Friends?

Finn and Max had set out early that Tuesday morning, prepared for a hike and adventure that would take them through the green wilderness of the Albury plains and into the wild and darker Manor Woods.

They had been friends fore many years since they had meant and caused mischief in grade 2, but now at the ages of 12 and 13 they had developed a more mature attittude towards girls and had moved on to more constructive forms of mayhem at school.

For all the trouble that the pair caused in and around school, both boys were well liked and good kids and well liked by both friends and teachers alike. It was in this spirit of comradeship that they set of that fateful morning.

The day went well and the two friends had great fun hiking through the hills and diving and swimming in the secluded lake they had found within the woods. Having had their fill of swimming and food the two fell asleep and woke with a start to the setting of the sun behind the trees, casting long shadows over the blanket of leaves on their path. Gathering up their belongings they set of for their final destination of the day.

It was not long before they saw the dark and abandoned house at the end of the track they had been following, and being brave lads they decided to investigate. As they approached the house they could see it was dilapidated, the planks rusty and broken in places, creaked with each step the boys took upon it.

As they stepped inside the house both became aware of the silence and stillness surrounding them. Max being the oldest took the lead. Through the ground floor he led, searching all the dark places where light couldn’t penetrate, both boys searching for the right place.

Suddenly from above Max heard a thump.

‘What was that’ said Max quietly as he turned to Finn, but Finn was no-where to be seen. Again Max heard a sharp bang from upstairs followed by a scream that pierced his skin.

Max raced up the stairs to find Finn, struggling with a taller boy, a chair between them. Another boy with a kind face, but now looking badly frightened stood off to one side. Max could see that Finn how found the spot but these boys were trying to interfere. Rushing forward to help his friend, he heard himself screaming, ‘Get out, leave us alone,’ over and over at the tope of his voice.

Time seemed to slow down and before their eyes the two boys began to dissapear like ghosts.

Two boys left the house and ran for town badly frightened. Running as if their lives were at stake they reached town within the hour. Both boys were well liked by their friends and teachers and both liked practical jokes.

As they reached the home of the older kid, his dad came out to meet them, and immediately saw how frightened and young they looked. Having seen they were safe he quietly asked what had happened.

‘We went up to Marsden woods to see the abandoned house there,’

‘and you came across two boys,’ finished his dad.

‘How did you know?’

’30 years ago when I was at school, back when the woods were called Manor, there were two boys, who like you were very fond of their practical jokes. On one Tuesday morning they decided to play a prank on one of their classmates, a friend of theirs, who never liked swimming or the water. They pushed their friend into a swimming hole in the woods, but although the water wasn’t deep their friend fell very badly and broke their neck. Although the two boys were never really blamed by anyone they could never seem to live with their guilt, and exactly four weeks after the accident, the friends went upto an old house that had been abandoned in the woods many years before and hanged themselves, remaining friends till the last.’

As they heard the last of this recount the shorter boy looked up at his friend and asked the question to which they both new the answer. ‘What were their names?’

‘Finn and Max.’

The End.