by Zachary Heil

Created on: December 03, 2008

The House In The Forest

Chapter 1

The Norton residence was located at the far end of a cul de sac, in suburban Chesterfield, Mo. It stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the newly built homes. Once a lone house on a rural gravel road, but now surrounded by the malady of commercial progress. The large pines strewn across the yard were nearly sixty years old and noticeably out of place. They seemed a solitary beauty amidst the deplorable conditions of the house and yard. The soil under the home had settled long ago, causing the cold air to seep through the broken seals of the windows during winter. The porch wood was rotting, and the exterior paint of the home was pockmarked with the disease of time.

At eleven in the morning, teenage William Norton stepped out onto the front porch. His eyes gazed over to the west, where the trees of the small forest reached out from the depths of the hillside. He knew the elevation of the forest was at least thirty feet below where he was standing, and it amazed him that the trees protruded from the top of the hill by at least another twenty feet.

*Those trees are old, maybe older than grandpa.*

He was right, his grandfather was much younger than the trees, by at least fifty years. William's grandfather, Red, had lived in the home all of his life and had many fond memories of the woods. But the trees were much smaller then, devoid of the inevitable struggle that would come in the age of commercial growth.

William decided he would go on another trek through the woods. He jumped from the porch and ran over to the brush pile and grabbed a large stick. It was a fallen branch that was broken in two and it was perfect for him - three quarters of his height and sturdy as a steel rod.

He looked back toward the old home and wondered how his grandfather was feeling. Although William was looking forward to spending the day in the forest, he never felt at ease leaving his aging grandfather alone. The man that had raised him since he was a young child; when his parents left this world.

*I don't even remember them.*

Why would he? They died when he was just two years old, in a terrible car accident on highway 94. William had been in the car with them, but was uninjured. His grandfather was the only family member he had left, but he lovingly took him into his home and raised him as his own son.

"He'll be okay," he reassured himself and turned to the forest.

* * *

From the next house up the street, a blond-haired girl of the same age watched as her good-looking

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