The Circle

In the middle of a meadow deep in the forest, a circle of brown mushrooms grow.
They had grown there for as long as anyone could remember, and it was well known that anyone who stepped foot within the circle would be stolen away by the fair folk.
Despite this knowledge, foolish children would often dare each other to see who was willing to get closest to the circle.
They thought it a great show of their bravery.
But it was a fool's game.
Today, little Jimmy got too close to the circle. Right up to the edge, where he turned to grin at the other children, and tripped over an odd stone. In catching himself, Jimmy didn't realize that one foot was now within the circle.
Young Sandra noticed, but hoped that if she didn't draw attention to it, that nothing would happen to Jimmy.
And so Jimmy rejoined the other children, victorious in their foolish game.
When sunset came, the children all went to their own homes.
But while she ate dinner, Sandra couldn't stop thinking about Jimmy stepping into the mushroom circle.
And so after her parents fell asleep, Sandra snuck out of her house to go check on Jimmy.
Jimmy's family lived in the house next to Sandra's, and so she didn't feel too guilty about sneaking out. She knew which window led to Jimmy's room, and seeing that his shutters were open to let in the gentle night breeze, she crept toward it as quietly as a seven-year-old could.
Peeking into Jimmy's room, she relaxed when she saw him peacefully asleep in his bed.
A cloud drifted over the moon, and in the sudden darkening, Sandra noticed twin glints of light above Jimmy.
Twin glints that the moonlight had perfectly masked.
The glints of light shifted from Jimmy toward his window, and Sandra realized that they were eyes.
Eyes that now saw her.
In a panicked stumble that should have woken someone with its racket, Sandra raced back to her home, to her window, and to the now-not-so-safe comforts of her bed.
There, she shivered beneath the covers, trying to will the image of those eyes out of her mind.

When morning came, two houses echoed with the anguished wailing of parents whose children had vanished with the night.