We are sharing the next story in our series, Featured Short Stories, written by students in the Creative Writing Club.
Every week, the students in the club work on writing short stories, sometimes from their own ideas, and sometimes from story prompts.
This week’s story was written by Aruniha, aged 11. Enjoy!
The Note
Nothing interesting ever happened in Pine Hollow. Seriously. The most exciting thing I’d seen all year was Mrs. Delaney’s cat getting stuck in a mailbox. That’s why when I got a letter delivered by a crow, I nearly dropped my cereal.
It was weird paper, kind of crinkly, and smelled like peppermint. The writing looked like it was done with a green gel pen. It said:
If you want to know the truth about Shadow Pine, follow the trail before sunset. Come alone.
A friend.
Shadow Pine was this creepy forest just outside town. My parents said it was dangerous, like bears and sinkholes dangerous. But I always felt like there was something else going on with that place. Something… secret.
So, like any sane kid, I packed some crackers, a flashlight, and my lucky slingshot. Then I slipped out right before sunset and followed the old dirt trail into the woods.
The trees got thicker the farther I walked, and the air smelled like pine and wet moss. After a while, I found this giant oak tree with a knot in the shape of an eye. And right when I touched it, the ground shook a little and a trapdoor opened under my feet.
I didn’t fall though. There was a ladder, and it led down into this underground cave glowing with weird blue crystals. And guess who was already down there?
My best friend, Elijah.
“Elijah? What are you doing here?” I asked.
He held up a letter. Same green ink. “I got one too.”
Then this old lady stepped out from the shadows. She wore a dark green cloak and had wild silver hair, and her eyes were super bright, like they glowed a little.
“Welcome,” she said. “You’ve both been chosen. You’re the new Guardians of the forest.”
We just kind of stared at her. Guardians? Like superheroes?
She told us that Shadow Pine was alive, not just full of animals, but actually alive, and magical. Every hundred years, the forest picks kids to protect the balance between the human world and the magical one.
“But why us?” I asked.
“Because you both have the heart of a Guardian,” she said. “And because he is waking up.”
“Who’s he?” Elijah asked.
She didn’t answer. She just gave us each a stone necklace and told us to come back at dawn. The forest would explain everything.
That night I couldn’t sleep. I was half excited, half totally freaked out. Something about the way she said “he is waking up” gave me chills.
Anyway, I got up early and went back. But Elijah wasn’t there.
I waited forever, then suddenly a note floated down from the trees. It said:
He has already awakened. And he is not who you think.
I ran back to the oak tree, but the trapdoor was gone. Just a regular old tree now. No crystals, no tunnel, no creepy glowing lady.
And Elijah? Vanished. His parents called the cops. Search parties went out. Nothing.
Two weeks later, I was sitting at my desk at school, just kind of zoning out, when I noticed something scratched into the corner of my desk. It was messy, but I recognized the handwriting.
The forest lied. I was the one it wanted all along. Don’t trust it. — E.
Then, right at that moment, a crow landed outside the classroom window and dropped another note.
It said:
Now it’s your turn, Maya. The forest is hungry.
After I read the note from the crow, I didn’t move. I just sat there, staring at the paper, while my brain sort of melted.
Now it’s your turn, Maya. The forest is hungry.
Hungry for what? For me? For snacks? I had no idea. But it was signed the same way as the first note: no name. Just creepy vibes.
I shoved the paper in my pocket and tried to act normal the rest of the day. I couldn’t focus. I couldn’t even taste my lunch (which was actually pizza day, so that’s saying something).
After school, I went straight home, grabbed my flashlight and that weird stone necklace the forest lady gave me, and headed back to Shadow Pine. I didn’t tell anyone. What was I supposed to say?
“Hey Mom, going back into the haunted forest that maybe ate my best friend, brb”?
The trees were thicker this time. Like, the trail I walked before wasn’t even there anymore. It felt like the forest had… shifted.
Still, I kept walking.
Eventually I found the oak tree again. Still no trapdoor. Just that knot shaped like an eye. I put my hand on it. Nothing.
I tried knocking. Still nothing.
Then I remembered the necklace. I held it up, and suddenly the knot blinked.
Yes. Blinking tree knot.
The ground opened again, but it looked… different down there. The glow was red instead of blue, and it felt warm. Not in a cozy way. More like “dragon’s mouth” warm.
I climbed down anyway. Because I’m either really brave or really dumb. Maybe both.
The underground chamber looked almost the same, except everything was darker and the crystals looked like they were pulsing, like a heartbeat. I walked further in, and then I saw him.
Elijah.
He was standing in the middle of the room, but his eyes weren’t normal. They were glowing red, and his face looked wrong. Like him, but also not him.
“Maya,” he said, smiling in this weird slow way. “You came.”
“What happened to you?” I asked.
“The forest gave me power,” he said. “It doesn’t need Guardians. It needs someone to feed it.”
Suddenly the floor cracked open behind him, and I saw tree roots moving like snakes. They were hungry.
Elijah held out his hand. “Join me. Or run.”
I didn’t answer. I just ran.
I scrambled up the ladder, the stone necklace burning hot against my chest. I didn’t stop running until I was out of the woods.
I don’t know what the forest really is. I don’t know what happened to Elijah. But he’s not the same.
And I don’t think this is over.
Because last night, I found a note under my pillow.
It said:
You can’t run forever.
I couldn’t sleep again. That note under my pillow was like a punch to the gut. Who was watching me? How did the forest get inside my house?
The next day, I tried to tell my parents something was wrong, but they just told me I was imagining things. Elijah’s disappearance made everyone scared, but nobody believed in magic or forest monsters. So, I kept quiet.
After school, I sat in my room, staring at the glowing stone necklace. It felt heavy, like it was pulling me somewhere.
Suddenly, the lights flickered. Then the window slammed open with a loud bang. The crow flew in and dropped a tiny package on my desk.
Inside was a small wooden box carved with strange symbols. I opened it carefully and inside was a tiny seed glowing faintly green.
Attached was a note:
Plant this at the heart of Shadow Pine. The truth waits there.
I didn’t want to go. What if it was a trap? What if Elijah was right and the forest just wanted to feed?
But I knew I couldn’t ignore it. I had to know the truth.
That night, I sneaked out again, seed in my pocket, flashlight in hand.
The forest felt different now, alive, watching. When I reached the centre, the ground opened again. This time, I walked down without fear.
At the bottom, there was a huge tree, its branches twisting like arms. I planted the seed at its base.
The ground trembled and the tree’s bark peeled back, revealing a glowing portal.
Out stepped Elijah. But he looked normal again. Like the friend I knew.
“The forest tricked us,” he said quietly. “It feeds on fear and lies. But the seed you planted will break its power.”
We climbed back out together as the first light of dawn hit the trees.
The forest was quiet now. For real this time.
But I know it’s still watching. Waiting.
And maybe, one day, it will try again.
The End
If you have a child who loves writing stories and essays, and you want to encourage them to explore their creativity and their imagination, then we would love to have them join our writing club! Just click on the link to register, and we will be in touch. Creative Writing Club – Registration Form.
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