Night of the Living Trees PDF

# THE NIGHT OF THE LIVING TREES Walking through a graveyard at night - that was Dora's big mistake. After school, she had been to the park and lost track of the time. The evenings were getting darker much earlier now. When she looked at her watch, she knew she would have to run to avoid a telling o...

# THE NIGHT OF THE LIVING TREES Walking through a graveyard at night - that was Dora's big mistake. After school, she had been to the park and lost track of the time. The evenings were getting darker much earlier now. When she looked at her watch, she knew she would have to run to avoid a telling off. Smart and well-behaved, Dora was never late...until now. She didn't want her parents to worry. Her usual way home snaked around the edges of a huge, gloomy church graveyard. Her parents had always warned her never to take a shortcut through it though, since there were no streetlights or paths. As she pushed the weighty iron gate, Dora had second thoughts. Was it worth it? The graveyard loomed in front of her, a land of shadows and mystery. In the moonlight, leafless tree branches swayed and curled like bony fingers - dead and lifeless. The cold wind rustled the dry leaves scattered all over the ground. Shivering, she made up her mind and scurried through the intricate metal archway. Crunch, crunch went the leaves under Dora's feet as she jogged nervously through the grass. She grabbed the straps of her backpack tightly and began to speed up. The only other sound was the soft hooting of an owl somewhere in the darkness. Was it her imagination, or were the shadows on the ground moving slightly? Suddenly, a soft touch on her shoulder made her spin around. "Hey! Who's there? This isn't funny!" she cried out, terrified. There was nobody there: only the softly waving branches and the graves in the eerie moonlight. But wait... The branches weren't softly waving. They were reaching... They were reaching out to grab her! Gnarled and horrifying, the skeletal hands of the tree snatched at Dora. One tugged at her hair, as another clutched her arm and began to drag her backwards. Shrieking in fear, she tried desperately to pull free, but it was no use - the tree was too strong. From within the branches, she could hear a low, cackling laughter as the creature brought her closer. With her last bit of strength, she pulled off her backpack and swung it with all her might at the branches. CRACK! The wood shattered and splintered and the creature lost its grip for a moment. Gasping for breath, Dora struggled free. All she had to do now was run... for her life! The image shows a black silhouette of a tree with a menacing face. The tree has multiple branches reaching out as if to grab someone. The branches are gnarled and skeletal. The tree is rooted in a bed of grass.