“My 76-Year-Old Grandpa Took Me Into the Woods Every Day and Made Me Undress Until I Was Half-Naked. But One Day, My Mother Secretly Followed Us and Heard Strange Screams Coming From Deep Inside the Forest. When She Got Closer and Saw What We Were Actually Doing, Her Heart Couldn’t Take It. She Fell to Her Knees and Burst Into Tears…”

And I answered.

My mother later told me that she knew something was seriously wrong when she heard my grandfather speaking to me in the hallway.

She had woken early and was preparing to leave for work when she heard his voice through the partly open kitchen door.

“Emily, we’re nearly finished. We can’t stop now.”

“Grandpa, I’m tired of hiding things from Mom.”

There was a long silence.

Then he spoke in a lower voice.

“If she finds out before we’re ready, she may never understand.”

My mother stopped moving.

“What won’t I understand?” she nearly called out.

But she remained silent, hoping to hear the rest.

Instead, she heard the front door open.

A moment later, Grandpa and I were gone.

My mother stood alone in the kitchen, staring at the empty doorway.

For twenty-five years, she had carried a painful memory of the forest. She had never been able to speak about it without becoming emotional. And now, her daughter was disappearing into those same woods with the one person she had trusted to protect her.