Prologue

As a child learns more about the world, the list of things they fear tend to grow. Some fears are real and some are imaginary. Common fears include fear of the dark, home burglary, wars, death of parents, plus separation or divorce of their parents, and supernatural beings (such as ghosts and monsters). It's all just another form children's tales and dreams!

"Jiff never go in the Horror Forest!" His parents always told him not to go there because of its evil, but after school one day my cousin Sam and me took a dare, and Jiff's cousin went in and never came back out. The forest was a flowery garden on the outside, but it was often said that the inside rival any thing from the pits of Hell.  As a kid in the 8-grade, fear of the unknown always kept Jiff in check, but his cousin Sam was more adventurous and would try anything. And, he did!

His mom had told him just that morning before school to come, “Jiff,” come straight home from after school, and warned him; to never go near the Horror Forest that the same thing would happened to him like what happened to his cousin Sam a week ago. He went into the Horror Forest and never came out after school that day. Jiff stood looking at the entrance to the forest as parents picked up their children from school. Other kids like Jiff made for the long track home by foot.

In his sleep, Jiff was awaken from his dreaming; he turned from the dreams of the forest to making his way home when he heard a voice calling to him. “Jiff!, Jiff! Don't go; come help me!” When Jiff looked around, he didn't see anybody, and again he heard. “Jiff! Jiff! Don't go; come help me!”

He turned to walk towards where he heard the sound of the voice, but no one was there. “Jiff! Jiff! Don't go; come help me!” Is this a dream? He thought to myself.

What could it be he thought to myself again — it sounded like his cousin Sam — but everybody was sure Sam was dead by now. His cousin Sam was a victim to the horror in the forest that was attracting him to go in to look for him?  Jiff's cousin was not the first victim of the horror in the forest. There were many others! Two tween sister were kidnapped by an evil man, taken to the forest and never heard from again.

People in the town where Jiff lived tell the story about a man and his dog who went hunting in the forest. The man was never seen again.  His dog was found dead days later with its throat cut, and its guts strolled all over the ground.  People said it was a wrenched sight to behold, a sight so horrific that even the police were afraid to go into the forest to investigate.  Then, there was this family that was new in town, and decided to go to the forest for a picnic.  To this day, you can hear cries and screams coming from the forest on the anniversary of the day the family disappeared.

There were other such incidents, and just the thought of the horror that lie ahead in this dreadful place was enough the keeps kids his age away.  Every parent in town had warned their children to stay away from the Horror Forest, and every child obeyed.  Jiff was no different, yet, he could never figure out why his cousin Sam disobeyed that faithful day he disappeared.  As he turned to walk away, Jiff heard the voice again; “Jiff! Jiff! Don't go; come help me!”  

The next morning before going to school, Jiff was drawn closer to the entrance of the forest looking for the source of the voice he had heard the day before; this time it was different when he found myself on the inside of The Horror Forest.  Foolishly, he went inside the forest: When he turned around to go back out, the entrance way was gone.  Next, Jiff found himself lost trying to find a way out.

“Jiff! Jiff! Over here!” The voice was back but it seemed closer even louder this time. “Jiff! Jiff! Over here!”

Jiff started to follow the sound of the voice, hoping it would lead to an exit out of this horrid place.  As he followed the sound of the voice, Jiff came upon this old ragged house.  The windows were boarded up; the porch had holds in it; the door was wide open, but he couldn't see inside.  When he walked on the porch of the house, he fell through one of the holds and landed in an underground labyrinth that made it difficult to know which way to go.

As he tired to find his way out of this eerie place, he heard a voice, saying, “I didn't die right! I didn't die right! When he looked around, Jiff saw a monster holding the head of the dead hunter who was lost in the forest with blood gushing from where he was decapitated.

The monster holding the head was a very ugly thing and looked like a gaunt to the point of emaciation, and its skin was desiccated like it was pulled tightly over its bones.  With the bones pushing out again its skin. its complexion was gray as ash, and looked like someone who had been dead for a while.  The eyes were pushed back deep into their sockets, so it looked like a skeletal, gaunt disinterred from its grave.  The lips were tattered with blood.  It was holding the suffering head of the dead hunter in his hands that were fangs.  What an awful sight with the flesh of the hunter’s head falling off; it was a horrific beyond belief.

The monster gave off a strange and vile odor of decaying flesh that was decomposing like the death of a decaying corpse.  This thing who he called a monster was a horrifying cannibalistic creature that devours humans and could assume their life form. It was a doppelganger going from place to place!

