Red into white

It was a bone-chilling winter evening. I was walking all alone in a thin-sleeved cotton shirt and holey shorts through a pitch-dark forest that was breathing with rampant rain and a whirling storm. When I heard noises from the bushes, I tried to avoid them, but somehow I found myself near the bushes. I didn't know how I had unknowingly walked towards the noise. Realizing this, I quickly changed my path. Millions of questions were racing through my head, but I tried to ignore them and move forward. However, the fear created by the noise was almost enough to give me a heart attack. With fear in my heart, I kept walking, hoping to either find my way out of the forest or some kind of shelter. As I was walking, I felt like someone was following me. I didn’t dare to look back to check if someone was really there. Instead, I quickened my pace. After a while, I felt a tap on my back. Gathering all my courage, I turned around and saw a pretty woman in a red sari, all wet. Her sari, bangles, and makeup made her look like she had just gotten married. She said she was lost in the forest and couldn’t find a way out. Although the words were unclear due to the heavy rain, I understood what she was saying and replied, "I’m lost too." She then suggested we try to find a way out together, and since I had no other option, I reluctantly agreed despite the fear in my heart. We walked together for a while, but then, suddenly, she vanished. I was terrified and traumatized by the encounter. I tried to keep walking, forcing myself to forget what had just happened. But after some time, she reappeared, wearing the same clothes and saying the same words. I stepped back as she approached me. Her red dress slowly turned white. I stumbled, hit my head on a large stone, and everything went black. When I regained consciousness, it was already morning. I looked around to see if anyone was nearby, but I found no one. I started to notice the surroundings and realized I was at the very spot where I had changed my path to avoid the bushes the night before. I stood up and decided to approach the bushes. It was now daytime, and I dared to look inside. To my surprise, there was nothing but a notebook. I tried to pick it up, but no matter how hard I tried, it felt as if something underground was holding it in place. Without food or shelter and wearing wet clothes, I decided to leave the mystery behind and continued walking in search of food and a way back home. Hungry, I ate whatever I could find in the forest. Thankfully, I didn’t die there without seeing my family and friends again. Once my energy was restored, I focused on finding the path home. But the more I walked, the farther away I felt from my destination. To avoid getting lost, I marked one of the trees and kept walking forward. My hands and legs were trembling, and my entire body felt numb when I noticed the very same mark on the tree after walking for what seemed like an eternity. I couldn’t understand what was happening. Even though it was getting dark, I didn’t let that stop me. Motivating myself with the thought, "If it’s meant to be, no matter what, it will happen," I prayed to different gods and took one step after another, hoping to find my way out. I walked until my feet felt numb. Too scared to rest under a tree, I sat down on the path I had been walking on. Suddenly, lightning struck, and the rain started pouring again. My heart was racing, my body paralyzed by fear. Nothing was going as I had imagined, and with nobody by my side, I felt hopeless and thought this might be my last day on Earth. I lay on the path, letting the rain wash over me, until I felt someone approaching. I stood up, straining to see, and heard footsteps. I could hear them, but I couldn’t see anyone. My breathing became shallow, thinking it could be my last breath. The footsteps grew nearer, and suddenly, the woman in the red sari appeared in front of me, out of nowhere. My soul left my body as she repeated the same dialogue. Shaking with fear, I asked her, "Who are you?" She said nothing but gently took my hand and began walking. After walking a short distance, she looked into my eyes and asked, "Was it you who killed me?" Her eyes were red as fire. Her clothes once again turned white, and she let go of my hand, grabbing my neck instead. She couldn’t kill me, so she threw a stone at me. I lost my balance and fell, blacking out once again. When I came to, I was back beside the notebook I had found earlier. This time, I was able to pick it up more easily, perhaps because it was still nighttime. I turned the pages and saw pictures of kids around my age. As I reached the last page, I saw a picture of myself. The second-to-last photo was of a girl who had gone missing—a case I remembered because my dad had been watching the news about it the day I left home. I flipped through the pages again, noticing strange symbols on most of the photos, except for the last three. The last two photos had different symbols, and my photo had its own unique mark. I crouched down and found two bodies, both bearing the same symbols. I didn’t dwell on it much and just returned to where I had been, waiting for morning. When I woke up the next morning, I heard a dog barking in the distance. Following the sound, I found a cute little puppy that was injured. I did my best to help it and noticed a look in its eyes that I couldn’t ignore. I followed the puppy, and soon I found myself back in the city where I lived. But when I looked for the puppy again, it had disappeared. Instead, I found a note saying, "Don’t tell anyone about this." At that point, I didn’t care about anything anymore. I was finally back. Exhausted, I walked all the way home and hugged my mom. That evening, while having dinner, my dad told us about a car accident from the previous week—a wedding car had crashed while trying to avoid hitting a school bus, and the bride had been the only one to die.