Blogtober 2025, Day 4: Exuberant

 

Lucy's Path: Chapter Four

The oak loomed ahead, its gnarled roots twisting like frozen snakes. The teens slowed, drawn toward it and repelled at once. Ribbons dangled from the lower branches—faded scraps of fabric, brittle with age. Some were tied in careful knots, others shredded as if clawed apart.

Emily slipped the amulet into her pocket, her hand trembling. “She tied ribbons here,” she whispered. “Lucy.”

Mark stepped forward, forcing an exuberant laugh that rang too loud in the silence. “See? Nothing to it. Just an ugly old tree with some arts-and-crafts.” He slapped the bark with his palm.

The tree groaned. Low, deep, like something breathing beneath the soil.

Sarah yelped, dropping her flashlight. Its beam spun across the ground, catching a new ribbon twisting down from nowhere—red, wet, glistening as if freshly torn.

Tyler stumbled back. “That wasn’t here before! Right?”

The oak shuddered again, and the symbol carved into its trunk—the eye inside the teeth—seemed to pulse, edges glowing faintly in the dark.

Emily clutched her pocket, the amulet burning against her skin. “I think it wants something back,” she whispered.

And then, from somewhere deeper in the woods, came the sound of a child’s laughter.