The eyes of the dead hunter looked straight at Jiff saying, “I didn't die right! I didn't die right,” the hunter said.  Jiff took out running with the monster running behind him still holding the head of the dead hunter.  He ran and ran until he came to the edge of a ridge.  That's when Jiff fell down.  He was falling and falling into an abyss of hideous sounds of screams and mourning.  It felt like he broke his legs, yet he continued to run out of fear.  Then he came to a flight of stairs that led to the top old ragged house.  He ran up the stairs to reach to top, that's when he fell to the floor to get some rest.

No sooner than he could got his breath, he heard that cry again, “I didn't die right!  I didn't die right! I didn't die right!” When Jiff looked up, there was the monster standing over him holding the heads of the dead family that went picnicking in the forest.  In one hand, the monster had the father and mother's heads, and in the other hand were the heads of the two children — a boy and girl.  Puddles of blood had accumulated on the floor when the monster gave out a loud and grotesque growl.

Knowing he was closer to death at any time in my life, Jiff jumped up and started to run again.  He had to find his way to the front door that was open to get the hell out of this place.  Running from room to room, he found himself going in circles with the monster only steps behind. Jiff couldn't look back but he could feel how close the monster was to him.  Jiff could smell the stench that resonated its existence.  His heart pounded like a thousand drums!  His fear was palpable that of a man going to an execution!  Sweat ran from the pores of his skin like a waterfall!  Jiff's fear was overcoming for him!

Jiff continued to run until he found some stairs that went down to the bottom floor of the house, but when he stepped on the stairs the whole thing collapsed causing Jiff to fall to the bottom floor.  He was relieved after he hit the floor realizing that he was near the entrance of the where the door was open.  Jiff ran to the open door, looked around to see if he could see the monster — it was nowhere in sight — that’s when Jiff stepped on the front porch to make my way out of the ragged house.  He felt safe, thinking he could now find his way out of the Horror Forest.  Jiff carefully took one step then another, but before he got safely off the porch, he fell into the same hold that he fell in before.  When Jiff hit the ground, he was in the same underground labyrinth as before.  This time he ran in the opposite direction as before.

Jiff was out of breath when he saw a clearance that looked peaceful and tranquil.  There was a big tree in the center of this place, so he went under it to get some rest.  Jiff anxiety was still high, but the place somehow gave him peace from harm.  Sitting under the tree, Jiff saw his short life pass before his face.  At 13-years old, his life was the only thing he was told by his mom not to do, yet, he disobeyed her and did it anyway. Going In the forest was one thing!

In repentance, he remembered the time his mom cooked an apple pie that he had stolen from the kitchen window, but said it was taken by a stranger.  Jiff's mom knew he took the pie and he got punished for it.  Then there were time when he was given money to put in church, but he took the money and bought candy instead.  There were also the many times Jiff played hooky from school, never getting caught.

These were some of the bad things in his young life he had done.  Now, he started to think about the good things he had done.  Jiff remember finding a baby Sparrow that had fallen from a tree.  Something told him to kill it.   However, Jiff found a ladder and put it back into its nest.  Next, he remembered the time he saw this kid about to drown in the local pond, so he threw him a long branch that had fallen from a tree, pulling the drowning boy to safety. Thinking about the good things he had done in his short life gave Jiff some relief; but not taking the advice from his mom not to go into the Horror Forest made him fell that these misstep was the beginning of his end.

Jiff started to cry.  His crying was not from fear of the monster, it was the fear he would never see his family again to tell them how much he love them, and how much he wanted to be a better person.  The tears started to pour like a heavy rain; his sorrow was so great that he failed to notice that the monster was standing before him growling something fierce.  Before it could take hold, Jiff ducked between the monsters legs now running again he ran for his life.

Since his life depended on it, his very survival, Jiff couldn't stop running if he wanted to live.  He was too afraid to look behind believing this would slow him down and allow the monster to catch and devour him.  Jiff felt like an animal of prey, trying to escape a doom he was certain would befall me.  A doom to horrid to think about; the unthinkable is what was going on in his mind.  Jiff was too young to die such a dreadful death.  Too young to miss out on life, and all the good things that he knew was in his future.  Too young to leave a life at the beginning of it — is this the beginning of his end?  Is this the end of his beginning or the begging of his end? 

Jiff had a sense of survival like most animals in the world. 'Fight or Flight' Most animals share this tools and it's the mechanism they use to interact with their environment to survive.  Even the sheep, as week as it is, and other animals share five basic senses: sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. As an animal of prey, he must use these excellent senses to ensure his survival, as well.

