A group of children discover a dead body.

It was a warm summer day in the small town of Millfield, and a group of children were out exploring the nearby woods. They had been wandering around for hours, looking for adventure and excitement, when they stumbled upon something that would change their lives forever.

As they pushed their way through a particularly dense thicket of trees, one of the children suddenly let out a sharp gasp. "Look!" he cried, pointing to something on the ground.

The others crowded around him, peering down at the object in question. At first, they couldn't quite make out what it was - it was just a shapeless lump, covered in leaves and twigs. But as they drew closer, they began to see that it was a human body.

The children stood there in stunned silence, staring down at the dead man lying before them. He was lying on his back, his eyes closed and his arms folded across his chest. There was a deep wound on his forehead, and his clothes were torn and muddy.

For a moment, nobody knew what to do. They were just a group of kids, out playing in the woods, and now they had stumbled upon a dead body. They knew that they should tell someone - the police, maybe, or one of their parents - but they were also afraid of getting into trouble. What if they had somehow caused this man's death? What if they were blamed for it?

Finally, one of the braver children spoke up. "We have to tell someone," she said firmly. "We can't just leave him here like this."

The others nodded in agreement, and they quickly set off back towards town. They were all filled with a sense of dread and unease - they had never seen anything like this before, and the sight of the dead man's body had left them feeling shaken and scared.

When they reached the edge of the woods, they spotted a police car parked on the road. They hesitated for a moment, unsure of what to do, but then one of the children ran over to the car and began banging on the window.

The officer inside looked startled at first, but then he rolled down the window and asked what was wrong.

"We found a dead body in the woods," the child said, her voice trembling.

The officer quickly got out of the car and followed the children back to the spot where they had found the body. He took one look at the man lying on the ground and knew that he was dead. He radioed for backup, and soon the woods were filled with police officers and forensic investigators.

The children watched from a distance, feeling a strange mixture of curiosity and fear. They knew that they had stumbled upon something big - something that would make headlines and shake their small town to its core.

Over the next few days, the investigation into the man's death continued. It turned out that he had been a local businessman, and that he had been missing for several days before his body was found. There were no obvious signs of foul play, but the police were treating it as a homicide until they could determine the cause of death.

The children were interviewed by the police and asked to recount their discovery of the body. They were praised for their bravery in coming forward, and were assured that they were not in any trouble. But despite this reassurance, they couldn't shake the feeling that they had somehow stumbled into something dark and dangerous.

As the investigation dragged on, rumors began to circulate around town. Some people said that the businessman had been involved in shady dealings, and that his death was some kind of retribution. Others whispered about a serial killer on the loose, stalking the streets of Millfield and preying on unsuspecting victims.

The children listened to these rumors with a mixture of fascination and fear.