To all the teachers that reached out to me even when I did not reciprocate. I am where I am at because you did nit give up on me.

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There is a road out of town that leads to the forest. I have never gone to the forest.

I have been told that the forest is a strange and dangerous place. I have not been told why.

I have decided to go find out for myself what makes the forest so dangerous.

As I walk, the road is slowly surrounded by more and more trees. Soon, I found that everywhere outside the road was covered by foliage.

Suddenly, I found myself at the end of the road. This marks where the town ends and the forest starts.

If I want to move forward, I will have to make my own path. I shudder at the thought. This will be my first time going someplace without the road to tell me where to go.

I take my first steps into the dense collection of trees. I have now entered the forest and have left the world that I have known all my life behind. I want to go back, but first I need to know why this forest is dangerous.

I start walking and I hear some rustling from the leaves above my head. I look up and see a black crow. He looks down at me as I look up at him.

The crow drops an acorn as he flew off. I bend down to pick up the acorn, but as I get close, the crow swoops down and squawks at me. I fall back on the ground.

This must be why the forest is dangerous. The crow does not seem to be friendly. I keep on walking while keeping an eye on the crow just in case he decides to attack me again.

I keep walking deeper into the forest and the crow keeps dropping acorns. I wonder why he would do that if he does not want anyone to touch them.

Soon I came upon a river. The water looks nice and cool. I bend over to dip my hands and head in the water. As I am bending over I start to feel myself start to slip when...