On a somber Friday morning, the sky dark and foretelling of rain, the mighty pines swayed and shook from strong wind. Bitter air nipped at my dry skin and my legs lightly brushing against ferns that sat on the edge of the path. A flock of birds conversed somewhere in the expanse of the forest, their bright chirps echoing in the daunting gaps of silence, the only sound other than orange, red and brown leaves crunching under my feet.

I knew in the pit of my stomach and the back of my mind that everything would go wrong.

All around me, as far as the eye could see, were ancient Sequoia trees, towering high above my head. Dewdrops glistened on the tips of branches, which were scratching at my arms and legs. I stumbled as I tripped over the knot of a tree root, but stabled myself before setting off into a heavy run again. I breathed out in short pants, and with each stride I could feel a dull pain becoming sharper in my legs. With no path to follow, I turned uncertainly onto a small dirt trail, trampled down by an animal before me. A fog laid low, shrouding the ground, but I saw a glint reflecting off a speck of sunlight, cast below the trees. I inched closer, crouched low to the ground, until a bright green box with a silver chain running through it caught my eye. The box had a leaf print dancing across the lid and a rusted latch with a crack across the emerald coating that covered the top. Its beauty took my breath away. I approached the box, opened it, and plucked the delicate  chain, turning it over in my clammy hand. A locket. After looking for a clue as to what the locket was from, I came across a gold inscription, which read in bold loopy cursive letters, “Elizabeth A. Warren, 1863. Take heed.”

The peculiar words sent a shiver down my spine, and a sharp gust of wind seemed to blow just as I grabbed the locket by its chain, dangling it in the air. Suddenly, the instinct to immediately throw it off the path and as far away from me as possible came across me, but I shook it off.

“You’re being silly, ” I thought. “It’s simply a locket. There’s no need to be afraid.”

I stood up straight, the locket in hand. I looked around, nervous, as if I were stealing the necklace from its unknown owner and I would be caught. I started at a slow pace, beginning my run again. This time though, the shadows seemed sharper, the mist lying on the ground more mysterious, and the uncomfortable feeling of eyes watching me and someone breathing on me. Because in that moment, I knew something was wrong.

And I asked myself, “What in the world could go wrong?”