It felt good to be back home. I had to spent nearly half a year in the city with my father, who now decided it would be a better idea for me to live with mom again at the village, because apparently ‘I wasn’t made for the city’. Which was true.

I loved the landscape and my village. It was very small, with just around 100 inhabitants, and it was surrounded by woods. I loved the nature and my parents bought an old farm before I was born.

They actually lived very happily with me and my little sister, but ever since 2 years ago, when my sister went to boarding school in England- to ameliorate her dance- they started avoiding one another. Sooner or later I knew they would divorce. It was not a drama, they still talked to each other, were friends and even met from time to time, the only things that changed were that they no longer lived together and that Dad had a new girlfriend. She was nice, a little bit younger than mom, but even mom liked her. So my life should be perfect in the city.

But it wasn’t. I missed the nature, our animals and pets and foremost the forest. It was magical in there. I would be out there every day after school, and in my holidays nearly the whole day. It was quiet, without humans.

I wasn’t unpopular in school, I had some friends, but we met mostly in school because they knew I wasn’t around much and loved to be outside.

My parents weren’t a big fan of me being in the woods alone because of the wild animals. Foxes, wild boars or wolves, they could all endanger me. Unfortunately for them they couldn’t stop me. And trust me, they tried and tried and tried. So at last they just told me to be careful and to be home before dark. An arrangement we could all live with.

As I sat in my room and put away my clothes into the drawer I looked outside. It was still light outside, so I decided to go and visit my favourite place in the woods and take the dog with me.

“Hey Jimin, come on. We’ll go visit the woods.” Jimin, our German Shepard, seemed rather excited about the whole thing. As I stepped outside and smelled the good and clear air I was more than happy.

“So good to be back!” I said to no one in particular. Jimin just looked at me and then went off into the woods. Oh well, I knew he would be back soon, without catching anything. I hadn’t seen any dangerous animals (oh well if you think foxes are dangerous, then I have seen some) in my life, so I wasn’t scared.

--

Dear diary,

I am finally back. And currently sitting in my favourite spot. It’s getting dark so I have to go back soon, but I wanted to write down at first that I am back. The last entry has been over 7 months ago, but you’ll hear from me more often from now on. We have 3 more weeks of holidays, so I’ll be back tomorrow and the day after and—well you understand, don’t you? Oh , it’s seriously getting late now, I’ll head back. Until then,

Bye, Jayeon

Putting my diary back into its original spot behind a large rock I stood up and went back into the woods to go home. Jimin was just beside me, trotting and looking from left to right.

I knew my way home from there, I went that way nearly all my life, so I could go there blindly. But something was different this time. Jimin wasn’t as relaxed as always and it felt like something was there. Right there in the woods. It gave me chills. Was there someone from the village that was following me? It couldn’t be. There was nobody in the village who would follow me and who knew where I was heading except my parents and my sister, but my father was away, my sister was in England and my mother was working.

Looking into the woods I searched for something, or rather someone.

“Hello?! Is there somebody?” I was asking. Of course not, what were you thinking Jayeon? That feeling of being followed and observed was still there. But there was nothing.

“Maybe I’m getting paranoid because it’s been a while since I’ve been here” I assured myself. There was probably a squirrel or mice.

As I came home my mother was sitting in the kitchen.

“Where were you?! It’s nearly dark outside, Jimin wasn’t home and I nearly had a heart attack!” She was angry. Great. She knew where I went, we both knew that, but still. We weren’t used to our old life yet, with us two in the house and me being in the woods.

“I took Jimin with me, and I wasn’t in danger. You know that. I put my clothes away, did the laundry and made a salad, by the way, it’s in the fringe, and now I’ll go into my room and read. If you’ll excuse me” Maybe I shouldn’t have been so y and snappy, but it wasn’t something new that I wasn’t home all the time.

And I hated that everyone in the village, including my parents thought that I was odd. That I wasn’t normal for loving the wilderness and the forest.

When I lived in the city my friends envied me. They were ‘trapped’, as they called it, and I could finally escape, even though I didn’t want that. So my friends just called me weirdo. It wasn’t meant to be mean, so I just let them be.

Sitting on my bed I took one of my favourite books (Pride Mates by Jennifer Ashley) and immersed myself into a world so different from mine I was tempted to stay there.

--

I was awakened by the sun the next day, my novel still in hands. My mother was probably at work or in town, I didn’t care because I didn’t want to go with her.

Should I, should I not? I asked myself. It was still early in the morning and if I went now I had the chance to see some rabbits and the awakening of the birds.

Said, done. Jimin stayed home today and I took some food with me. Who knows when I’ll be back? I went to sit on my favourite spot again but decided I wouldn’t write into my diary today.

As I had predicted I saw some small rabbits and mice waking up. They were really cute and for a short moment I wished I could draw and had some utensils with me, but right after I chuckled. What a wish. I couldn’t draw even if my life was on the line. That was something my sister was good at. That and dancing. She didn’t like to read nor to learn so her knowledge was limited. We were opposites. I loved to sing and to read, to learn and to dream about other worlds and it seemed like I always missed something in my life.

All of a sudden that feeling of being watched was back. It wasn’t there before today, and I trusted my instincts. So I turned around and stared into the woods. It wasn’t even dark, so why couldn’t I see anything?

You’re mental, Jayeon.

As I couldn’t see anything from where I was sitting, I decided to walk further into the woods to search. Who knows what I might find? And I still had the whole day, so why not go a little further than normal? It wasn’t that I never went farther into the woods, it was just not an everyday thing.

So I made my way through the forest. I more so strolled through it, while occasionally looking right and left if I saw someone. The feeling of being watched was gone. At least I thought. Because as soon as I stood still to watch the sun illuminating a small glade, I felt it. Eyes looking at me, observing me.

“Okay, I know you’re there, and I would feel better if I could see you too. So why don’t you come out and we can talk?” I tried again. Who knows, maybe the observer had a bad hair day yesterday and didn’t want me to see?

But apparently he didn’t want me to see him. Or to know he was there. Or she, who knows?

So I decided to go back, do something in our house and be there when my mom gets back. I didn’t want our fight to continue today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

the first chapter is shorter than the following will be... But i just wanted you to get a glimpse at what this will look like.

It is supernatural, so expect more!

 

until next time

i won't leave you hanging again

bye ;)