[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-116630-en":3,"doc-seo-116630-105":29,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":90},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":4,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":11,"is_downloadable":11,"audit_status":11,"page_count":20,"language":21,"language_code":22,"site_id":23,"html_lang":22,"table_of_contents":24,"faqs":25,"seo_title":26,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":27,"read_time":28},116630,687197207057,"Sage","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_29158cc5080c5b710cf443261637dec0",1,"Story & Novel","Don't Let The Forest In - Author's Note & Prequel Short Story","Prequel short story told from Thomas Rye’s point of view, set during the summer five months before the events of “Don’t Let The Forest In.” The narrative follows Thomas during exam season as he copes with obsession and compulsion through monster drawings, while Andrew rests beside him outside Dove’s classroom. Mild spoilers are acknowledged in the author’s note, and the story also incorporates three of Andrew’s fairytales previously offered as preorder bonuses, adding extra context to the larger plot.","Copyright © 2025 by CG Drews All rights reserved.  \nNo portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher or author, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.  \n[OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com)  \nAuthor's Note  \nThis short story is set during the summer, 5 months before the events of Don't Let The Forest In. It is the day before Thomas and Dove's \"falling out\" and the flashback scene on page 298. Because this is a prequel short story, it doesn't exactly spoil the events of Don't Let The Forest In, but it still does contain mild spoilers, so be aware! I recommend reading Don't Let The Forest In and then coming back to read this and seeing the extra layer of context. However, you could still read it first if you wanted.  \nIt also contains three of Andrew's fairytales that were previously bonuses for the preorder incentive.  \nThis story is from the point of view of Thomas Rye.  \n[OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com)  \nThomas  \nH  \nE HAD ALWAYS BEEN the kind of boy who kissed trees. The thought of awakening some sort of forest god sleeping deep  \nwithin an oak was Thomas Rye’s current obsession; he thought every day of slipping into the woods and brushing his mouth against rough bark. If there was an eldritch god to be found folded between roots and leaves, it would be in the forest behind Wickwood Academy. But exam season had him by the throat and there had been no time to sneak into the woods lately, no time to daydream about fairy tales scraping teeth against his jaw or lovely monsters rotting amongst the leaves.  \nNo time to admit that trees were not the only things he thought about kissing these days.  \nThe closest Thomas could get to the forest right now was this: a fistful of inky pens and his battered, abused sketchbook. Drawing wasn’t just his deepest joy, it was a compulsion bound so tight to his bones that he couldn’t go a day without bleeding the outline of a monster across a page. Necks twisted with vicious vines. Mouths vomiting the nubs of violet stems.  \nAntler crowns dripping gore. No one understood his need, his addiction to horrors both lovely and foul.  \nNo one except Andrew.  \nA small smile played at the corner of Thomas’s mouth and he stopped sketching long enough to glance down at Andrew, who was currently being a supportive best friend by letting Thomas use his head as a resting place for his sketchbook. In truth, Andrew was asleep. His head was a deadweight on Thomas’s lap and he’d clocked out with the intensity of someone so stressed out by all the exams and late-night studying that he stood no chance against this 2 p.m. lull between classes.  \nBoth of them had flopped down outside Dove’s classroom to wait for her—a fair plan, they decided, since they had a free study period and no idea what to do with themselves unsupervised—and the hallway was empty and comfortably warm, dust motes dancing in the spaces between long, elegant windows.  \nMuffled voices drifted under the nearby classroom door as the debate team practised, but it was oddly lulling. Andrew had fought against his drooping eyelids before tilting sideways to rest his head on Thomas’s shoulder. It had been Thomas who gently dragged Andrew’s head onto his lap and then watched with soft fondness as Andrew fell asleep in exactly two seconds. No fight. No grumpy protests. No uneasy discomfort that they might be seen like this, too close and too soft and too familiar.  \nHe was lovely asleep, his honey-gold hair mussed, his body drained of its usual taut anxiety, the perfect curve of his slack jaw so wretchedly beautiful that Thomas had to look away. It hurt too much, all the things he felt about Andrew.  \nHe had always felt there was something otherworldly about Andrew, about his slender elegance and melancholy mouth. He was a matched set with Dove in that way.  \nThomas was forever driven mad with furious, ruinous love for both of the Perrault siblings. He wanted to scream, to implode, to stand on a mountaint","cbCaic3sYr3KorcY","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaic3sYr3KorcY","pdf",2766741,35,"English","en",105,"# Author's Note\n# Thomas\n## Exam season and Thomas's obsession\n## Waiting outside Dove’s classroom\n## Dove’s arrival and questions","[{\"question\":\"When and where does this prequel short story take place?\",\"answer\":\"It is set during the summer, five months before the events of “Don’t Let The Forest In,” and during Thomas’s time at Wickwood Academy.\"},{\"question\":\"Who narrates the story?\",\"answer\":\"The story is told from the point of view of Thomas Rye.\"},{\"question\":\"What additional content does the author note mention?\",\"answer\":\"The story includes three of Andrew’s fairytales that were previously bonuses for the preorder incentive.\"}]","Don't Let The Forest In - Author's Note & Prequel Short Story | PDF",1785661192,54,{"code":4,"msg":30,"data":31},"ok",{"site_id":23,"language":22,"slug":32,"title":13,"keywords":33,"description":14,"schema_data":34,"social_meta":85,"head_meta":87,"extra_data":89,"updated_unix":27},"dont-let-the-forest-in-authors-note-prequel-short-story","",{"@graph":35,"@context":84},[36,53,67],{"@type":37,"itemListElement":38},"BreadcrumbList",[39,43,47,50],{"item":40,"name":41,"@type":42,"position":11},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":44,"name":45,"@type":42,"position":46},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":48,"name":12,"@type":42,"position":49},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/story-novel/",3,{"item":51,"name":13,"@type":42,"position":52},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/dont-let-the-forest-in-authors-note-prequel-short-story/116630/",4,{"url":51,"name":13,"@type":54,"author":55,"headline":13,"publisher":57,"fileFormat":60,"inLanguage":22,"description":14,"dateModified":61,"datePublished":61,"encodingFormat":60,"isAccessibleForFree":62,"interactionStatistic":63},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":56},"Person",{"url":40,"name":58,"@type":59},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-08-02",true,{"@type":64,"interactionType":65,"userInteractionCount":4},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":66},"ViewAction",{"@type":68,"mainEntity":69},"FAQPage",[70,76,80],{"name":71,"@type":72,"acceptedAnswer":73},"When and where does this prequel short story take place?","Question",{"text":74,"@type":75},"It is set during the summer, five months before the events of “Don’t Let The Forest In,” and during Thomas’s time at Wickwood Academy.","Answer",{"name":77,"@type":72,"acceptedAnswer":78},"Who narrates the story?",{"text":79,"@type":75},"The story is told from the point of view of Thomas Rye.",{"name":81,"@type":72,"acceptedAnswer":82},"What additional content does the author note mention?",{"text":83,"@type":75},"The story includes three of Andrew’s fairytales that were previously bonuses for the preorder incentive.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":51,"og:type":86,"og:title":13,"og:site_name":58,"og:description":14},"article",{"robots":88,"canonical":51},"index,follow",{"doc_id":7,"site_id":23},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":91},[92,95,99,103,108,113,118,123,128,131,135],{"id":11,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":12,"show_sort_weight":93,"slug":94},90,"story-novel",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":96,"show_sort_weight":97,"slug":98},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":100,"show_sort_weight":101,"slug":102},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":104,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":105,"show_sort_weight":106,"slug":107},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":109,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":110,"show_sort_weight":111,"slug":112},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":114,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":115,"show_sort_weight":116,"slug":117},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":119,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":121,"slug":122},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":124,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":125,"show_sort_weight":126,"slug":127},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":126,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":129,"show_sort_weight":126,"slug":130},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":132,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":133,"show_sort_weight":132,"slug":134},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":136,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":45,"category_name":137,"show_sort_weight":104,"slug":138},19,"General","general"]