It was always so gloomy in the town of Goldhollow. A constant chill in the air, the sound of frogs chirping, the smell of a musty swamp. Most people have never even heard of the town with the fact Goldhollow was about 25 miles from the closest town. The handful of people who lived in this town never stepped foot outside of their houses. Cranjice was a little old lady who just sat in her rocking chair sitting in front of her window with her cat in her lap. On the end of the block there was a small wood house. In the house lived a 17 year old girl named Riley. Riley wasn’t the typical, outgoing teenage girl. She was more into playing her piano and reading books.

One day Riley had finished reading one of her many books. Her parents and brother had left on a trip earlier that week so RIley was home all alone. It was a very beautiful day out which made today a very rare day! For once Riley grabbed a new book and walked outside to enjoy this once in a lifetime day. She walked down the block soaking up this sun while hearing the chirping of the birds as they flew from tree to tree. When she reached the end of the block she came across a dirt trail leading into the forest. At the end of the trail there was a lake which looked like a perfect reading spot for her. She stepped over the scrubs and sticks covering the path. When she got to the lake she found an old stone bench that looked like it had been there for over 50 years. She sat down next to the calming lake and opened up her book. A couple minutes into her book, out of nowhere, she heard
“Hey there, my name is Myles!”
Riley jumped up off the bench terrified and screamed
“What the heck?!? Who are you and why are you spying on me??”
There stood, over the bench, a skinny pale blonde boy who looked to be about 15. He wore a plaid shirt with jean overalls and grass stains in the knees and holes throughout his clothes.
“I told you already lady, my name is Myles. I've never seen you here before. Are you new to the neighborhood? I wander these forests everyday looking for the ghost. Do you know where I could find the darn thing?”
Myles said while picking up a sharp stick and twirling it around in his hands.
“I have no idea what you are talking about, i've lived here for 17 years and I've never heard of a ghost here.”
Riley grabbed her book and started walking away on the dirt path. Myles crept up behind her, looked around to make sure no one could here and began speaking.
“You haven’t heard!? Everybody knows, they say a boy was once walking through the forest when a 50 ft tree fell down and trapped him. No one could here his cries and he died hours later. Since that day his soul has been haunted these forests looking for souls to take after no one saved his.”
“You are utterly crazy dude, I’m leaving now goodbye”
Riley shook her head and began to speed walk away towards her house and not looking back at Myles.

Once Riley stepped into her house she immediately locked the door behind her. She looked down and saw the hair standing up on her arm. She knew that Myles was just being a typical boy by trying to scare her. Although the story felt so real, like maybe that is why no one ever goes into that forest or even goes outside of their houses. It was getting late so Riley jumped into bed, turned all her lights off, and dozed off to sleep. A while later Riley woke up to the wind blowing her window open, making her curtains fly up. She rushed over and closed the window but as she locked it she noticed a figure standing on the street in front of her. It was very dark, making it hard to make out who it was. She squinted and was able to make out a white face staring right at her. She screamed and ran to her bedroom door to lock it and then closed her curtains and jumped into bed. Riley remembered the story the strange boy had told her earlier today and started believing it. “Maybe that was the killer ghost of the boy standing outside my house? Maybe he knows i'm all alone?”

After hiding under the covers for 20 minutes she gained some courage to look out the window again after thinking “maybe i’m just seeing things”. Riley walked over to the window and peaked out. She stared out at the street and saw nothing but the mailbox. She was relieved and just as she was closing the curtains the street light turned on and standing right there was Myles staring straight at her. She jumped back and stared right back at him. Her mind finally started putting it together, Myles was the ghost boy! It all started making sense. A creepy white boy roaming around in the forest, it couldn't of been more obvious. Why didn’t she think that in the first place?

Riley needed to find out the truth so she immediately grabbed her laptop and started searching up “Death in Goldhollow”. Thousands of pages popped up but it wasn’t what she expected them to say. One of the headlines read “Family dies after tragic house fire”. When Riley clicked on the link a picture popped up showing a house completely burnt to smithereens. She scrolled down and read “A giant house fire began after a stove was left on at 1833 Goldhollow road” The article was dated 10 years ago.
“Wait a second... That’s my address? This can’t be true! I have lived in this house my whole life.”
She continued reading and came across A picture of her when she was 7 years old. Underneath read “Riley Gage 7 years old”. Under that was then a picture of her mom, dad, and 4 year old brother Marcus.

Riley could not understand anything she just read. She started thinking “Where are my brother and parents?” They Haven’t been home in a long time. It was sunrise and Riley was so shocked over what she read that she walked outside and looked up at her house. There stood a collapsed house full of ash and burned wood. She dropped to her knees in complete shock.
“Hey there”
Riley heard faintly away, she looked to the right and walking towards her was a familiar face, It was was Myles.
“You do know this house is off limits to everyone? Why were you walking around inside it late last night? I tried to talk you into coming down but you just ran away.”
Riley started breaking down in tears from so much shock and confusion. She then looked at Myles and explained
“You don’t understand, This is my house, I’m the ghost!”
Myles looked at her with a terrified look and then looked behind her and took steps back. A lady's voice then called from behind Riley.
“There you are honey, we have been looking all over for you. It’s time to come with us now and move on.”
Riley turned around fast once she heard her mother's voice. There stood her mom, dad, and brother in front of a heavenly white light. Riley ran up to her family as they took her into their arms and walked into the light.