Previously published Jun. 1, 2022

Decades ago, there existed a small town, the name of which is unknown. The town was always active, bustling with the daily happy undertakings of the residents. The people living in the town did not have any contact with the outside world, so technology there was unheard of, the citizens living in an ignorant time, using older methods dating over four hundred years. The town was surrounded by a mysterious dark forest, the trees beckoning, daring an unsuspecting man or woman to enter. Inside of this forest lay a massive stone temple, long overgrown with moss and weeds. The townsmen dared not enter, for fear of the Beast. The Beast was a legend passed through the years, about a dark forest spirit. The stories said that anyone who entered the temple would be possessed by the spirit, who would use its power to destroy – and consume – anything and anyone that came in its path. One day, a boy from the town, along with two of his friends, decided to explore the forest, not having heard of the legends or the temple. They explored for hours before finally reaching the temple. Nothing else is known about the town; the boy, his friends, the temple, and the people of the town all mysteriously disappeared, the town remaining abandoned since then. The only other thing was a large, half-burned wooden sign with blood red text on the outskirts of town, smoldered to a void of, with half the words missing, “Here waits ––––– to ––– the shadow ––––– lost “… Ever since then, the ghost town was called the “Waiting Place.”