Hi Jason. You have a lot of great things going in this piece, great job. I do think a few changes could improve it-
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If this piece is supposed to be from a parent's point of view- like they are scared of their kid encountering dangerous situations, then I think your current pose works pretty well. If this is about the girl being scared, I think that the girl doesn't look scared or even aware of the forest ahead, because she is casually walking along. I'm not sure if a scared kid would hold their teddy bear like that, unless maybe they came upon something suddenly and was caught off guard.
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I think you could have more fun with the overall scariness of the scene. I know you'll be adding more stuff, but I think you could play with the shapes of the actual trees more. I think it's really creepy when the trees either look really twisted and gnarled, or if they look unnaturally straight and uniform. I think that your forest is a bit neutral.
I did a quick paint over, to hopefully show what I mean. I tweaked the pose of the girl, made her smaller, and moved her over a bit to avoid a tangent with the light in the forest. I also tried to play with the shape of the trees, but I think you could go even further.
Anyway, just some suggestions. You've done a great job so far.