 Welcome to Microterrorz. Scary stories for kids, where it's always the spooky season, full of chills, thrills, and spine-tingling spooks. Microterrorz are family-friendly frights for those ages 8 and up. And while our stories are for younger years, we are still talking about things that go bump in the night, and some children may not be able to handle what others can. Parental consent is recommended. Now for tonight's Microterrorz. Flashlight Tag by Evan Bond A beam of light bounced through the darkness, threatening to illuminate Jacob. It scanned the trees all around him, bouncing from one to another as it desperately searched for him. Jacob knew he could not be caught by it, otherwise it would be all over. He crouched down low and pressed his body up against the tree trunk. Just then, the light hit the tree he hid behind, splitting the beam in half. He prayed the tree had completely concealed his body. As the light moved away from Jacob's hiding spot, he let out a sigh of relief. Before he could celebrate, though, the crunching of leaves and twigs echoed in his ears. They were moving closer and closer, and soon they would spot him. He had no choice but to run. Without wasting another second, Jacob took off running. He saw the beam of light zigzag all around him as the wielder searched for his location. It hit the ground near his feet and bounced off several trees to his right, but had yet to envelop him. Then, the unthinkable happened. A blinding light broke through the darkness in front of him, and the one behind him snapped to his location as well. Kacha, a high-pitched voice, said from behind the light. Those were some good moves, Jacob, a voice said from behind Jacob. Yeah, had you guys gone for a bit? Almost made it to home base. That was a sneaky move, Emily, he said to the girl in front of him. She pointed the flashlight down at the ground and gave him a smile. Thanks, she said, with a hint of blush on her face. And thus concludes our little game of manhunt, the voice from behind called out. I guess so, Ricky, Jacob said, turning to face's friend. Jacob and Ricky slapped each other a high-five and laughed. They'd been playing flashlight tag since they were in elementary school. In middle school it became manhunt, which sounded much cooler. Emily was the newest addition to the party. It overheard them Friday at school as they discussed their ritual of playing manhunt in the woods behind the school. Of course, Jacob had a crush on Emily, so he had quickly invited her to the party. Now looking at her in the woods, he was glad she had come along. Ricky gave Jacob a slight shove with his shoulder and motioned towards Emily with his head, as if to tell him now was the time to confess his feelings for her. Jacob's mouth went dry and a lump formed in his throat. As he had worked up the courage to say something, they heard a terrible noise in the distance. What was that? Emily said, spinning around and pointing her flashlight in the direction of the noise. It sounded like a scream, Jacob said, looking over at Ricky. Ricky shook his head. No way, man, I'm not messing with whatever that is. Come on, we have to see what it was. What if someone's hurt? Jacob tried to keep the fear from coming out in his voice, hoping Emily would think he was brave. Deep down, he was scared. Yeah, alright, fine, whatever you say, Ricky said. The three of them started to walk in the direction of the unknown sound. Both Emily and Ricky kept their flashlights pointed ahead of them to light the path. Jacob walked between the two, keeping his eyes open for anything unexpected. As they made their way deeper into the woods, one of the flashlight beams reflected off something white behind a tree. From their angle, it was hard to tell what it was. Is that a person? Ricky said, stopping. Emily and Jacob were too transfixed on the mystery before them to notice Ricky had stopped walking. He stood there, shining his light at the lump behind the tree, shaking. As they approached, Emily pointed her flashlight down at the thing behind the tree and gasped. Jacob nearly tripped over his own feet in shock. It's a body! Jacob yelled. Next to him, Emily began to hyperventilate. Oh my god, that's Crystal! I have banned with her! Is she okay? It was a useless question to ask. They both knew the horrible truth. Crystal was no longer alive. Her glossy eyes stared straight up at the dark sky, seeing nothing. Still trying to act brave, Jacob turned towards Ricky and said, We need to call the... But he trailed off. There was something looming behind Ricky, like a tower. All sense of bravery had drained from Jacob now as his shaky hand rose and pointed at the thing behind him. Emily saw Jacob's hand in the corner of her eye and spun around, pointing her flashlight directly at Ricky. Standing behind him was a tall, thin creature with long limbs that seemed to be made from tree bark. It had to be over 20 feet tall at least. The creature stared down at Ricky with a burning look in its eyes. Jacob got the feeling they had just interrupted its meal and it was not happy. Ricky, look out! Emily cried. But it was too late. The monster snatched Ricky up and sprinted off into the darkness. His flashlight tumbled to the ground. Jacob and Emily heard his screams echo off into the distance until they were suddenly silent. Without saying a word, Emily and Jacob began to run. They no longer knew which way was out, but it didn't matter. They needed to be as far away from this spot as possible before that thing returned. Jacob could feel his lungs burning as they ran. He desperately needed to stop but knew that they couldn't. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore and he collapsed to the ground, catching his breath. Emily stopped and did the same. Do you think we lost it? She asked between gulps of air. Before Jacob could answer her, a tree only a few feet away began to sway. His eyes darted towards it in time to see the tree start to move towards them. It was at that moment he realized it wasn't a tree at all. It had found them. Jacob froze in terror, not sure what to do. A long, spindly arm reached out from the darkness and plucked him from the ground. He let out a blood-curdling scream as the monster pulled him higher into the air. Bark from the monster's hand dug into his skin, threatening to cut him. An image of Crystal's body danced in his mind and the haunting screams of Ricky reverberated in his ears. He was going to be the next victim of this tree thing. Suddenly, the darkness around him and the monster turned to a bright light. It seemed to hurt the creature for a moment, but a moment was all Jacob needed. The tree monster's hand loosened and Jacob was able to slip free, falling to the ground. He landed with a thud that nearly knocked the wind from his lungs. When he stood up, he saw Emily standing there like an action hero. Her flashlight was pointed directly at the monster. It recoiled in horror before sprinting off into the darkness. It doesn't like the light. She cried. When it took Ricky, I remembered something. It stood behind him and out of the light, and when it grabbed him, it sprinted away like it was afraid. Why not just crush us all right then? Because it was afraid of the light. Great job, Jacob said, but we could talk about this later. We need to run. With that, Jacob and Emily began to run. Jacob wasn't sure which way led out of the woods anymore, but he did not care. They kept moving until eventually they could see the tree line up ahead. Just beyond, they spotted the school. Before they could celebrate, they heard the thunderous booms of the creature behind them as a gave chase. Jacob's heart leapt into his throat as the pair picked up speed. Emily tried to scare the creature off by pointing her flashlight behind her as they ran, but it slipped from her hand and tumbled off into the darkness. Their only hope was to get to the well-lit parking lot of the school just a few more yards. As they reached the tree line, they could hear the monster directly behind them at 82nd, it would reach out and snatch one of them into the air, never to be seen again. Then they burst through the tree line and the remaining few yards to the parking lot before collapsing on top of each other. Emily rolled over and looked at the woods. The monster stood there at the tree line, staring at them. A look of anger crossed its bark covered face before it led out a shrill shriek and ran back into the woods. Jacob and Emily cheered through panting breaths before hugging each other tightly. Thank you for saving my life, Emily, Jacob said pulling back. She didn't respond with words, but instead with a quick peck on his lips. Both blushed as they looked at each other and smiled. Somewhere in the distant darkness of the woods, the creature let out one final wail before everything grew silent. Jacob didn't know what the creature was or why it was out there, but he did know one thing, he would never be going in those woods again. Microterrors.com is also where you can find us on your favorite social media and even send in your own scary story for us to tell. Plus, you'll learn more about our author, Scott Donnelly, who has other horrors for both young and old. I hope you'll join me again soon from Microterrors, scary stories for kids.