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.

But the trees were watching...