*One shot*

I went to a school that was built next to a graveyard, so the kids in my school were used to seeing dead bodies. Everyone knew that if you saw a dead body out of the corner of your eye then they would drag you into the graveyard and kill you.<br><br>It was a stupid urban legend that didn’t make any sense. I mean, dead bodies do not walk around. But the legend about the graveyard surrounding my school got scarier and scarier. It was said that if you saw a dead body walking around the graveyard, then you must get out of there as fast as you could.<br><br>I first heard this legend when I was six years old and in kindergarten. The kids in my class dared each other to go close to the fence that separated the school from the graveyard. I was one of the kids that went to see how close they could get. I stood there right next to the fence, looking into the graveyard. I didn’t see any walking dead or anything like that, but I saw a lot of grass and some tombstones. Some of the kids started saying that they saw movement, but I didn’t believe them.<br><br>It was fun when I was little. The idea of a walking dead body was so stupid. I didn’t believe any of it. I went through all of school not believing that legend and daring myself and my classmates to go closer and closer to the graveyard. We never saw anything out of the ordinary.<br><br>Now I’m seventeen. In my senior year of high school. I still don’t believe in walking dead bodies. I usually sit outside with my friends during lunch. We usually sit under a tree that has a branch that is closest to the fence. One of my friends, Alex, dare me to walk to the fence and see how close I can get to it. I walk to the fence and get right up to it. I look over at the graveyard and see nothing. I see a couple of squirrels, some birds and some dead trees. Nothing else is there.<br><br>I see a bird perched up on a branch of one of the dead trees. Peculiar, since birds don’t live in dead trees. I look closer and see that it’s not a bird. It’s a young girl, probably my age. She’s sitting on one of the branches, and her feet are hanging off. She’s barefoot and wearing a white dress. It’s pretty and flowing, and I can see that she must be from the early 1800’s. She’s a pretty girl with long blonde hair. She’s facing the other direction, so I can’t see her face. I’m not sure what she’s doing out there. I don’t see any tombstones around her, and she doesn’t look like a normal girl. I can’t see any other girls like her. I wonder if she died young and is buried under that tree. I wonder what she was doing in her life. I turn around and go back to my friends. I sit back down and Alex asks me what I saw. I tell him I saw a pretty girl sitting in one of the trees. He asks if I thought she was a ghost and I say no. I say that I just saw a girl sitting in a tree. Alex asks how she got into the tree and I tell him I don’t know. He says that she might be a walking dead. I laugh and tell him no. He asks me more questions about the girl in the tree, but I don’t answer them. I’m too out of it.<br><br>I can’t pay attention to class when the afternoon starts. I keep thinking about the girl in the tree. I don’t understand why my friend thought she was a ghost, but I don’t care. I’m just wondering why she was sitting in the tree. Why was she out there hanging her feet off the branch? Why is she wearing that flowing dress? Why can I only see her and not anybody else? What is she doing in the graveyard? I wonder if she died young as well. I also have a weird feeling inside of me that I’ve never felt before. I keep looking around the classroom and I can’t feel comfortable. The air is thick and I don’t feel right. I also have a weird feeling in my stomach. I don’t feel right. I keep thinking that something is going to happen, but I don’t know what. I keep looking around the classroom and I keep thinking that something is going to happen, but nothing does.<br><br>I get up and walk out of the classroom. I feel worse then I did before. The thick air has gotten thicker and my stomach feels worse. I can’t feel right. I walk out of the school and go out to my car. I unlock it and open the door and sit down in the front seat. I breathe in deep and try to calm down, but it doesn’t work. I close my eyes and take deep breaths, but nothing works. I just sit there and breathe. I close my eyes and just sit in silence. I decide I would rather go home and study then stay in school. I know I’ll fail if I do, but I don’t care.<br><br>I get home about fifteen minutes later and unlock my front door. I walk in and my mom is sitting on the couch watching T.V. I say hi and she asks what I’m doing home. I tell her how I didn’t feel right and she asks if I left when I still had classes. I say yes, and she tells me that I’ll probably fail. I say I don’t care and go up to my room.<br><br>I shut my door and lie in bed. I keep thinking about the girl in the tree. I don’t get why my friends thought she was a ghost. I don’t get why I can’t get her out of my head. She was pretty and all, but I can’t keep thinking about her. It’s not that I couldn’t get her out of my head. I just couldn’t stop thinking about her. It was like a TV playing in the background and you couldn’t stop listening to it. I keep thinking about her dress and her hair. I keep thinking about how I couldn’t see her from the front. I keep thinking about my weird feeling. I wonder if she has anything to do with it.<br><br>I keep thinking about her, and my other thoughts get pushed to the side. I can’t stop thinking about her. I keep thinking about going back to school and then I snap out of it. Why am I thinking about going back to school? I can’t go back and I don’t want to. Why did I keep thinking about it? I keep thinking about my room and then I realize that I’m already here. I keep thinking about going back and forth from one place to another, and I don’t know why.<br><br>I lie in bed for what feels like forever. I go to sleep as soon as it gets dark. I have a lot of weird dreams that night. They all have to do with the graveyard and the girl in the tree. I keep thinking about running and hiding and trying to get away. I don’t know from what. I keep thinking that I’m getting away from something, but I don’t know what. I keep thinking about all of this until I fall asleep.<br><br>The next morning my mom says that I might need to see a doctor. I don’t feel right. The air got thicker and my stomach feels worse. I tell her I don’t care and go get in my car and drive to school. I don’t know why I’m going. I don’t want to go. I just feel like I have to. I have to go back to the graveyard. I have to go back to school. I don’t know why.<br><br>When I get to school I walk to where I sat with my friends. My friends aren’t there. I sit down and look at the tree. The girl is still there. She’s still sitting on the branch and I can still only see her from the side. She looks the same. Her dress is the same and her hair is the same. She’s still pretty. Prettier than I imagined. She’s prettier than the girls in my school. She’s prettier than anybody else. I keep looking at her. I can’t take my eyes off of her. I can’t look at anything else. The squirrels and birds don’t matter. The trees and the grass don’t matter. All that matters is her. I keep thinking that she’s my only hope.<br><br>I keep thinking that I love her. I can’t stop thinking about how pretty she is. I can’t stop thinking about that dress and that hair. I love her. I know I don’t know anything about her, but I love her. I got that weird feeling inside of me and now I know why. I love her. I can’t think about anything else. All I can think about is how she’s my only hope. She’s my only hope at getting out of this school. I want to talk to her. I want to tell her I love her. I want to tell her that she’s got to get me out of this place. I got up and walk to the fence. I walk up to it and look over. I see her out of the corner of my eye. I turn and look at her. I look her dead in the eye.<br><br>And she’s got no eyes.