Alone in the Woods
I gathered my things, ready to go into the tent. I walked outside and the wind hit me, sending a shiver down my spine. I felt as if someone was watching me. My heart started to beat a thousand times faster than usual. The tent was a five-man tent, but four of us were meant to be attending this school trip. Not including the teachers. I was 14 at the time, and pretty much scared of everything. I yelled at my school friends to hurry up and take their places in the tent, not just because I was scared, but because it was quite cold out there and I didn't have a jacket.
It took us a while before we all finally fell asleep. I was awakened by a big bang from in the sky. At first I thought it was fireworks, but I was wrong. A flash of light shone over the tent, then more big bangs occurred. I put my head under the sheet and pretended that nothing was happening. About two minutes later, I heard screaming from every direction, then the teachers’ orders telling everybody to get out of the tent.
One by one, people ran out of the tent. I was the last, of course! As I approached the door of the tent, the zipper mysteriously pulled up and around the door. I was TRAPPED! At first, I thought it was one of the girls playing a trick, then a voice in my ear told me to hurry up and get out of the tent!
I shook the tent until my arms ached, and I screamed until I had no voice left. I remember nothing from that moment, except waking up in the hospital three hours later. My mom and the whole of our camping crew were gathered around me. My mom said I’d fallen over and banged my head; I had scratches on my knees, grazes on my arms, and a big bruise on top of my head.
I knew that I hadn't fallen over—I knew something very suspicious had happened to me that night, but I couldn't remember exactly what it was. I had to stay in the hospital for another two days to make sure I had properly recovered. When I got home and switched on the television, the news came on with one horrific story—a girl exactly my age had been killed in a camping trip at the exact same place I’d been camping. That lost life could have been mine!
I remembered now seeing a dark, shadowy figure, leaning down on me. The figure murmured something to me; "Run," he told me. Then the zipper opened on the tent, but I just couldn't move; it felt like something was pinning me down. I felt the dark figure reach out his hands to me. I thought he wanted to help me. "Stop!" he told me, "It will kill you." With one big push, I heaved myself out of his arms and out of the tent. At that, the school bus had pulled out and knocked me onto the ground. Then I noticed the dark figure had gone and there was no one there to help me.
The teacher still denies it to this day. I am now 17 years old, and I have learned not to keep things bottled up inside of me. I’ve also learned that ghosts aren’t always there to harm us, and sometimes, may even save us from things even more frightening.