A fantasy short story by award-winning author Troy D. Smith
Nikki was a scared little halfling girl, and the Dark Wood was the last place she wanted to be -but her pet squirrel had run into the mysterious forest, and she had to find him.
But -what if some wicked creature or other was lurking just out of sight? Nikki thought back on all the stories she had heard about the Dark Wood. It was a haunted place, everyone said, an eerie thing with a thousand living eyes, which mysteriously sucked up all who entered it.
Nikki did not want to be sucked up. She only wanted to find her squirrel.