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(JANWC) A Walk to Remember
#1
A Walk to Remember

It was a beautiful fall morning, at our campground and I was about to head out with my wife and a few of our friends from camp for a walk around the lake as we often did on weekends when the weather allowed it! This was a special weekend because it was a weekend without our children for all of us! This was a are occurrence so me made the most of it!

This time was different than before though! And we all felt it in our guts! Like a sense of urgency about this walk because of the severe thunderstorm that was expected to hit us in about 5 hours. But since the whole journey around the lake never took more than an hour, we opted to go anyway.
We went on our way nonetheless because we were all quite familiar with our surroundings there and we weren’t too worried.
About halfway through our walk, where the trail forked into two separate paths, we all suddenly stopped on the spot as we could see a child running away from us in the Eastward path heading to our right!

• What the hell is that kid doing out here all alone? I said to my friends? He’s going to get lost! There is only the campground around here to find shelter from
the approaching storm, Should we go find him and bring him back with us?

• Let’s go ahead and find this kid! My wife Rebecca said to the group. We can’t have a kid running around without supervision in the woods, we have to do
something!

• So we all agree then! Let’s go get him! Max said decisively.

So the 8 of us headed for the path on the right, contrary to our normal destination, to our left. It was the very first time we headed in that direction and we were told to be very careful in this area as there were many forks in the road and one could easily get lost. Jim took the initiative to mark the ground with an arrow made in multiple stones pointing to our campsite and he was planning to do the same at each intersection on this trail.

After a little while, we picked up the pace as we noticed that we weren’t really catching up to the child since he was running and we were making sure to mark our way there so we could find our way back! It was intriguing as he seemed to be waiting for us at each split in the path, like he wanted us to follow him. He would start running as soon as we had a clear visual of him and his destination.

• HEY KID! Yelled my friend Alex! SLOW DOWN! WE ONLY WANNA HELP YOU!
• With the wind picking up sweetheart, I doubt he can hear you! Said his wife Julie
• Your probably right honey, let’s keep going then!

We kept following this child hoping we would soon catch up because the storm was now really close and was about to strike pretty hard in the area! We reached another split in the trail, but this one split in 4 different directions!

• We must pick one guys, no way in hell are we splitting up the group this far out in the woods! We must decide together! Where should we go?! Jim’s wife
Tania asked.

We were all scoping the woods trying to spot the boy we had been following but in vain.

• I think we lost him! Said Sylvia, Max’s Girlfriend, saddened.

Then we heard a loud scream and we all turned our heads in the same direction, the path farthest to the left, and we all took off running in that direction to see what was happening over there!

The trail widened into a dirt road and there seemed to be a clearing in the forest up ahead! We could actually see the sky for the first time in a little while! This permitted us to realize that we were now completely overcast with dark eerie looking clouds. We could feel the air getting colder and a light fog was setting in the forest!

As we were walking along the road toward the opening, we could see the shadow of a building in the distance, through the fog. It was an old abandoned house. It was in ruins, there were no windows and the stone walls were coming apart from the exterior.

As we got closer, we all stared in amazement at the size of this house!

• This must have been quite the looker before it was abandoned! I said to my friends. What a waste!
• THERE HE IS! Yelled Max. I just saw him in the top floor window! Let’s go search in the attic! He’s probably hiding up there!
• Good idea Max! I said. Let’s head inside! It will provide us shelter while we wait for the storm to pass! And if needed, we can spend the night here since we
are a long way back from the camp ground!

We all walked through the front double doors which were slightly opened, with the right door hanging diagonally off its bottom hinge!

The place was so dusty! It was like nothing we had seen before!

• Oh My! How long was this place uninhabited for? Said Sylvia.
• I don’t know hon’, but it’s been at least a few decades if I look at the structural damage everywhere! Max replied to his Girlfriend.
• Let’s head upstairs to find that boy! I said to the group while heading toward the staircase! Watch your steps!

The steps were covered in dust and many of them were either broken or wobbling! The handrail was completely destroyed by vandals! Probably by the same gang that broke every single window on the house!

We headed upstairs to the attic! We could hear the wind blowing and the thunder clapping outside as we were climbing the damaged stairs. We were even getting hit by some of the rain since there were no windows to protect us from the weather! It was still much better than getting stuck outside in this storm.

Once we reached the top, we could see a few pieces of antique furniture scattered all over the floor! From what I could see, there were a few wooden chairs, and stacked tables and such, covered in think dust!

Even the floor was covered with dust to a point where we were leaving footsteps everywhere we walked.

• It should be easier to find the child with this dust, we just have to find his footsteps and follow them! He was by this window right Max? Said Alex while walking
to the back of the room.
• I am certain that this is where he was! Max replied.
• Um! This isn’t right; there are no marks anywhere like no one was here at all! Are you sure Max?
• I can’t explain why there are no tracks around here but yes I am positive he was right by that window when we were outside! Max stated as he was looking
down to the ground to confirm this is where he had seen him!

