Why did her parents decide to move them out there, she thought as Fern sat cross-legged on the back yard deck, leaning up against the support beam sipping on her lemonade. By "out there", she means the forest, in the middle of nowhere. Where it stretches for endless miles of green trees, reaching high up into the blue sky. But that is something she assumes because of the dense, thick greenery that only allow her a 10 feet field of vision at a time. Fern calls the forest Miss, which is short for Mystery. Which is exactly how every one of her few, dwindling neighbors call it.

A high-pitched bark breaks Fern out her momentary trance. Whipping her head towards the back door, her eyes adjusted to the present time just in time to watch her mangy little Pomeranian fly out of his doggy door. He scampers across the wooden floor, nails scratching furiously and onto to the grass, quickly running head first into Miss. Fern stares with a dumbfound expression she is sure is on her face, at the small opening of bushes her stupid dog flew into. Not only was her dog supposed to be locked behind a fence in her house, he was supposed to be with her parents on vacation. Not home. Fern quickly scrambles to her feet spilling her lemonade on herself. An exasperated sound escapes her mouth as she hastily puts down the cup and heads towards Miss with hopes of retrieving her escapee dog. As she approaches the border where the neat lawn merges into the wild shrubbery of the forest, the forest suddenly seems to loom above her.

Almost as if the trees were leaning towards her every step, almost beckoning her forward, to enter into its mysterious depths. Fern pushes aside branches that were blocking her path and almost as if Miss was a room, stepped into its walls. Almost immediately Fern was overwhelmed at the absolute silence that emanated from within it. Branches cracked under Ferns heavy boots as she took a step at a time further into Miss. Fern had to constantly keep her eyes slanted downward to watch her steps, because every three or so steps ended up with her foot tangled up in a branch or stuck in between the thick vines that covered the forest floor. Which would cause Fern to constantly trip and fall on top of the shrubbery. With many scratches along her arms and face, she continued on with the search with the multiple stains of plants and dirt, and the smell of the wild.

As she stumbled through the forest whistling for her dog to hear, a strange thought occurred to Fern. Miss is short for Mystery. Suddenly, realization of where she was dawned upon her. She was in Miss. Fear and panic instantly flooded her body, and flared feverously inside her belly. A whimper escaped from her tightly clenched jaw as she tried to calm her fluttering heartbeat. There is a reason why her neighbors are moving away, or at least that is what Fern likes to assume is the cause of their absence. Much speculation surrounds Miss and her looming, mysterious depths. Her ex neighbor was extremely scarred of Miss, he claimed that Miss would snatch up an unsuspecting victim and that'd be the last of them. Fern didn't necessarily believe that a forest could snatch up a person, but it wasn't completely out of the question that Miss could cause someone to get lost. But that's not what had Fern in a nervous wreck. It's the fact that at night you can hear the curdling screams of people that come from somewhere deep in its center. On some nights Fern can hear the screams closer and on some nights, there is only loud crying. Her parents dismiss her supposedly extreme claims and often send her off to her room if she starts to bring it up.

Fern was buried deep in her thoughts when she noticed her feet stopped getting caught up in branches. She looked more closely and noticed she was in a big clearing. She saw her dog sitting way on the other side wagging his tail, almost as if he was waiting for someone. A shudder climbed up her back at the thought.

"Come here Jack," Fern crooned as she crouched towards her dog. Her dog looked back at her and simply trotted in to the forest trees once again. "Dammit!" Fern pounded her fist against the grass floor several times.

"Looking for something girl?"

Fern felt her heart dip into her stomach at the voice. She looked up and saw a man, holding her dog surrounded by two other guys who sported evil grins on their faces. She gulped back the urge to turn and run far away from the men.

"My dog is actually in your arms." Fern said.

The man with the shorter stature chuckled, "Well he seems quite comfortable with-"

"With me." The man holding her dog interrupted. He shifted her dog and almost as if he moved too quickly to track, he snapped her dog's neck as if it was merely a pencil. A screamed escaped her mouth and she quickly smothered it with her hands. Tears began to stream down her face as she watched the man toss her dog to the side.

"With no one anymore." The bigger follower grinned at Fern.

Before Fern could turn around and run the two men grabbed her arms and kept her secure while she thrashed and screamed for her freedom, for her life. The man that killed her dog stepped closer and gripped her tightly around the throat. Fern could feel her windpipe being crushed with her every weakening struggle. Her vision darkened as she felt the life leave her body.