Just You and Me, Now
ShortStory 3,977 words Recommended by 4 award/anthology sources
"The campsite looks like it wants to eat them. A fire pit yawns in the middle, an ashy-grey mouth ringed by rocks like rotting teeth. The trees crowd in, sizing them up, knifing the daylight. One gulp of that smoke-and-pine air, and Henry shudders head to foot. He wanted to go to soccer camp."
Content warnings 2
child-deathdeath-of-a-loved-one
Quasar links out; the story lives on Apex, where the author gets the click.