After determining that Max had either imagined this or that he was mistaking this window for another one, we decided to split up in four pairs to help find him faster! So we each headed for different floors and searched really hard. I was on the third floor with my wife right under the attic we had just came down from when we heard a child laughter coming from upstairs! WE looked at each other, wondering what the hell was going on and despite our fear, we went back up there to investigate.

Things weren’t the same as before when we got there, the furniture was positioned differently and a wooden nightstand was now stacked on top of a large TV stand from the 50’s or before.

Even now, no footsteps anywhere to be found except our own from earlier.

As we were staring at the piled furniture, we heard a noise coming from the nightstand, like something hard and heavy was dropped on it. I took a step forward to check it out, I opened the drawer on its from and there was this weird looking, polished black stone with strange markings carved into it! I picked it up and started to analyze it, then placed it in my pocket to show the rest or our group when we met with them shortly after.

A little later, we all met in the main entrance to share what we found. No much was shared since we were the only ones that actually found anything and it was that stone! I pulled it from my pocket and showed my friends. They were amazed at what they were looking at!

• What do you think it is for? Julie asked.
• I don’t know but I think it is really important for some reason! I told my friend. We’ll find out if it’s useful eventually. But for now, I think we should get some
sleep! It's getting late!
• I saw a bunch of beds on the second floor earlier, we should sleep there tonight and head back to camp in the morning! Alex added and we all agreed!

The night passed and we all got very little sleep thanks to the thunder throughout the night and the frightful setup we ended up in!

I woke up jumping when a loud noise echoed through the house! Maybe even through the woods! As I got to my feet! I could see all my friends sleeping!

• No way! I was the only one who heard that sound?! I whispered to myself.
• What's wrong Ben? Rebecca asked me as he was sitting up on her bed!
• Didn't you hear that?! It was really loud!
• Hear what? She asked.
• It sounded like something massive fell to the ground on the main floor… I said
• Sorry I didn’t hear anything but if you’d like I can go check it out with you while the others are sleeping! Suggested Rebecca
• Great idea! Let’s go see what it was!

We headed downstairs and as we walked into the living room area, we could see there was a large book sitting on the floors. It looked like it was placed there recently as there was no dust on it at all! Unlike everything else in the house! It looked like it fell from a nearby bookshelf.
• That book wasn’t there yesterday when we walked through here! We would have notice it for sure! Rebecca said.
• I doubt that the wind was strong enough to knock down a book this size! Someone or something pushed it off the shelf in my opinion! What do you think? I
asked.
• I totally agree! And it looks like there’s only one spot where a book this size could come from and it’s up there on the top shelf! She said while pointing at a
large gap between other books on the highest shelf.

I grabbed the massive volume and carried it to a nearby table to have a peek inside! We were stunned to see what it was! I was a picture album but it seemed to mainly contain newspaper articles from nearly a century ago! Most were unreadable due to the paper that had been damaged by time.

I was reading the headlines that were still intact one by one when I found a few that grabbed my attention!

Family of 5 disappears without a trace!
Another mystery surrounding house in woods!
House condemned after little boy disappears!

• OH MY GOD! Rebecca said loudly when she took a look at the picture in the article. This looks just like the little boy that we followed here!
• I think you may be right Rebecca! Let’s go show the others!

We rushed upstairs to wake up our group and show them our discovery!

We walked into the room where we all got settled for the night and the rest of the group was already awake and chatting among themselves when we arrived to show them our findings.

• What the hell is this place? Alex asked.

• Max got up abruptly and said: I don’t know but maybe we should explore the house a little more to try to find out!


We all agreed since the weather was too bad for us to head back to camp.

There was only one area no one had explored yet, the basement. So we all went down there together just in case the same fate as the boy's was awaiting us!

It was really dark down there and the entire area smelled like mold! It was pretty bad.

Alex lit a few candles he had picked up while searching the house a little earlier so we could see what was there! What we saw was nasty! There was moss and mold everywhere!

• At least we know where the smell is coming from! Don't touch anything! Alex said to the group.
• Everyone stay quiet! Julie said suddenly. I hear water dripping nearby!

We scattered around the basement to find the source of this noise!

• Over here! Yelled Jim. It seems to be coming from under here! He said while pointing at a huge chest. I think this thing could be blocking a trap door or something!

We all grabbed the Chest and pushed it aside to reveal just as Jim thought, a trap door!

When I opened it, strangely, there was a dim light coming from down there. We were really intrigued since there was no electricity in the house and yet there was light!

We climbed down the ladder leading to a platform! The walls were lined with wires and pipes leading down some wide stairs. We slowly walked down the concrete steps and the area opened up into a large tunnel, a train tunnel! There were rails in the center leading away from us.

