled look. I told them everything—that people had been asking the same questions all day, and now even the news was covering it. It was so, so annoying.

This is the first in a two-part series. The second part will be published next week

Shreyashi Sigdel

Grade VII

Euro School, Chhauni