A Walk in the Woods

A Walk in the Woods The young boy was walking through the woods. The old man waswatching him. The old man had played this game for years, and youngchildren had disappeared from these woods from time to time. Policeinvestigations had turned up nothing of note. Oh, they questioned the oldman, but he appeared frail and unable to perpetrate any form of violenceon anyone, most especially on fleet-footed children, who could easilyelude capture by such a crippled, slow-moving octogenarian. He wasnever considered a serious suspect. The old man approaches the boy. He’s a friendly sort, almostgrandfatherly. He asks if the boy would like something to drink, and, beingquite thirsty, he answers in the affirmative. The old man leads him to hiscabin in the woods. Once inside, he locks the door, invites the boy to sitat his table, brings him a glass of water. He immediately drops thegrandfatherly visage. “Has no one ever told you never to talk to strangers?” he asks. Before theyoung boy can answer