Jack never believed in his mother’s warnings. Her constant nagging and nitpicking always got on his nerves. She forbade him from doing many things that all the other kids on the internet do for fun. In fact, his entire town was crazy with their rules. He looked at the ten rules that everyone in the town must follow that hung on his wall.
1. Don’t go in the woods without being with at least three other people.
2. Never open the door for anyone asking for help unless they say the secret code.
3. Do not leave any windows open past 7:00 pm.
4. You must not swim anywhere unless a supervisor is watching you and you’re accompanied by at least two other people.
5. Never watch TV from 2-6 am.
6. No one can be outside once the sun sinks below the trees.
7. Avoid all ice cream trucks.
8. Before leaving the town, you must play a round of poker with the people leaving with you.
9. All Coca-Cola products are banned.
10. You must not go outside during a fog.
Jack never understood the rules but decided to follow them just to keep his mother off his back. He always felt that the rules were a bit unreasonable, especially the Coca-Cola one since everyone on the internet seemed to love the product quite a bit.
“It must be an amazing drink if people love it that much,” Jack said to his mother one day, “why aren’t we allowed to drink it?”
“BECAUSE WE’LL DIE IF WE DO!” screamed his mother as she began to berate him for even questioning the rules. Jack never asked about Coca-Cola after that incident.
As Jack entered puberty, he started to feel like the rules were pointless just like the rest of his peers did. Of course, their parents would always put a stop to their mischief and prevent them from breaking any of the rules at all costs. Some parent would even lock their kids in their room to stop them from succeeding in breaking the rules. The parents’ enormous and tiresome effort to prevent them from even considering breaking the rules was able to discourage most of the troublesome teenagers who found it easier just to abide by the rules. Unfortunately, Jack was not a part of that group.
One foggy afternoon, the kids of the town were ordered to attend school from home due to the fog. Jack called some of his friends (and fellow troublesome teens) for a test of courage.
“Let’s go into the fog and see why there’s a stupid rule against it,” said Jack.
“Yeah, sure! No parent is gonna stop me,” said Braden.
“Same,” responded Sarah.
“Let’s go at 9:00 when our parents are asleep,” Jack suggested.
“Agreed!” everyone chimed in unison.
So, at 9:00, when the sun was still barely above the trees, the group wandered out into the dense fog. At first, they stumbled around the town blindly and stayed close to each other in fear but soon they started to explore more. They even began to play a round of hide and seek. Jack was chosen to be the seeker.
“1, 2, 3, 4…” counted Jack. He could hear footsteps running away from him.
“20! Ready or not, here I come!” yelled Jack as he began to sprint. Not long after he started seeking, he heard a scream. Shocked, he began to call out names but soon began to think this was a prank.
“Come on guys, that’s not funny. It actually scared me,” yelled Jack. But not long after the statement, he heard another scream. This time though, he felt a shiver down his spine. These screams didn’t sound fake at all. They sounded genuine. They were screams of pure horror. He started calling out names.
“Braden! Sarah! Nate! Carol! Bob! I think something is going on! I think we should head back!”
“Yea right Jack! I know it’s you are doing the screaming! You can’t fool me!” yelled a voice from the mist. Another high-pitched scream vibrated through the air. It sounded like Sarah.
“Okay, maybe this wasn’t a good idea. I’m coming!”
“Same!” yelled another voice but in the opposite direction. Sadly, another violent scream shook the air.
“Okay, run back to your house now! It’s not safe!” screamed Jack but it was too late.
A couple of moments later while racing back home, Jack heard another shriek. He felt stunned. He should have listened. They all should have listened. Through the dense fog, he could barely discern which way was right or left. Suddenly, something cold touched his shoulder. He looked back and saw an arm, reaching from the dense mist. It was grey, almost rotted. Jack tried to shake it off but it held on with a tight grip. With a blood-curdling scream, Jack was dragged back into the dark fog.
1. Don’t go in the woods without being with at least three other people.
2. Never open the door for anyone asking for help unless they say the secret code.
3. Do not leave any windows open past 7:00 pm.
4. You must not swim anywhere unless a supervisor is watching you and you’re accompanied by at least two other people.
5. Never watch TV from 2-6 am.
6. No one can be outside once the sun sinks below the trees.
7. Avoid all ice cream trucks.
8. Before leaving the town, you must play a round of poker with the people leaving with you.
9. All Coca-Cola products are banned.
10. You must not go outside during a fog.
Jack never understood the rules but decided to follow them just to keep his mother off his back. He always felt that the rules were a bit unreasonable, especially the Coca-Cola one since everyone on the internet seemed to love the product quite a bit.
“It must be an amazing drink if people love it that much,” Jack said to his mother one day, “why aren’t we allowed to drink it?”
“BECAUSE WE’LL DIE IF WE DO!” screamed his mother as she began to berate him for even questioning the rules. Jack never asked about Coca-Cola after that incident.
As Jack entered puberty, he started to feel like the rules were pointless just like the rest of his peers did. Of course, their parents would always put a stop to their mischief and prevent them from breaking any of the rules at all costs. Some parent would even lock their kids in their room to stop them from succeeding in breaking the rules. The parents’ enormous and tiresome effort to prevent them from even considering breaking the rules was able to discourage most of the troublesome teenagers who found it easier just to abide by the rules. Unfortunately, Jack was not a part of that group.
One foggy afternoon, the kids of the town were ordered to attend school from home due to the fog. Jack called some of his friends (and fellow troublesome teens) for a test of courage.
“Let’s go into the fog and see why there’s a stupid rule against it,” said Jack.
“Yeah, sure! No parent is gonna stop me,” said Braden.
“Same,” responded Sarah.
“Let’s go at 9:00 when our parents are asleep,” Jack suggested.
“Agreed!” everyone chimed in unison.
So, at 9:00, when the sun was still barely above the trees, the group wandered out into the dense fog. At first, they stumbled around the town blindly and stayed close to each other in fear but soon they started to explore more. They even began to play a round of hide and seek. Jack was chosen to be the seeker.
“1, 2, 3, 4…” counted Jack. He could hear footsteps running away from him.
“20! Ready or not, here I come!” yelled Jack as he began to sprint. Not long after he started seeking, he heard a scream. Shocked, he began to call out names but soon began to think this was a prank.
“Come on guys, that’s not funny. It actually scared me,” yelled Jack. But not long after the statement, he heard another scream. This time though, he felt a shiver down his spine. These screams didn’t sound fake at all. They sounded genuine. They were screams of pure horror. He started calling out names.
“Braden! Sarah! Nate! Carol! Bob! I think something is going on! I think we should head back!”
“Yea right Jack! I know it’s you are doing the screaming! You can’t fool me!” yelled a voice from the mist. Another high-pitched scream vibrated through the air. It sounded like Sarah.
“Okay, maybe this wasn’t a good idea. I’m coming!”
“Same!” yelled another voice but in the opposite direction. Sadly, another violent scream shook the air.
“Okay, run back to your house now! It’s not safe!” screamed Jack but it was too late.
A couple of moments later while racing back home, Jack heard another shriek. He felt stunned. He should have listened. They all should have listened. Through the dense fog, he could barely discern which way was right or left. Suddenly, something cold touched his shoulder. He looked back and saw an arm, reaching from the dense mist. It was grey, almost rotted. Jack tried to shake it off but it held on with a tight grip. With a blood-curdling scream, Jack was dragged back into the dark fog.
