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Incident in the Aspen Grove
It was unclear as to how exactly they were related - cousin?, 2nd cousin?, much older half-sibling?, maybe a half-uncle - they only knew to stay away from him. He lived alone far on the other side of the compound, near the creek in a shack he had constructed. Family lore told that he knew enough to fend for himself but that he didn't have any of something called "social skills" which meant that he couldn't relate to other people. In that way, they said, he was more like an animal. They'd never met him nor even knew what he looked like, only to not go over to that end of the woods. The girls played Hide & Seek with just each other that day. Without the little ones, they'd strayed further in than usual. One had dashed into a stand of aspens, her white pinafore blending in with the bark. She held her hand over her mouth so as not to giggle, sure she was well hidden. A branch snapped behind her and she was pushed to the ground onto her belly. A man with a foul stink lay on top of her, sniffing her hair and grunting. She was paralyzed with fear and could not move. Suddenly her sister called out their name with a worried yell and the man sprang up and ran away.