So Jiff continued to run for his life out of a sense of survival to stay alive to reap what he felt was a life too early to relinquish to the monster he knew wanted to kill him.  While he wanted to live, there was just so must he could do because he was running out of breath.  Running out of the time, he needed to get away from the monster to save his life.  Jiff was too tired to go any further.  So, he stopped to catch my breath, and then he looked around to prepare for an end, he was certain would come next.  But, when he looked around, nothing happened. The monster was nowhere to be found — it was like he was running in fear of his life; kind of running in place.

Jiff was so tired by now that he fell to his knees to get some rest but felt he needed to continue running.  His sojourner ended in the same clear space with the tree at it center he had seen when he was so close to the monster that he could only escape by his crawling through the monsters legs.  Now, Jiff knew it was time for him to pray to God for saving his life.  Since the monster was gone, he stared to pray to God for saving him, and he also prayed that the monster was gone forever.  To pray like this made him feel at the bottom of his soul that he was still a prey of the monster that wanted to devour him. 

By now Jiff was well rested enough to start back looking for a way out of the Horror Forest.  As he walked a few paces, he could hear that voice again, “Jiff! Jiff! Don't go; come help me!” Jiff was certain that that was the voice of his cousin Sam, “Jiff! Jiff! Don't go; come help me!” He heard it again, so Jiff started to go in the direction of the sound of the voice. “Jiff! Jiff! Don’t go; come help me!”

By now, Jiff had come to a creek that was swollen by water coming from a waterfall.  When he across the creek, he was at the edge of the waterfall. That’s when he heard the voice again, “Jiff! Jiff! Don’t go; come help me!” he went under the waterfall to the entrance of a cave where he saw the skeletal remains of dead people.  Skeletal remains of all shapes and sizes even children; that's when he realized he was dealing with a monster that had no sense of humanity or love for people.  As Jiff step over the dead that number in the hundreds, he heard the voice again, “Jiff! Jiff! Don’t go; come help me!”

Jiff followed the voice to the end of the cave, and there he found his cousin Sam hogged tied with a knotted rope that had his hands and feet tied.  Jiff was very nervous and afraid hoping to untie Sam before the monster came up on them.  Jiff was fumbling with the rope trying to untie the knots while his whole body trembled.  He was too afraid!  Jiff could sense the monster was close-by.  It was!  The monster was at the edge of the waterfall getting ready to enter the cave, and Jiff began to shake uncontrollably as he got one knot loose that was tied to Sam's feet — now the other knot was loose from the other feet — he could now hear that the monster was inside the cave.  Jiff could hear it as it stepped over the skeletal remains of the dead people it killed.  He could sense it and knew someone was in the cave.  Now, he could smell the foul odor that reek from the monster's body. 

“Stand up,” he shouted to his cousin.

When Sam stood up he said, “Jiff, I know the way out!”

They turned to find their way to the entrance to the cave holding each other’s hand to give them support, but as they turned the monster was standing in front of them.  They turned to the left to run, but the monster was there.  They tuned to the right, and the monster was there.  Wherever they tuned, like magic the monster was in front of them.  The monster grabbed Jiff with one hand and his cousin with the other; they were kicking and screaming when the monster took them to another part of the cave.  In this part of the cave there were dead bodies strewn all over the cave’s floor.  The site was so horrified Jiff peed on himself knowing he was dead meat.  “What a way to die,” Jiff thought to myself.  “What a way to die!”

The monster took them to an area of the cave that looked like and altar with a mattress covered with blood.  “You first, the monster told cousin Sam."  The monster took Sam and threw him to the grown and place its foot on his neck while it slammed cousin Sam to the mattress. The monster pulled out a meat cleaver from under its arm, and in shock, Jiff saw the head of cousin Sam fall to the grown with blood gushing from the wound the cleaver made.

“You next, “ the monster growled, as it picked Jiff from the grown and slammed him on the mattress for slaughtering.  As the monster came down on his neck with the meat cleaver, Jiff heard a familiar voice.  "It was his Mom calling for him to wake up, and get ready for school. It was just in time; his dreams were turning inti a nightmare!

“Jiff!  Jiff!  Jiff!  It’s time to get up and get ready for school!”  Jiff was so relived that it was a dream that he didn’t mind that he had peed on myself during that nightmare.  He ran to the bathroom to cover up from the mess he had made, taking the sheets of the bed to hide the fact of his peeing in the bad.  Jiff put the sheets in the laundry bag, took a shower, got dressed and went down stairs.  He eat a quick breakfast, and went out the door where cousin Sam was waiting for him to make to walk to school.

Jiff was telling Sam of his nightmare he had about the Horror Forest, and Sam just laugh saying that there was nothing to be afraid of in that forest. They met as usual after school to make their way back home stopping in front if the Horror Forest, they looked at each other — took each other’s hand  — Then they entered the forest without fear.
The end!