Oaks Bluff was surrounded by a forest that stretched all the way to the mountains and had more thrift stores than you could count. Main Street was one store after another and every shop had shelves stacked to the ceiling full of lost items. Mostly trinkets — watches, hairbows, things like that.
Things nobody wanted anymore ended up in the shops on Main Street.
All that stuff in the stores was found in the woods near McMullen’s farm. McMullen was a thief, stealing milk from the grocery, even tried stealing from the thrift stores. The old coot hadn’t been seen for years, but plenty of lost things still ended up in his woods.
A brave young boy named Tommy and his friends decided to try their luck and go looking for treasures of their own. Late one night long after they were tucked in their beds each one snuck out of their house. With Tommy in the lead, they pedaled their bikes down Main Street and took the path across Timber’s River. When the gravel road ended the group of friends left their bicycles on the side on the road and went into the woods.
The kids walked deep into the forest for an hour or so without finding any treasures. They knew they were lost. Sally, the youngest in the group was a beautiful girl with loose blonde curls and doe shaped eyes, started to panic.
“Tommy! You don’t know where you’re going. Let’s turn back,” She begged.
Billy’s phone made a pinging noise. He pulled it from his pocket to read the text message.
“Aw, man. My mom knows I snuck out. I’m in big trouble!” The other kids started to argue, worried about their parents noticing they were missing too.
That’s when Tommy saw movement out of the corner of his eye. He held his palm up to hush the others.
A pair of yellow eyes lit up the bush, watching them.
“Over there,” Tommy whispered, his chest heaving.
A couple of the girls gasped and covered their mouths when they saw the yellow eyes.
“What is that?” Billy asked.
Tommy shook his head. Tree branches began to snap on the ground as the leaves on the bush moved.
“I don’t know but here it comes,” Tommy told the others.
Red fur shined in the moonlight. Walking toward the group was the biggest fox Tommy had ever seen. Sensing their fear, the animal stopped a few feet from where the kids were huddled together.
The red fox panted, as though it was in distress.
“What’s that around its neck?”
It looked like the fox was wearing some type of harness with words written on a shiny metal plate that dangled underneath the fox’s mouth.
“Is that a collar? Is this thing a pet?” Billy asked.
Tommy squinted in the darkness. “I can’t read what it says.”
The red fox tilted its head, like he understood what the kids were saying. The fox began to trot further into the woods but stopped again, looking over its shoulder.
“It wants us to follow him. Come on! Maybe it will lead us back to the road,” Tommy shrieked.
Eager to return to their warm beds, the children followed the fox.
It didn’t take them long before they found themselves in a clearing with lots of moonlight. One giant oak tree loomed above the others. The fox stopped and sat upon one of the tree’s long branches.
The children were winded and cold, the chill of the night biting at their bones. They were dismayed that the fox hadn’t led them back to the road, only deeper into the infinite forest.
As they decided which way to go next, a green chalky powder fell from the sky, forming a circle around the base of the tree.
“It’s so pretty,” Sally said as she stepped into the chalk circle. Her body trembled and she began to scream. Billy rushed to Sally’s side, as another text message pinged his phone. But it was too late. He was inside the circle.
The children watched in horror as Sally and Billy faded into the powder. In their place two things were left. A doll with blonde curls and big eyes, along with a cracked brass bell.
Sally and Billy.
Tommy watched the other children evaporate, claimed by the chalk. An acorn popped up where each had stood just a moment before.
Tommy looked at the fox as the moonlight shined on its red fur. He could read the words on the collar now. Plain as day — it said McMullen.
“I’ll never forget this night,” Tommy whispered.
The fox smiled as the child transformed into a tattered old book and fell on the mushy ground of the forest.
On the cover, one word.
Tommy.
Author’s notes: Thank you for reading! This story was written from a prompt to write a campfire ghost story no more than 800 words and to use at least two of the following elements: a strange doll, an old tree, a fox with a collar and nametag, a cracked brass bell, a green chalk circle and an old tattered book with a character’s name on the front.
- Author prompt NightCafe
- This is my own work and has not been generated in whole or in part by AI
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