There have been rumors of a small-looking forest just outside the town of Salem, Massachusetts. The rumors consist of the following tale:
  "Every night on Halloween, the witches who have been murdered comeback and haunt the woods. If a person, no matter the gender or age, steps on those very grounds, the witches will lead them into a trap. This trap will be slow, painful, horrifying and deadly. The translucent spirits of the witches don’t appear right away, only right before you die.” Cheesy, right? I know, I know. You think that this is going to be some cliché story to scare your little brother on Halloween. But read on, and you might discover more, just like Karin did.
  Karin was walking home from school one day. It was nice and cool just like it always was in the middle of fall. The leaves were turning orange, red and yellow making the trees look more like candles: The bark the wick of the candle, and the leaves the flame. To top it off, the weather was becoming more overcast. "My favorite time of the year!" She thought with a warm smile.
  "Hey, did you hear about that rumor?" Karin heard girls gossiping like always across the street. Usually, she would've just kept walking on, but around Halloween time, things aren't so usual.
  She turned her head slightly to see her friend, Noel, gossiping to another female, who looked slightly older than both of them. Before Karin could walk faster to avoid conversation, the two high school girls ran over to her with excited faces. 
  "Hey, Karin did you hear about the rumor?" Her friend Noel asked anxiously.
  "Yeah, the one about "nowhere?" The other female added.
Ugh, she hated to listen to rumors, they didn’t bring any good and if it brought anything it was misfortune. But what’s with the stupid name?
  Karin tilted her head slightly in confusion. Nowhere? She didn't understand. Was that a show? A book? Some gang hideout? Whatever it was, these girls seemed awfully enthusiastic about it.
  Both of the ladies looked at each other in shock. "You mean you haven't?" Noel questioned. Karin shook her head, and sneaked a glance at her watch. 4:15 PM. Crap! She was running late, she needed to get home and get straight to her homework, or her dad would be upset.
  Noel noticed her friend's slight panic at the time and came up with a solution. "Why don't you come over to my place later tonight? I can tell you all about it!" Karin sighed deeply, but made a decision.
  "Sure, but make sure it's worth my time!" She answered as she started walking quickly toward the direction of her house.
  "Don't worry; I will make sure I won't bore you." She said in a mysterious tone, but then laughed at the silly impersonation of one of those cheesy villains in the movies.
  As the hours went by, Karin finished her daily chores and her homework. She ate dinner with her dad, and then went off to Noel’s house, the usual routine.
  "So," Noel began with a deep breath. "There are some woods outside of here nicknamed 'nowhere-"
  "Well that's stupid." Karin interrupted.
  "Would you let me speak?" Noel pleaded. Karin slowly nodded her head and waited for her friend to tell the tale.
  "Anyways, "nowhere" is said to be the place where the witches were executed. You know, they were hung for doing witchcraft?" Ah the Salem Witch Trials. One of Karin's favorite moments in history. The case was never truly solved; some still believe that they were in fact witches. Others blew it off for just a prank that turned into chaos. But for Karin, she believed that there were girls who possessed mysterious powers. When her father had decided to move to Salem, Massachusetts, she was thrilled.
  "Hello...? Karin! Wake up!" Karin realized she was staring off into the distance as if she was in one of those drama movies. She shook her head and blinked.
"S-sorry." Her buddy laughed. Noel knew that Karin loved the Witch Trials, so she wanted to tell her especially. Sometimes she would go on and on about the history of the event. Once, Noel nodded off when Karin was blabbering. She was so offended that she shunned Noel for a whole week. But she understood why she was so offended; she did have a deep connection with the trials after all.
“Anyways, there has been a rumor going on for years that every night on Halloween, the witches come to haunt the woods. If anyone, no matter the gender or age steps on those grounds, they will be led into a slow and painful death trap.”
“Sounds exciting.” Karin remarked half-sarcastically.
“I know right? But as I was saying, I was thinking that tomorrow we should go!” The expression on Karin’s face was obvious. Her eyes were glowing with curiosity, and she was grinning like the Chesire Cat. She thought it was a wonderful idea. Usually, she wouldn’t get involved with such trouble-brewing acts, but she couldn’t resist the intriguing forest. And then a question appeared in her mind.
“So why is it called ‘nowhere’ if I may ask?” Her friend’s convincing words were working, getting Karin curious.
“Well, whenever teenagers come home from the place, their parents always asked them where they have been. And the answer always was ‘nowhere.’ It was called that so much that they decided to nickname it that.” Noel answered. At every additional second, she wanted to go even more. Plus, it would be hilarious to see Noel get spooked. Oh she could imagine it now: The owls perched on the branches, spying them from above. A raven flying in between them, and scaring Noel out of her wits. Karin laughing her butt off, then dragging her deeper into the woods to await their fate.
“Hello! Karin, would you please stop doing that?” Once again the fanatic was zoning out. They both laughed a bit as she shook her head.
“Whoops.” She stated.
“So you wanna go or not?” Her friend asked.
“Are you kidding? Of course I’ll go!  Let me ask my dad about it tonight.” Karin answered.
Noel led her friend out the door and gave her a reminder. “Remember not to tell your dad you’re going ‘nowhere!’” Cackling, Karin hopped on her bike and rode home, day dreaming about the forsaken woods.
She waltzed through the door and found her dad sitting on the couch, reading a book like he always was. “Sup kiddo?” her father asked. Yup, that’s Dad alright, trying to keep up with the slang. She thought. Sitting next to her father on the sofa, she relaxed. “So what did you talk about over at Christmas’s place?”
“We talked about major business plans. We both shall move to Florida and open a shoe shop that will earn plenty of money.” Karin replied while straightened up, putting her hands on her lap like a business woman.
