I stared at the girl. She stared back with a maniac smile. I knew what would happen next. She disappeared and I was stuck in the pitch black forest with the whispering trees. I knew I was not alone. They would judge me harshly. I could not show fear. I could trust no one. I had to leave.
I ran as fast as I could to the exit. The trees and plants seemed to be blocking me at every step. Vines entangling me and berry bushes ensnaring my clothing. I couldn’t fall for it, for any of it. When I got to the end of the maze, it was a dead end. A giant tree blocking the path. I tried to get out again and again, until I couldn’t take it anymore. They had tired me out. I laid down, checking to make sure that nothing was about to pounce. Then, I closed my eyes. Without knowing it, the ground sunk me into the earth.
I woke up to someone saying, “Wake Child”. Pain shot up to my brain. There was a lady standing in front of me in a billowing purple dress. She looked old and frail, like she could collapse at any second, but she had a deep, booming voice. “Rise”, she said. And I did. Then she walked away. I scrambled to follow and found myself in a small underground room.
She looked around and then said, “Quick, we don’t have much time”. Then she handed me a bag. In it, there was an umbrella, a piece of cake, a toothbrush, and two sets of clothes; one with a map sewn into the pant leg. “Good Luck”, she said, before stepping into the shadows and dissolving into blue mist.
I bolted upright, shaking. Bag in one hand. I was no longer in the comfortable room with the old lady. I was in the middle of a dirt road. I checked in the bag. It was all there. And it looked untouched, except for one of the shirts that had a picture of the old lady on it. Under it, it said, “Next Stop, The Highs”.