Short Story Shenanigans

There is Something in the Forest with Ranger



Ranger had not always been so keen on going on camping trips during the summer. He was more of the type of dog to stay indoors and lounge away while waiting for the summer heat to pass him. However, he was unfortunately dragged along one of these trips by his father who had told him that he needed to quote, "As your fellow kids would say, you need to touch grass Ranger. So pack your bag and lets go camping" . The joke was corny at best but Ranger groaned at the idea of having to bare another boring camping trip. The particular spot they'd go to was miles away from any large city with nothing but countryside and forest covering the area.

Yet Ranger could not appreciate what nature was trying to offer him, with him ignoring his dad's rambling about hunting, fishing, survival, and whatever else he had in mind about the woods, camping, or nature itself. Ranger just wanted to be at home and continue enjoying summer the way he wanted to, which was to watch documentaries about cryptids, creepy -pasta's, and all sorts of creative content with some horror aspect involved. He was practically obsessed with the concept apart from actually facing the jump scares that were involved. Point is, he would probably not last long if he had to actually face one of these monsters that he obsessed over. He was a bit of a coward, actually; he just wanted to understand these horrific things in order to even have a chance against them if they existed.

One evening, his dad announced that he was heading into town to grab some supplies and would be back by morning. Ranger was left alone at the campsite, which was something he didn't mind. He enjoyed the peace and quiet, even if he missed the comforts of home. He settled into the camper with a book about urban legends, his flashlight beside him, and tried to lose himself in the familiar tales of mysterious creatures and unexplained phenomena.

As the night deepened, an unsettling silence fell over the forest, broken only by the occasional rustling of leaves and distant hooting of an owl. Ranger, lost in his book, didn't notice at first. But then he heard it—a soft, almost imperceptible whispering. It was like the wind, but with an eerie, rhythmic quality that set his fur on end. He sat up, his heart pounding, and strained to listen. The whispering grew louder, more distinct, and Ranger realized it was coming from the forest. Curiosity got the better of him. Grabbing his flashlight, he stepped out of the camper and into the night. The moon was full, casting long shadows that danced with the movement of the trees. The whispering seemed to call to him, drawing him deeper into the woods.

As he walked, the forest seemed to close in around him. The trees loomed taller, and the path grew narrower. Ranger's paws crunched on the undergrowth, each step sounding louder in the stillness. The whispering led him to the nearby  small clearing just outside of the camper, where an old, weathered sign stood, barely legible in the moonlight: "No Entry."

Staring at the warning, Ranger stepped into the clearing. The whispering stopped abruptly, and the silence was deafening. He shone his flashlight around, revealing nothing but shadows and trees. Then, just as he was about to turn back, he saw them—glowing eyes peering at him from the darkness.

Panic surged through him, and he fumbled with the flashlight, nearly dropping it. The eyes blinked and moved closer, and Ranger could make out the vague shapes of creatures lurking just beyond the reach of the light. They were unlike anything he had ever seen, at least from the art and videos he watched for his so called hobby, but still it scared him which made him bolt back into the Camper and slam the flimsy door shut. His mind was racing with rational thoughts about his so called imagination as well as how long he had been separated from technology to be seeing things.

But no, he KNEW what he saw was real, it had to. Fear and Paranoia started to overtake Ranger who knew it was only a matter of time before those things would try to attack the camper. The camper was basically useless considering its vintage age as well as how worn out it had become. Then an idea struck the young dog, his father had hunting rifles inside the camper which they were going to use that following morning. Ranger, scrambling at this point, instinctively went right for the cases where they rifles were being stored and pulled one out and grabbed ammo before doing his best to load it. Though Ranger had never really used a rifle let alone had been trusted to fire one, albeit it was the only sensible thing he could do in this situation to bring some control back. The last thing he would do would be stepping outside of the camper to confront these "things".

You see Mr. and Mrs. Brooks, that was the last event we were able to record on the timeline of events before losing his Trail completely throughout this investigation at least according to our notes. We know how devastated you are about him having gone missing but the Sheriffs Office and Forestry Service is doing everything it can to find any traces of his whereabouts though I am skeptical why the hell the officer responsible for compiling  a part of the notes went on a tangent about "The Paranormal" when clearly the boy just got scared and ran blindly into the forest based off paranoia. Ahem, sorry its been just as frustrating for us as it has been for you, if we find anything we'll be sure to let you know but thank you for coming in.

Artistic and Character Notes

So that concludes yet another story in my short story shenanigans series. When it come's to pieces like these it allows me to practice my creative writing while also developing a more complex artistic piece as visual context for ya'll to follow which includes a new original character named Ranger that I made for this story. Apart from that, I focused on detail shenanigans and Airbrush Shenanigans for this piece. Hopefully you enjoyed reading this, thank you and I hope ya'll have a good rest of your day, evening, as well as a good night. - Midnightbatizer