“Is that so?  Well while you’re down there, mind getting me some new sneakers? The ones I have now are terrible.” Her father said, joining in on the joke. They both laughed and poked at each other.
“Can Noel and I go somewhere tomorrow?” Karin asked in a sweet voice, but not too obvious.
Her dad sat up and turned to her. “On Halloween? Where would you guys go?” He raised an eyebrow in suspicion as if he knew something was up.
“Oh…Nowhere…” Crap! Now she went and done it.
“Karin Mullen, you aren’t talking about going up to the forest are you? You know you can’t get involved with the Salem Witch Trials!” Her father stated.
“Why? Why can’t I just go up there for once, Dad?” She went on.
“Because…Because I don’t want you to end up like Mom!” Her father shouted. Karin froze in place and gasped. Mentioning Mom was almost taboo in the house. He stepped back and realized what he had done, but it was too late to take it back.
“How could…” Karin started. Tears began welling up in her eyes. Images of red ran through her mind. Imaged of the hospital ran through her mind. Images of a black box with roses around it ran through her mind. “HOW COULD YOU SAY THAT ABOUT MOM?!?” Karin screamed.
Karin ran out of the house and mounted on her bike. “Karin, wait! Get back here! I’m sorry!” Her father pleaded. But she ignored him, and rode towards the forest.
When she was younger, her mom was joyful, caring, fun, and wonderful to be around. She was an odd mother, believing in things that not many others believed in, but little Karin didn’t care; she thought that made her mom special. Like Karin is now, her mother was fascinated by the Salem Witch Trials. She would explain it to her friends and get them interested. But sadly enough not everyone enjoyed listening to the stories about the horrid trials. One night her mother had a night out so she went to a bar with her friends. And like always, they chatted about the Witch Trials. But a group of intoxicated guys overheard her, and they weren’t too happy about it; they wanted to do something to her. Of course her mother became drunk as well, so she decided that she would walk home. After all, it wasn’t that far. Her friends kept offering her a ride, but she kindly declined saying that she would be fine. Finally, they gave into her decision despite better judgment. But unfortunately, she wasn’t going to be fine.
On her walk home, at 3 O’clock in the morning, the group of uncontrolled guys found her and beat her up, saying that the trials were stupid and it wasn’t worth anyone’s time. Her husband became worried that she wasn’t coming home, so he went out and searched for her. But when he did find her, she was in terrible shape.          There were bruises all over her skin, her arm and ankles were bent in a funny-looking way and she was out cold. Of course, they brought her to a hospital along with little and scared Karin, holding her mother’s hand, telling her she was going to be okay. Sadly, the guys beat her too badly and she wouldn’t be able to recover, and she never did.
The memory of her mother made her so frustrated and confused, suddenly she found herself at the entrance of the forest. There were signs saying “Turn Back Now!” and “Death Awaits!” Probably some signs that the kids put up. She flew right through the opening on her bike, dodging rocks and sticks on the ground. By this time, she was crying, and her head felt like it was going to burst. She couldn’t think straight. Why did I come here?  She asked herself. She knew her wish was to come here with her friend. But now, she was all alone.
Karin hated the feeling of being alone, although ever since that day she has been stuck with it. She wanted her mom. She needed her mom. She wanted her dad. She needed her dad. She wanted to go back. She needed to go back. But she couldn’t. She kept riding her bike deeper and deeper into the forest. As she went farther into the woods, the trees grew thicker and the light of the moon disappeared.
Unable to see, she tripped on a huge rock. She fell and slammed her head into the ground. “Ow…” She mumbled. Rubbing her head slowly, she opened her eyes and saw a woman standing in front of her, with her hand out to help. Observing the woman, she looked more closely, and saw that she could see through her. She gasped and scooted away from her in shock.
“It’s alright…You’re okay…” The woman said in almost a whisper tone. Wait… Karin recognized that voice. That voice brought her happiness. That voice comforted her when she needed it most. That voice was the one thing she always looked forward to hearing in the morning.
“M-mom?!” Karin said in shock. She observed what she was wearing and gasped yet again. It was her mom’s favorite dress. It was a white sun dress with a light blue ribbon around her waist. When Mom was wearing that dress, she was nothing but cheerful. “I have missed you so much!” Karin said in tears as she reached for that hand. But before she could reach it, her head throbbed so intensely she couldn’t sit up. She fell back to the ground, and passed out.
Karin woke up surrounded by doctors and nurses. She was in the hospital. “What am I…?” She began. And that is when everything came back to her. Noel telling her the rumor, her playing around with her dad, running away from home and then finding… “Where’s my dad? I have to see him! Dad? Where are you?” I shouted in urgency.
“Don’t worry, sweetie, you’re dad is right here.” A nurse said in a calming voice. She looked behind the nurse to see her dad looking pale. Was he worried about me? Oh no, I didn’t mean to scare him like that. Karin thought to herself in concern.
“Karin! Thank goodness you’re okay! How do you feel?” Her father was concerned for her, because he found her in the forest with her head bleeding. Karin must’ve made her head bleed by falling and hitting her head on the rock.
“Dad! I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you! But in the forest, I saw Mom! She was wearing her favorite dress! You know, the one that is white and has that light blue ribbon? She was there, I saw her!” Karin quickly said to her dad, wanting to believe she really saw her.
“It’s alright, you are fine now. I know you were scared but it’s okay now.” Her father reassured her, thinking that Karin was just imagining things. Maybe she was, maybe all that she saw was just a dream. “You scared the crap out of me, kiddo. Don’t ever do that again, alright?”
“Happy Halloween!” She said innocently to her father.
“I swear…” her father muttered as he walked out of the room in frustration of the badly-timed joke.
She giggled a bit to herself and sighed. Thinking to herself, she repeated the words. Happy Halloween…