Anvika's Blog

A gentle wind ruffled the branches of the beautiful spread of greenery many feet below—like it had for the past three hours. Indeed, Sarah was tired of the dreary summer job she had been required to apply for by her overbearing parents. Yet here she was, staring out of an unstable structure that was very likely illegal by state building regulations, perched on the outcrop of cliff that allowed a stunning and unobscured view of her state’s beloved greenery. In her opinion it was better off burnt to the ground; Sarah had to drive an hour through the forest just to sit in that tiny building, staring at the forest for another four hours; but it was her job to ensure the pestilent shrubs survived the glaring summer heat. At least the gas cost was covered by the Wildfire Prevention Association in her tiny secluded community.

                Sarah’s head dipped onto the burning wood and she let it rest on the coarse grains until a stupid fly buzzed into the hut. “Ugh what the-” she smacked it away and its life drained away as it crashed onto the sill, joining its fallen comrades that had previously made the mistake of entering the hut. “There’s more?” Sarah waved her hand to smack it but as her depth perception returned she realized that rather than a fly, it was a person, dressed in all dark clothes, slowly making his way through the trees. Campers and Hikers regularly traversed the forest, but this was different, and it gave Sarah anxiety.

                She picked up her glasses and squinted through them, making out that it was two people rather than one. One person was starting and stopping, heaving something through the trees. The other person was what he was heaving. Sarah double-took. A guy dressed in all dark clothes was dragging an unconscious person through secluded woods. It could be a high schooler playing a savage prank on the poor friend that dared fall asleep in their presence—Sarah wouldn’t put it past some of her own friends to do that to her—but it was likely something much more sinister.

                She didn’t know what to do, and Sarah just watched in shock as the person slowly dragged the victim out of sight and the glare of the setting sun pierced directly into her eyes. I…I have to do something! She rushed out of the unstable hut and sprinted down the cliff it was perched on. Gasping for air, she arrived at the spot where she had seen the person.

                There was a splatter of blood. A whole trail of it leading to who knows where. As if in a trance, Sarah followed it. It was the stupidest thing she could’ve done at the moment, and she stumbled upon the body. Lying face down in a particularly dense bush, abandoned by the perpetrator, dead. The shock finally settled into Sarah. Her fingers shook as she dialed 911, something she should’ve done long before. She had just witnessed a murder. She had found the body. She had thrown an unexpected wrench in the killer’s plan. And she could now be next on his list.