This is another short story from school. I wrote this when I was around 16. We were given the beginning of a story, which was just one paragraph of text, so we were supposed to finish it. The assignment text is in italic.

I was walking home from the cinema one dark and windy night.
I decided to take a shortcut through the woods. Halfway through I suddenly see a bright flashing light coming from behind some trees.

 

The light blinds me, I put my hand infront my face to shield my eyes from the bright light.
“Is anyone there?” I scream.

“Hello?” I ask, noone’s there.
I walk towards the light, still covering my eyes. It’s hard to find it’s source as it seems to grow bigger as I approach it.

Walking blindly with my other arm to guide me through the thick vegetation I suddenly stumble upon something. I touch it with my hand. It’s comfortably warm and it seems to be the source of the gleaming beacon. Now being able to look at it, it turns out to be a simple lantern. I look for a wielding hand to no avail, there is noone. Just the lantern suspended. With my curiosity satisfied I turn away and return to my old path. I make sure to keep my back to the light, to not get blinded again.

My eyes eventually got used to the dark forest. I kept walking, feeling fairly certain about my direction.
I was familiar with these woods as I had played here as a young boy and practically invented this shortcut. Yet nothing seemed familiar now. The dense forest blocked my view of the stars and moon. I tried looking for the lantern but it was nowhere to be seen. Unsure of my location I decided to climb a tree to get a better view of my surroundings. Luckily it was a clear night and at the top of the tree I could see surprisingly far. I expected to see the mall, my own neighbourhood or even the bright lantern. I looked in all directions yet I saw nothing, only forest. More trees, more woods, more stars.

Realizing it would be dusk in a few hours I decided to stay. The many branches in the tree made it easy to stay there overnight. After what felt like an eternity, but was in reality a few hours, I looked for the sun.

It never showed.
I never grew old.
I never grew hungry.
I only grew insane.
The trees and woods became my home.

For all eternity.