Cherry Tree Lake

Legend has it, this cabin was once owned by a family that would visit every Summer with their five children. One year, tragedy fell upon the family when their youngest son went missing in the very woods they grew up in. They spent years looking for their son, in the place that was once was filled with magic and joy now left resembling only heartbreak and tragedy.

The eldest children grew up and moved to the city to begin high school. Their parents split due to the guilt that plagued them. Until a few years past when the mother also went missing. It was believed she went out to the woods to find her son, the son asked her to stay, and so stay she did.

Leaving only the cabin to dwell on the past…

Years later, the land became a popular location for teenagers and camping enthusiasts to visit as it boasted a beautiful lake and winding tracks to explore accessible only by 4WDs or ego-confident off roaders in cars that had seen better days!

It was the beginning of Spring break, four teenagers decided to head off for a day of adventure. The plan was to meet up with their mates that evening to celebrate. But while heading out to their well-known campsite, they stumbled across an old sign with the wording Cherry Tree Lake. The road looked relatively worn so they decided to see where the track would lead, and since they had two Utes they figured if one got stuck, they could pull the other one out. So off they went!...

The music was blaring and they were all singing and laughing as the Utes bounced around the rough dirt track as it wound its way through the woods. The road seemed to go on and on and they had lost track of time for having too much fun. All of a sudden, the Ute ahead came to a stop in the road. As they looked around, they noticed by the tree line there was a smouldering car just off the track. It didn’t look to have been in an accident, but had been set alight. What was stranger, was the car still had belongings in it that were mostly charred, but what caught their eye was the items of clothing that were coming from the vehicle, some charred, some partly burnt.

Immediately the feeling on unease crept in so they decided to move on, knowing they had come a long distance in with nowhere to turn around, they kept pushing ahead hoping they were getting closer to their destination.

A few moments go by and the music now playing a little lower, they kept making their way through the woods noticing that the sun had started to shift and a cool breeze had begun to creep in, which made them realise they had been going for longer than they thought. They decided to pick up the pace.

Shortly after, the Ute ahead braked again and they saw scattered amongst the tree line, a row of what looked to be symbols and human figures made out of sticks hanging from the branches. They decided to shrug this off as kids having a laugh as they all grew up watching scary movies, but this still left a sinking feeling. They moved on…

Getting nervous about the daylight beginning to fade they picked up the pace again. When all of a sudden, the Ute slammed on their brakes again sending the second Ute to almost run up the back of it! They saw a woman standing in the middle of the road with a pram. She approached the first Ute and seemed to be encouraging them to turn around. There had been absolutely no other vehicles or people in sight, it was as if the woman had come out of nowhere! Things started to feel really uneasy, the girl in the second Ute went to grab her phone thinking the woman might be hurt or injured or needed help and she realised there was no phone reception. She then looked towards the front Ute to try and get their attention as the woman started becoming quite irate with the couple and yelling and demanding they turn around and go back. The woman kept repeating over and over that the road ahead was a dead end and they would need to turn around and follow another path.

She then walked up to the second Ute when they saw that the pram was empty! They asked if she was okay and if she needed a lift somewhere but the woman didn’t hear seem to hear them, she just had an empty expression and just kept repeating herself and was adamant they go back down this other path. They quickly realised it was a trap so they flashed for the Ute ahead to move!

The Ute leapt forward leaving a cloud of dust, but a sense of relief they were moving again and away from whatever just happened. As they turned to look back, there was no one to be seen. They continued on with only one thing in mind…to get out of there!

All of a sudden there was a truck parked across the road cutting the path and on the back tray were several 44-gallon drums full of strange liquid. Without wanting to know what was in those drums, they cut through the woods to pave another path around the road block. Now getting very scared by what they’ve seen, the adrenaline had kicked in and their only focus was to escape.

It was then that the road came to a complete stop...

It was as if the woods closed in around them, there was no road from where they had just come from. No path leading in any direction, only trees and the final glimmer of sun making its way through the tree line. All four jumped out now frantically trying to work out what to do - no phone reception and no pathway out of the woods - they began to panic!

Out of nowhere, a little boy came running up grabbing two by the hand and began leading them through the trees, giggling as he skipped forward. They were so transfixed by the little boy; it wasn’t until they looked up that they realised the cabin with a warm glow emanating from within.

As they got to the house, the door opened and a woman stood at the door with her arms open wide, smiling and said…” Welcome home.”