• Why would a train track end up in the middle of the woods like that? This is really strange! Should we follow the tracks? I asked my friends.
• By all means, lets go Ben! It starts from here so we just have to head back here if we feel we are getting too far or lost! Answered Rebecca, excited about this
little adventure of ours.

I was playing with the strange stone that we had found earlier, and I pulled it out of my pocket to analyze it some more! While observing the grooves on it, It hit me!

• What if these lines carved in this stone meant something more? I asked

Alex stepped towards me and started looking at it, trying to figure it out with me!


• What if its a map of some kind and that the lines represent paths to follow? He suggested.

I took a closer look to see if his claim had credibility. And sure enough, it did!

• I think you may be right Alex, look at this point here, I said while pointing the top edge of the stone, well if we look around us, this could very well be where we
are currently standing! And if we look at the lines from there, there seems to be forks in the lines with one always thicker than the other. This could point to
what tunnel to follow. Lets try to follow it!

We went on our way hoping that this might help up shed some light on the whole situation. Every time we reached a split in the tunnels or an intersection, I looked at the lines on the stone and everything was clearly identified as if it really was a map of the tunnels.

After walking for what seemed like hours, we reached a dead end. And the lines on the stone also ended, with a weird mark at the location we were now standing in.

There were strange markings on the walls there and none of us could make out what they meant.

Julie was on the side of the tunnel staring at the wall blocking our path!

• Oh my! What is this small hole in the wall? She said. I wonder why this is here, it looks like it was made this way. No cracks can be seen in or around the hole
so it didn't seem to have occurred from wear and tear.

I stepped closer to see and was surprised to realize that the shape of the hole in question was the exact same shape as the stone I had in my hand. So I looked at the group, at they all acknowledged by a nod of their heads. Telling me to place the stone in there!

I did so and we immediately heard a loud click followed by a rumbling sound! The path was opening up in front of us!

As we walked through the newly revealed doorway, we all felt a weird sensation come over us. Nothing worth worrying about but something was different somehow.

Holy shit! Said Max in a nervous tone. We are stuck in here I think! LOOK! He said while pointing at the wall behind us!

All of us immediately turned around only to find that the entry was gone and the mysterious key stone was still in that hole, on the other side!


We all stood there, silently, trying to come up with a plan to get out of there!

Then, out of nowhere, A voice echoed through the tunnel!

• Don't be scarred! This is the happiest place to be in the universe! Please come forward! The voice whispered.
• Who is this? Asked Max Where are you?
• You don't know me but you have seen me! Said the voice. You followed me here!
• So you're that little boy from the trails! Where are you? Please show yourself, we only want to help you! Linda asked.
• I am right here! The boy replied.

We all turned to our left, where the voice came from, and there he was, just standing there, smiling at us.

He then made a hand gesture to suggesting us to join him. We did so blindingly because we had no idea where we were or how to get back to camp.

The kid started walking and turned into a smaller tunnel not too far ahead on our right. This one didn't have any rails and it was just wide enough for a person to walk through. It was darker than before in there since there weren't any light in this tunnel.

We arrived at an area that was breathtaking! We were starring at an immense meadow, filled with all kinds of trees, plants and animals life! Some species I was familiar with while others not.

• What is this place? I asked the little boy. And how can we get back outside?
• This is your home now! He said. And no one can get out! Ever! You all walked through inter-dimensional portals to get here, you are in a different world now!
• This is how this place remains a secret from the other worlds! I found these tunnels when I lived in this house, a very long time ago. But the trap door in the
basement closed behind me and I was never able to find my way here or back outside. So I died in the main tunnel from starvation. That is how I can get out, I
am a spirit! And I brought you all here because I was tired of being alone and I wanted some company! You all can start a new life here away from all the
greed and violence of the Earth.
• NO WE CAN'T I yelled back at him! This truly is an amazing place, I really mean that, but we all have families out there and we must return to our children!
• Well, you can't! EVER! The boy said in a very serious tone.

I ran back to where the wall had closed behind us and started hitting on it! I was furious! All my friends joined me shortly after to help me break through the wall.

I was kicking and screaming like a madman! I was only thinking of getting home to my kids at that moment!

Suddenly, I could feel hands grabbing my shoulders firmly, and shaking me hard!

• BEN! BEN! Come on! Snap out of it! I could hear Rebecca's voice telling me in an alarmed, trembling voice!

I sat up quickly! Ready to pound that damned wall with all my might again when I realized, I was sitting in my bed, inside my trailer, at the camp ground.

• How did we get back here honey? I asked my wife that looked really worried! What happened to that little boy!
• Get back? From where? And what boy? Honey you have been kicking and screaming in your sleep for well over an 30 minutes! You were only having a very
bad nightmare! It's all over now! Don't worry! Maybe that walk around the lake we have planned with our friends today will do you some good! But we cant go
too late because a really severe thunderstorm is brewing and should strike later today!

My jaw dropped!


THE END!


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