 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. When I was only 8 years old, my mother went missing on a family camping trip. My father took us into the middle of the Redacted National Forest. It was beautiful, still is, and always will be. Our first evening out seemed normal enough. We made a fire, my dad told ghost stories, we ate hot dogs and baked beans, and then turned in for the night. We all bunked up in the same tent. What I remember most of this part was the rocky ground beneath my sleeping bag and the smell of the fire burning outside. At some point in the middle of the night, I remember waking up briefly. The inviting scent of the fire was gone and replaced with something much more nauseating, like sewage or old trash. But being half asleep, that was the extent of it. I rolled over and didn't wake up until the morning. When I woke up, my dad was frantic. He had rushed out of the tent and I could hear him running around the campsite, crunching through the leaves and sticks on the ground. He was calling out for my mom, but she never answered. At some point in the night, my mom walked out of our tent and was never seen again. There was a search party, a pretty extensive one, performed by the Redacted. It lasted for days. The entire forest was combed, but there was no sign of my mom. She was just… gone. Over the next year, my dad was struggling. He was a great dad, but couldn't hold it together without my mom by his side. I felt neglected. He worked a lot and I was usually pawned off to my aunt and uncle, or sent to a friend's house for days. Then one day, almost a year exactly from that fateful camping trip, my dad asked me if I'd like to go camping there again to honor mom on the anniversary she left us. I could tell how the grief was tearing him apart inside. He couldn't even ask me without tears in his eyes. Even though I didn't want to and thought it would be bad for both of us to knowingly put ourselves in such a mentally vulnerable state, I agreed. To a certain degree, I'm glad I did. It was the last time I ever saw my dad. We arrived at the Redacted National Forest in the morning, hiked the South Redacted Trail and found the location that we had camped in a year earlier. We set up camp, made a fire, and ate hot dogs. As much as my dad was trying to recreate that night, it felt all wrong. The somber aura defeated any possible notion of fun and enjoyment. When the sun disappeared behind the beautiful Redacted Mountains you always hear so much about, we were tired to our tent, leaving the fire to burn out on its own. The hike was enough to wear me out, so I fell asleep fast. I had a feeling my dad struggled but eventually he was out too. I was awoken a couple hours later by that same stench of sewage and trash sifting into my nose. This time I sat up, unnerved by how similar the night was to when my mom vanished. I didn't move much, just took in the sounds outside the tent. Crickets, an owl in the distance, the rustling of the trees and bushes and the breeze. It was all normal. Then I heard a stick snap as if it were stepped on. A squirrel or deer perhaps? My mind even teased a bear. I nudged my dad but he was sleeping hard. I decided to unzip the tent and peek out to see if I could see the animal but it was way too dark. The stench though was overwhelming. Like whatever it was was coming from very close by. I didn't see anything at first. Our fire had completely burned out so all that was left was a very faint red glow from the wood that was still intact. The night was cold and mostly quiet. I awaited the sound again but wasn't hearing anything. The woods that surrounded our camp were so dark that even shadows were hard to distinguish from the night. There didn't seem to be anything around but something had to be, something made that noise. Something was emitting that horrid odor. I decided to grab the flashlight from beside my dad, creep back to the unzipped portion of the tent and press the button to ignite it. The beam was bright and vivid. It shot straight into the tree line. Immediately within the grasp of the light I saw a tall, lanky, grey figure perched on a fallen tree. Its large bugged out eyes absorbed the light and reflected back like the headlights of a car. Whatever it was sat in a way that looked like it was folded up. Its long, bodey legs stretching up over its head. Once it was blasted by my light however it quickly deployed itself from the prone position and scuttled off into the woods. A chill shot through me, numbing my body and I fell backwards landing on my dad. He woke up with a start. What? What is it? He frantically asked. There's something out there. Something was outside the tent. I exclaimed. My dad didn't hesitate to believe me. He grabbed his coat, another flashlight and a gun he hid underneath his pillow. With the urgency in which he acted almost like he was prepared for something like this to happen. He ventured out into the night instructing me to stay put. I did as he said and waiting for him to return. Only he never did. I waited impatiently for nearly two hours. There wasn't a single sign of him returning. No crunching in the brush. No voices. No gunshots. Only silence in the night. I was more than worried for my dad's safety by this point. I grabbed my flashlight and tossed on a coat trekking out into the forest to find him. I didn't know where to look and I wasn't familiar with the area like my dad was so naturally I found myself wandering around aimlessly in the dark forest. I did finally come across something though. The same wretched stench that accompanied the being outside of our tent. That's when I slowed my search. If that thing was close I most certainly didn't want to see it again. The startling visual I had of it the first time was still crystal clear in my head. It made me shiver, nervous to see it again. I crouched down behind some bushes and flipped off the light. I wanted to call out to my dad but I was afraid of what would respond. The thing was getting closer. It's disgusting, tang growing stronger than fainter. My heart was racing and I closed my eyes. Then a heavy wind blew through the woods plowing me with such an overwhelming gust of the odor. I gagged, vomit teased to the bottom of my throat. I stood up and flipped on the flashlight again. Sure enough that thing stood within the circle of the light. Tall, mostly featureless and intimidating His eyes glowed a blinding white and it emitted a crackling sound that morphed into a high-pitched whale that echoed through the forest. Startled, I spun around to run stopping immediately as my light caught the silhouettes of several more of the beings standing within the trees. I shined it to my right next but there were more silhouette figures lurking unnaturally. Some seemed to levitate others stood in awkward positions never once moving. To my left was my only way out. I ran and didn't stop until my legs gave out. I collapsed to the forest floor trying desperately to catch my breath. As I lay there, my chest hurting from the cold. I fell asleep. I awoke when I heard voices calling out for my dad and I. When I opened my eyes it was morning. The bulb in my light had burned out and my body felt stiff and cold. I sat up and used every ounce of strength I had to call back to the voices. It was a search party led by Richard of the National Forest Park Rangers. I told them what had happened but they didn't believe me. Richard was useless. Be sure he knows what was at stake. He's the reason our incident was never released to the public to protect the precious park. This park is all butt precious. Stay away from the Redacted National Forest. There are things here that can't be explained. They stalk the woods at night watching campers. They lure them, take them, and I don't know where they end up. As of this writing that is, I'm writing this on the Redacted of January 20, Redacted from a location south of the Redacted hiking trail in the Redacted National Forest in the great state of 38 years old now. I come to this location every year on the anniversary that my mom first went missing. I write this same note almost verbatim every time I'm here hoping that if something happens to me someone will find this note and finally know the truth about what's been happening here for the better part of 30 years possibly even more. Statistically, this park has just unsolved disappearances in all of coincidence, I doubt it. And with people like Richard covering it up the truth will never come out. That only means more and more people will unknowingly fall victim to these entities. But this time, as I write this by lantern light, the stench is growing more and more overwhelming. They're out there watching me from the darkness waiting to take me as they took my parents and so many others. After years of loneliness obsession and an unwavering sense of dread that has hovered over me like a leaching storm cloud I'm finally going to find out what happened to my parents. I said it before and I'll say it again stay away far away from the Redacted National Forest and if the powers that be fail to appropriately warn the public there's no telling how many more people these things will take. You could be next and not even realize it. Signed. Signature, illegible. Signature, illegible. Signature, illegible. Signature, illegible. Signature, illegible. Signature, illegible. Signature, illegible. Signature, illegible. Signature, illegible. 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 Microterrorz, scary stories for kids.