45th STORY WRITING CONTEST || The Woman of the Forest || by @waqarahmadshah

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Greetings everyone! I hope you are all doing well and enjoying your life. Before submitting my entry to this story completion contest, I would like to thank @paholags for inviting me. It was only because of her invitation that I came to know about this contest and now I would like to resume this story in my own style.

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Note: It is possible that I made a mistake in understanding the beginning of the story because it was not in English. Nevertheless, I tried to proceed with the story according to its translation using Google Translator.

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Bernardo and his wife are going to spend a vacation in a house in the mountains. Kristina is very excited, since she is a writer and needs a free, quiet and natural space to finish her book, which is inspired by a mysterious woman. Upon arriving and seeing the trees and the forest, feeling the cold breeze, she feels the atmosphere and once they settle in, she begins to write. Meanwhile, her husband is preparing to light the fireplace, prepare dinner and after dinner he serves two glasses of wine, gives his wife a glass and settles in an armchair to read a book.

The next day, while Bernardo was cutting firewood, among the trees he saw a young woman, redhead, beautiful, country clothes, he greets her, but she doesn't answer, she just stares at him, he decides to go over to see if everything was okay When he was already close, she began to run into the forest, he followed her, yelling at her to stop for a moment, without noticing, he went so far into the forest that he got lost. The wife left the house, she was happy because she had finished her book, but she did not find her husband...

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Kristina searched for Bernardo in the surrounding area but he was nowhere to be found. She shouted out to him, but only silence greeted her in return. As night fell and the temperature dropped, Kristina grew increasingly worried. She decided to call the local authorities and report her husband missing.

The search party scoured the forest but found no trace of Bernardo. Kristina couldn’t shake off the feeling that something terrible had happened to him. Night after night she sat by the fire, gazing into its flickering light and pondering the possibilities.

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_{Image by Freepik}

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Days turned into weeks and there was still no sign of Bernardo. Kristina tried to focus on her writing but she couldn’t concentrate. The mysterious woman from her book seemed to haunt her thoughts.

One day, while taking a walk in the forest to clear her head, Kristina saw a flash of red among the trees. She followed it and found herself face-to-face with the young woman Bernardo had seen before he disappeared.

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_{Image by Freepik}

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The woman looked at Kristina with an eerie calmness and said: “Your husband followed me into the forest. He shouldn’t have done that.”

Kristina’s heart raced as she realized that the woman before her might hold the key to Bernardo’s disappearance. She begged for answers, but the woman only gave her a cryptic smile before disappearing into the woods. Kristina chased after her but she was gone.

Determined to uncover the truth, Kristina began her own investigation. She spoke with locals and heard whispers of a mysterious woman living in the forest. Some said she was a witch with mind-controlling powers while others claimed she was a vengeful ghost.

Despite not knowing what to believe, Kristina couldn’t shake off the feeling that this woman was connected to Bernardo’s disappearance. She decided to confront her and find out once and for all.

One night, armed with nothing but courage, Kristina ventured deep into the forest and called out for the mysterious woman. Soon enough, she appeared.

Tell me what you did to my husband, Kristina asked.

The woman looked at her sadly and said: “Your husband followed me into the forest under my spell. I didn’t mean for him to get lost but he did. I’m sorry.”

Kristina felt a wave of anger and despair wash over her as she realized that Bernardo might never return.

Heartbroken by this news, Kristina packed up and left their mountain home. But as she was leaving, she saw a figure emerging from the woods, that was Bernardo! Though dishevelled and confused, he was alive.

Kristina ran to him and held him tightly as he told her how he had survived on berries and stream water while lost in the forest for weeks.

Kristina was overjoyed to have Bernardo back but something had shifted between them. The shadow of the mysterious woman lingered over their relationship.

They left their mountain home and never looked back. Kristina finished her book but it was no longer about a mysterious woman. Instead, it was a thriller about a couple whose love was tested by forces beyond their control.

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_{Image by bristekjegor on Freepik}

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I hope you liked my story. 😊

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_{I would like to mention here that although this post may seem simple to look at and some people might ignore it without reading it, it took me 3 hours to set up and write this story. The biggest problem these days is with AI content. After writing the post, some detectors were declaring some of my sentences as AI-generated. It took me time to fix those sentences. I have seen cases on Steemit where some innocent authors have been targeted by the inaccuracy of these detectors. The probability increases in such contests. Until a reliable tool comes along, I may not participate in story writing contests in the future. 😞}

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Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. Leaving a comment would be much appreciated. Your opinion is valuable and contributes to making this a more engaging experience for everyone. Thank you again for visiting my blog, and I eagerly await your response!

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I would like to invite @senehasa, @dove11, @jesusjacr, @josevas217 and @patjewell to join this contest, if they have not already taken part in it.

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Best Regards,

@waqarahmadshah

Link to My Achievement 1 Post

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