Page 196 - Musings 2020

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Stairs?

Sharang Sharma 2017A7PS0054P

I don't know what is happening in the woods outside of my house but I am terrified. My best
friend Anish and I went into the woods yesterday around 4:30 pm to look for my brother’s
football. He came crying to me a day prior because he accidentally threw it into the tree line.
I don't blame him for not going in there, he has been terrified of the woods ever since he was
a boy. One day he ran into our house bawling to our parents because a man with allegedly,
"No face", had grabbed him and tried to pull him into the woods. I felt bad, so Anish, a friend
who was staying over, and I went into these woods to find it. I knew we shouldn’t have
wandered past the first few trees. We didn't see it anywhere so we should have turned around
right there. But Anish wanted to explore and I hate saying no to him because that kid can
hold a grudge. I would have much rather dealt with his grudge. We walked farther and farther
into the woods until I got far too uncomfortable. I told him we needed to leave.

We turned back and, on the way, I began to feel really uneasy. I have a gift when it comes to
knowing what is and what is not a bad situation. As we wandered back, I noticed something
ahead that stopped me in my tracks. It was a staircase. I don't know what in the hell it was
doing there and just the sight of it made me uncomfortable. It screamed, "stay away." As soon
as Anish saw the stairs, he ran over to them smiling. He cursed in amazement and looked at
me. The stairs were old and wooden. They looked like somebody cut them perfectly out of an
old house and planted them in the middle of the woods. I told Anish that I wanted to go and
he shook his head, telling me to stop being a bitch. I'm not going to lie to you, as soon as I
saw the stairs, I wanted to climb them. I had a sudden urge despite how creepy they were. I
could stop myself, but I couldn't stop Anish. He began to climb the steps even after I told him
not to. As soon as he was about halfway up, he turned and began talking. He told me to grow
a pair and to get up there. I responded by telling him I felt sick and he looked at me in total
confusion. He then proceeded to ask me what I had just said. Considering that I had yelled it
at him, I naturally assumed he was messing with me. I repeated myself and he told me to
stop. He was getting angry. I asked what he was talking about and he began freaking out and
smacking his ears.

At this point, I knew we had to leave, I went to grab him but as soon as I got near the step a
loud ear-piercing sound started blasting through the air. I live near a train track so I know
loud and trust me when I say that this was probably the loudest noise I have ever heard. It
was a whistling - like the noise a bullet would make flying through the air times a thousand.
It hurt me so goddamn much I fell to the ground in pain. It lasted for about a minute before it
finally went away and I was bawling. My head was killing me. I got up and began telling
Anish that we had to leave but I was interrupted by what I saw. Nothing. The stairs and Anish
had disappeared. I spun around twice thinking I got turned around and called his name like a
thousand times before running back to my house crying.

I told my parents everything and they called the police. As soon as they arrived, I told them
everything and they began looking for Anish. I gave them the number of Anish's house phone
and I even offered to take them to the spot. They called the number and I have never been
more confused. It wasn't his parents that picked up. The police sat me down with my parents

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