Katie's Shocking Discovery

As the sun started to set, Katie jumped from her swing and began her walk home. The swing set was her favorite part of the small playground in the woods near her house. She went there almost every day, and now that it was summer break, she could spend as much time there as she wanted during the day.

Aside from the swing set, the play structures were mostly meant for small children, and at age ten, Katie felt like she had outgrown them. The playground wasn't very exciting to her anymore, but it was pretty much the only place she could go for entertainment in her tiny town. She longed for the day when she could move to a big city where there was always a lot going on and she would never have to be bored again.

When Katie was about half way between the playground and her house, something caught her attention. There was a large tree within view of the path she was on, and perched on a high branch was a great horned owl. Katie had never seen one in the wild before, and she wanted to get a closer look. So, she left the path and headed towards the tree, walking carefully to avoid making too much noise. The owl was high up, but Katie was able to get a decent view of it once she got close to the tree. She stared at it for a bit and then took out her phone to take a picture. This was going to be so exciting to show people! It wasn't much, but in the moment, Katie felt like it made her hometown a little less boring.

She was about to turn back towards the path home when the owl flew off and landed much lower on a different tree. This new location would allow for a much better picture, so Katie decided to get closer and try again. She headed towards the owl's new tree, continuing to walk quietly. When she was almost at the base of the tree, she positioned her phone and got the best picture she could have hoped for. The owl was looking right at her and could be seen in great detail.

Katie stood there admiring her photo until she realized it was getting dark and she really needed to head home. She looked around, thinking about the quickest way back to the path when she heard a strange whistling sound off in the distance. She turned to see where it had come from and spotted a strange light. It was bright white and appeared to be floating among the trees. Katie knew she shouldn't be staying out so late, but maybe just a few more minutes wouldn't hurt. She had never seen anything like this before, and her curiosity was too strong.

Katie walked towards the light, and as she got closer, it started to move away. She followed it, and as it kept going, she started running to keep up. It continued to float through the woods until it stopped in front of a very large tree. At that point, it turned downwards, floated into the ground and disappeared. Katie stood there in shock, trying to process what she just saw when off in the distance, she heard her mom calling her name. She quickly turned and ran back towards her home, yelling to her mom that she was coming.

When Katie got home, she showed her parents the owl pictures and then told them about the strange light. They were skeptical, but her dad agreed to go with her the next morning to check out the large tree where the light had disappeared. She had a hard time falling asleep, but when morning came, she quickly got up and rushed to eat breakfast. As soon as her dad was ready, they headed out and walked through the woods until they found the large tree. Katie pointed out the spot in the soil where the light had disappeared and suggested that they dig there. Her dad left to get a shovel, and when he came back, they took turns digging.

At one point while Katie was digging, the shovel hit something hard. She dug a little more to get the dirt off of it so she could see what it was, but as she did, her eyes widened while her dad gasped. It was a human skull! Katie's dad told her to leave it, and when they got home, he immediately called the police. The spot in the soil was dug up, and an entire human skeleton was found, along with a diamond necklace.

An investigation revealed that the skeleton was from a woman named Christine who had gone missing in 1910. Her descendants still had pictures of her, and they recognized the necklace because she was wearing it in most of them, including a large portrait. The story of her disappearance had been passed down through each generation of her family. They had always wanted to solve the mystery of what had happened to her. After the investigation concluded, there was still a lot they didn't know. She was presumably murdered, but no one knew who did it or why. Even so, the discovery of her remains brought the family some long due closure, and they were grateful to Katie and her dad for bringing it to them.

Katie often went out into the woods to look for the light, but she never saw it again. She never saw the owl again either, although she thought about it a lot. If it hadn't been for that owl, the skeleton never would have been discovered. Maybe it was just a coincidence, but Katie couldn't shake the feeling that somehow, the owl knew about the light and wanted to show her. Either way, her tiny hometown never seemed quite as boring after that night.