Every town has a mystery. Some places have an abandoned house or factory, some a dead street, some a weird little store, and some a cold lighthouse with no light left. The town i live in is different, my town has only a forest with a fence all around it.
Most people that move in seem to take no notice of the forest, some pretend its not there. Wouldn’t you wonder why its there? My parents told me just to stay away because it is easy to get lost in there. Weirdly though, unlike most in the town, I am Curious.
I have a real name, if anyone ever reads this, my actual name is Joseph Smith, but everyone calls me Curious because I ask so many questions. I’ve always needed answers, and unknown things need to be investigated in my book. With the forest included, it was unknown and no one talked about it.
People always told me not to go in, so I started asking around. One person said, “Oh that forest was formed after a radiation leak, its not safe to go in.” Another said, “We want to leave that land untouched and protect the natural beings there.” Even the town mayor said, “What forest?” After not getting answers from any of the townspeople, I went to the next best resource, the internet.
Searching for results proved just as bad. Sources said about as much as the people said. One source said it was just there, and another said the land was protected. While clicking on one last link I was about to give up when I found something shocking. Hidden deep in the forest there was an old science lab. The lab dealt with harmful chemicals and genetic mutation. The lab closed down over 50 years ago, but there must be more to the story, and there must be something that isn’t listed here. Why did it close down? Why can’t we go there still?

Finally I had gotten closer to what I wanted, but I needed to get even closer. On this day, on December 7 2041, at 7:55 AM, is the day I made the decision to go into the forest.
Knowing no one in the town would go with me, I had to go alone. My plan is to leave at night and tell my parents that I will be going to my friends house to sleepover. With me all I am going to bring is a flashlight, a bottle of water, and some food.

It is night now, and I’m heading for the forest. Walking down the road at the entrance of the forest, I found a note. The note was written like a poem, and it read,

Closer, Closer he comes,
Closer, Closer he walks,
Closer, Closer, to the end.
I threw the note, thinking it was just someone’s lost homework.
Now it was time to for me to enter the forest. The gate was closed and padlocked shut, so there was only one way in. I had never been very strong or athletic, but in this moment, driven in curiosity and fear, I climbed the fence and jumped down.
In the forest is so much darker than outside, so I switched on my flashlight. Guided by my flashlight and arms, I started to walk through the forest. While walking, after it had been about 20 minutes, I stumbled across something that wasn’t dirt. I reached down and found another piece of paper. The flashlight was revealing another faded poem. This time it read,
Closer, Closer he is,
Closer, Closer he journeys,
Closer, Closer to the end.
This time, I became scared. Trying to calm down and tell myself it must’ve blown in the wind, I continued walking. As I continue I hear this constant wind that doesn’t help calm me down. I keep hearing the wind, and my brain starts to make out words. Hearing words, I tell myself, “Don’t worry, the wind can’t talk, the wind can’t talk.” Again I hear the wind, this time louder. I could make out something that sounded quite like, “We are hungry!” At this I came to a run, trying to get away, but the awful noises continued.
Gaining hunger and getting more tired, I decided to stop. I took out the lunchbox that I had brought along. I started to unwrap a granola bar, but it wouldn’t come open. The dang thing finally came open, and when I brought it to my mouth, there was no granola bar. At this I heard more wind. This time I could hear, “We are still hungry!” Now I was extremely scared, and with no food to calm me down, all I could do was walk on.
The wind started to die down, but the forest started to look the same as it had for the last hour. I need to get rest I told myself, so I stopped to have a look at my surroundings. I started turning around, when I could see behind me a berry bush full of bright red raspberries. Now I knew something was really up. As I walked over, I realized I could touch and feel the bush, so it wasn’t an illusion. It wasn’t there before, so I probably shouldn’t eat those, I told myself, no matter how hungry I was. Finally, I turned back around and started walking to the way I had been going.
On a tree, directly across from the bush, there was another note nailed on the tree, at a perfect level for me to read. This time it read,
Closer, Closer he walks,
Closer, Closer he dares,
Closer, Closer to the end.
What is the end? What am I getting closer to? I started to ask myself these questions over and over, making me even more scared. I’ll just keep on walking I told myself. The trees had stopped talking now so the walk was easier. In the distance I could see it little building. It looked about 500 feet away and kind of like some sort of explosion had gone on in there.
As I neared the building, I could hear voices that this time didn’t sound like trees talking. They seemed to be saying exactly what the notes I found had said. Only, the voices said,
“Closest, Closest he looms,
Closest, Closest he is,
Closest, Closest to the end.”
These voices were different. But still, nothing could stop me. I venture closer to the hut. I’m walking careful of my step trying to get a better view of the building. As I take one more step, I