Fantasy Romance
Panic gripped Eva, crowding out rational thought as she tried to call her dad again.
Still no signal on her phone.
She stuffed it back in her pocket when a warm light drew her attention.
It was too bright to be a flashlight. Perhaps a streetlight or even a house.
She sprinted toward it.
Eva’s lungs burned, and cramps twisted her legs.
She paused and gasped for breath.
They weren’t that big. She should already be out of the woods.
But she was surrounded by dense foliage, far denser than anything that should be in Norman’s Woods.
Eva glanced behind her, but the path was gone. The woods misty.
She stared at the path ahead.
And ran.
Despite the setting sun, long shadows, and crisp autumn wind, the woods seemed warmer and brighter.
Almost so warm Eva wanted to take off her jacket.
Something was wrong.
Eva didn’t remember there being such a clear and easy path through the woods.
Perhaps the kids weren’t afraid of it anymore.
Still, strange that she seemed to be the only one on the path.
Eva paused as she approached the edge of Norman’s Woods.
They’d avoided it as kids, whispering it was haunted or worse.
Cutting through it would shave an hour off her walk home, and she didn’t believe in that stuff anyway.
And if she walked quickly enough, she’d make it home before sunset.