Summary

A group of friends, while reminiscing about a night from their childhood when they ventured into the woods against their better judgment, still grapple with guilt over the mysterious disappearance of their friend Lenny during a storm.

Abstract

The narrative recounts a fateful evening when a group of friends, led by the insistent Lenny, deviated from their original plan to visit Sally's diner and instead ventured into the woods to see a spot Lenny claimed was worth the detour. Despite the calm weather initially, the forest grew increasingly ominous as they proceeded, with a sudden wind, darkness, and eventually a violent storm. The group, feeling uneasy and led by Martin, decided to return to town, leaving Lenny behind. After the storm subsided near town, they realized Lenny was not with them, and he never arrived at the diner. The next day, a search for Lenny yielded only his flashlight, and despite extensive efforts by his parents and the police, Lenny was never found. The incident left a lasting impact on the narrator and Martin, who still feel guilty about abandoning Lenny, even though they were just children at the time.

Opinions

The author believes that the group's decision to follow Lenny into the woods was a mistake, influenced by Lenny's persuasive nature.
There is a sense of regret and lingering guilt expressed by the narrator for leaving Lenny behind in the woods.
The author suggests that the weather and the forest itself seemed to warn the group against proceeding with their plan.
The narrative conveys a feeling of unreliability or skepticism towards Lenny's judgment, as he is described as someone who would not stop until he convinced others to follow his ideas.
The author implies that the group, particularly Martin, held Lenny responsible for the predicament they found themselves in, which influenced their decision to leave him behind.
The lingering impact of the event is evident, as the narrator still feels guilty about the incident 20 years later.

Short Story Collection

One Night in the Woods

…..we were just kids……

We’ll never forget Lenny and what happened that night…..photo courtesy of Pixabay.com

What happened that night in the forest was a mistake.

That’s all. We weren’t even supposed to be there, we’d made plans to be at Sally’s diner to have burgers and fries. But Lenny said there was a spot he wanted us to see.

He said it would only take five minutes and then we’d still be at Sally’s on time. He was very insistent about it. You know Lenny, he won’t stop until he bullies everyone into doing whatever scheme he cooks up in his head. That night, even the forest was trying to tell us to stay away.

That night, even the forest was trying to tell us to stay away.

The sun had gone down and it was already dark in the woods. We’d been playing in those woods since we were eleven, so we weren’t afraid of going in even after dark.

We’d played hide and seek, built forts and bridges across little streams and dug halfway to China once. But that night was different.

The wind had come up out of nowhere; if the weather hadn’t been so calm before that, we’d have thought a tornado was coming. The further we got into the woods, the blacker it got.

Lenny’d only brought one weak flashlight, so Martin got angry when he stepped in muddy water up to his ankle and started calling Lenny all sorts of names.

“Just a few more feet, guys! I promise you won’t be disappointed.” He kept swinging the weak light as if he wasn’t so sure this was the spot he was looking for.

I counted the seconds before thunder sounded…it never came

The wind howled even louder, pushing against us as we tried to step forward. The trees were whipping wildly and we heard a couple of limbs crack and fall somewhere nearby on our right.

A streak of lightning flashed just up ahead and I counted the seconds before thunder sounded. The sound never came.

Lightning streaked soundlessly again and again and suddenly the rain began to pour down in sheets.

“I’m heading back, Tommy! You coming or not?” Martin yelled at me, thoroughly fed up with Lenny and his stupid idea for going to the woods tonight.

There was no way I was going to stay out here by myself with Lenny if Martin left. Lenny was just plain unreliable. We took off running. Just then, lightning streaked across the sky, lighting everything up.

I looked around, but there was no one back there. I could see Martin ahead, already soaked in the rain, but no Lenny.

I looked around…..there was no Lenny.

The rain felt like pellets against our skin as we ran toward town and safety.

As soon as we got close to town, the rain stopped and the wind died down. We were still sopping wet, though.

We’d left Lenny behind to find his own way, but he never showed up at the diner that night.

I asked Martin if we should have waited a little longer for Lenny to come out of the woods, but Martin was still mad at Lenny for taking us out there. I felt guilty for running off and leaving Lenny, even if he had kind of asked for it.

I still feel guilty 20 years later.

You see, Martin and I went back the next day to look for Lenny. He wasn’t at his house, so we headed for the woods to see if he’d come back to look for whatever it was he’d wanted to show us that night.

We found his flashlight, but no Lenny. His parents and the police looked for him for months, but never found him.

Maybe if we’d just stayed with him that night. We made a mistake, okay? But we were just kids!

We were just kids.

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