The Dark Grove

There is something unnerving about a dark patch of woods in an unlikely area. Shadows play on your nerve endings and the hair on your arms and the back of your neck stands out as you get the feeling you are being watched. Trees line the pathway from both sides arching over the pathway and sealing the canopy into a dark eerie grove filled with darkness. The hoots of giant owls and golden eyes stare back at you and things swoop down from branches above in the darkness. Even on a sunny day the darkness awaits in the dark grove.

During the summer months all the neighborhood kids in the small town I grew up in would get together in a large lot behind a big two story house to play softball. We would choose our teams and play for hours. The majority of us were cousins mixed in with other neighborhood kids. We all hung out together during the summer playing softball, going swimming at the pool, fishing the ponds in the area and of course riding our bikes. Typical small town neighborhood kids.

One thing all the kids in town agreed on was you had to get home before it got dark if you lived on the far side of town. If you didn't you would have to face the dark grove. One night I forgot the time and it was already getting dark. I thought I can handle this it's just a short walk through the dark grove. Facing the woods I felt unnerved. I hadn't even stepped a foot into it but could feel the chill and the atmosphere seemed intimidating with a thousand eyes watching me.

I choked down my fear and I started that dreaded walk into the dark grove. I heard an owl hoot and saw it's glowing yellow eyes staring at me from a high tree branch. "Don't say my name! Don't say my name!" kept running through my mind because of an old legend I had heard that said if an owl calls your name your going to die.

I was only a few feet into the dark grove when I felt something brush against the palm of my hand. I panicked and looked down to find a big silver shepherd walking next to me wagging his tail and looking pleased with himself. I stopped and petted him feeling his thick fur under the palms of my hands and ruffled the fur around his face. I was so glad to see this silver shepherd walking beside me. I wasn't alone in the dark grove anymore and it didn't seem scary now.

We walked through the grove and I realized that the silver shepherd didn't follow me out of the grove. I stood just outside the dark grove and tried to get him to follow me but he just sat there staring at me. I tried to call him again when he suddenly got up and walked back into the dark wood disappearing right before my eyes like he was never there. I didn't feel scared but suddenly wanted to get as far away from that dark grove as I could.

I walked into our house and my Dad scolded me for being later than normal. I must have had a weird look on my face cause my Dad asked me had I seen a ghost and laughed. I told him I think I might have and asked him if animals could be ghosts. I told him about the silver shepherd in the dark grove and he asked me were you afraid when you walked into the dark woods. I didn't lie and said yes and it was creepy until that big dog showed up. I told him it wouldn't come out of the woods and how it just turned and disappeared back into the woods. My Dad walked into his bedroom and came back with an old black and white photo of me as a small child with a big black and silver shepherd. "This was my King." My Dad said. He was died when you were six. He knew you were afraid and helped you through it. The photo of King was the spitting image of the silver shepherd in the dark grove.