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The stairs in the woods
By Jim Thomason
From Itty Bitty Horror
Copyright and © 10/14/2005, published on 10/14/2005

Steve and Kevin stared into the gaping hole that was open before them. In all of their time spent playing in the woods, they'd never found anything like this.

The tangled mess of vines covering the side of the hill were actually covering a stone archway and a set of stairs that lead down farther than they could see.

"Dare you go go down there." Kevin shoved Steve who stumbled towards the opening before catching himself and racing backwards.

"No way. You do it."

"Chicken."

"You're a chicken. You do it."

"I'm not a chicken."

"Then do it!" Steve adamently stomped his foot as he screamed at his friend.

"Fine!" Kevin shouted and before he really realized what he was doing, he took off running into the archway and down the stairs. The air was damp and musty and it hurt when he inhaled. He quickly had to stop and rested against the wall as he tried to catch his breathe. He felt a tap on his left shoulder. He smiled as he turned around. "Just couldn't let me have all the glory, could..."

He trailed off as he spied Steve standing at the entrance to the stairway a good fifty steps up from where he was standing. He felt another tap at his shoulder, from behind again. This time, it came from down below.

That was too much for him and he screamed and took off running towards the light. But no matter how hard he ran, the light didn't come any closer. It soon started to fade from view and get fainter and fainter as he descended further into the darkness.

The air felt thick and heavy and it hurt to breathe. He slowed his pace to a walk, then a slow walk, then he needed to sit down to rest. He took a long look at the now very distance point of light and then shut his eyes to help block out the pit he was in. He felt another tap at his shoulder, but he just sat and ignored it. More taps. More frequently. Harder. He couldn't take it any more and spun and swung into the air. In the process, he slipped and tumbled down the stairs for an eternity before he lost consciousness.

By now Steve was very panicked and had run off. Kevin wasn't responding, and the joke had gone on too far. He needed to get his parents and fast. He raced home.

It took more than an hour for them to get back. He needed his parents, who got Kevin's parents, then they needed to find the place, and finally the two fathers descended into the stairs, flashlights in hand.

Despite Steve's insistance to the contrary, they discovered that there were only about fifteen stairs before the passageway abruptly stopped at a stone wall. They found Kevin's lifeless body towards the bottom of the stairs. He had tripped and fallen and gashed his head on a sharp rock.

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