Excerpt: The Stolen Child

They were calling.

They were calling her.

Slowly, the girl got out of bed, careful not to wake her sister sleeping beside her. She crept out of her room, down the stairs, and out the front door. She shivered as a cool wind blew past. She hugged herself, trying to keep warm. There was no moon in the sky, and her eyes took a moment to adjust. The girl started walking toward the forest, looming beyond the field behind the house. She crossed the field, wondering why she wasn’t afraid. She felt she should be, but she just wasn’t. The girl thought she should turn back, go home, crawl back into bed and forget this ever happened. But she was too far gone, now. There would be no turning back, she could tell.

Still, they called.

The girl reached the edge of the forest, and considered turning around one last time. Surely, she still could. She hadn’t entered the forest; she hadn’t passed the true point of no return…

She could not. The girl stepped onto a path entering the forest, and disappeared.