Storybook Giveaways *Winners Updated on 3rd post!*

[Littlepengu]

Bump

[Littlepengu]

Bump

[Littlepengu]

Bump

[Littlepengu]

Bump

[Littlepengu]

bump

[graec]

Bump! This is such a cool and creative idea! Best of luck to everyone that enters!

[Littlepengu]

Thank you!

[Littlepengu]

Bump

[Littlepengu]

Bump

[Bookworm5515]

It all started with a dare.

There was a legend passed down from generation to generation, that the woods were filled with vengeful spirits and mythic creatures. Once a year, near Halloween, the forest would fill with fog, and no one was to enter unless they wished death upon themselves.

Well, it was less of a legend and more a spooky bedtime story for children. One of those cautionary tales to keep kids out of the woods. There wasn't anything to it - and yet, looking at the woods now, the fairy tale seemed perfectly tangible.

"Go on," Dolan urged. "C'mon, you aren't gonna back out now, are you?"

Casper gulped and looked up and down the edges of the forest. Thick fingers of fog twisted between the tree trunks, inexplicably stopping at an invisible barrier. "Nnnnoooo...." he mumbled. "It's just kinda...creepy."

"It's just some fog! Geez, stop being such a wuss," Ethan spat, as though the word were a curse.

"Fine!" Casper snapped. "I'll go!" Despite his words, he hesitated. Then, to save his rapidly fading reputation, he lunged forward in a desperate sort of way. The fog rapidly swallowed his form, leaving nothing but an impenetrable grey wall.

Casper forged forward nervously, jumping at every flicker of movement, at each rustle of branches. "Just make it to the cemetery," he whispered to himself. "Then you can go back and show that jerk who the real coward is."

Rustle.

He froze, swallowed, and slowly turned around.

Nothing.

Nothing but fog.

A nervous laugh escaped from his mouth, unnaturally loud in the unnatural silence. A form slunk from behind the trees, and he cut himself out with a strangled squeak.

It was a cat.

A black cat, to be exact. Its eyes flashed emerald, and there was a rose in its mouth.

Casper stared.

The cat dropped the rose and scampered off. Casper stared after it, blinking.

"What."

He leaned down and picked up the rose. A rich, vivid crimson, it was unlike anything he'd seen this time of year.

"Huh..."

The cat suddenly raced past, startling Casper . He stumbled back, tripped over a tree root, and fell back, somehow not letting go of the rose.

"YoU..."

A breeze whipped past his face, throwing a handful of leaves into his face. He brushed them off with his free hand.

"tHiEf."

Casper frowned. He thought he'd heard something.

"gIvE iT bAcK."

His eyes widened when he saw it. The ghost. Tangled ebony hair, a tattered black dress, eyes glazed over. She moved forward purposefully.

"DoN't MoVe."