A family camping trip turns into a nightmare. Can you write the story that keeps readers awake all night?
First Line:
When they unzipped the tent, their youngest daughter was gone—and her shoes were still by the fire.
Prompt Paragraph:
The Woods family had planned this trip for months: hiking, fishing, and roasting marshmallows under the stars. But now, the campsite felt like a trap. The lantern’s glow cast long, trembling shadows as panic surged through the parents. Their daughter’s sleeping bag was cold, untouched, and her small shoes sat neatly beside the ashes of the fire. No trail of footprints, no sign of struggle—just absence. The forest was eerily quiet, too quiet, as if holding its breath. Then came the rustle, faint at first, then deliberate. A branch cracked behind the tent. The father shouted her name into the void, but only the echo returned. The mother clutched their older child, heart pounding as whispers drifted through the dark—whispers calling their daughter’s name in her own voice. Whatever had taken her wasn’t hiding. It wanted them to follow. And in the woods, following might be the last mistake they ever made.
❓ Reader Questions
- Who—or what—mimics the daughter’s voice in the darkness, and what does it want?
- How does the family decide between staying put or following the whispers deeper into the woods?
- What shocking revelation could twist the story’s ending—one that changes everything the family (and reader) believed?