Lost Forest

Five years before...

I wake up with a jolt. My body is not warm and safe in my bed. My fingers are not touching the soft new blankets my foster parents gave me. The air does not smell like jasmine. This is not my room.

I jerk up into a sitting position on a bed of grass. My fingers dig into the grass and dirt as I dart my terrified eyes in either which direction. The air is cold and dewy against my skin. It coats me like a thin layer of sweat after a jog. It smells of life and forestry with a hint of... nutmeg.

Cautiously I scramble to my feet. My legs are unsteady on the wet thick grass blanketing the earth. There are numerous large trees. They spread out and cover as far as my eyes can see. Their heavy leaves blot out most of the sun and only allows select rays the touch the plantation beneath. The trees stand taller than any trees I have ever seen or read about. A thin mist covers the forest ground and obscures my distance vision. The air is calm and few birds chirp.

My head stings all of a sudden and I carefully pat at my temple. My hand comes away with smears of blood and a few purple strands. I must have fallen pretty hard. My vision still has small black speckles dancing around the edges of my vision in clusters.

I look down to see the damage to my clothes. My plain T-shirt and loose pants are stained with green patches from the grass. I smooth my hands down my sides, looking for tears, but find none.

“You are not on Earth, Human,” a gentle voice speaks from beyond the trees. It sounds young and soulful. A light accent coats the words that I do not recognize.

I spin, looking for the source of the voice. My eyes see nothing among the tall dark trees. “Who is out there? Show yourself?” I stumble around in a pitiful circle trying to see them.

“I am a lost soul cursed to the Lost Forest,” the voice speaks softly, “it means nothing to you, little human.” The voice comes from all angles.

I shift around on my legs, trying to gain balance and will away the dark spots. “Why does it mean nothing?” What is it talking about? What is the Lost Forest?

“Every decade five humans all the same age and gender are selected from your human world. A portal is opened and only the humans may enter through it and return home. Sadly, one human must remain behind. A token.” The voice whispers and sounds very wise. “You must reach the gateway before the other four, or you will be stuck here and forced to wander through the Lost Forest for the rest of time.”

I nod at the words. “Pray tell me, which direction this gateway is located.” I stand nervously, hoping for directions.

“Look due East, little human.” The voice shifts away and gets quieter, “But you must be swift, the other humans woke much sooner than you. They have a head start.”

I nod jerkily before looking up at the sun. The sun is setting. It sets in the... West. I frown in confusion. Does it set in the West? I am just a kid, I have never had to learn or understand directions or anything of the sort. I understand that my Dad was killed by my Mother, who took my sister to her doom.

Sighing, I start the uneven trek East. My sneakers slide on the grass. I stub my toes on loose tree limbs. The trees remain unwavering as I walk past them. Birds chirp absently among the leaves. The bark is a beautiful mix of rusty copper and oak. The leaves are fresh and green and the veins sparkle as if coated in gold.

I wander for a good hour before I hear footsteps. Fast approaching steps. They hurry and race through the trees. The breath of the creature is laboured and hoarse. It is clearly not used to being in the woods.

I still my movement and move behind a tree, hoping to hide until it passes. My fingers dig into the hard bark while my heart beats in my ears. Terror grips me. I have nothing to fight with. No one to call upon. I don’t even know where this god forsake Lost Forest is. I am all on my own.

What if I don’t get to go to high school? What if I don’t ever get my driver’s licence? What if I never get to kiss a boy? What if I miss all my milestones because I am lost wandering in a Lost Forest simply because I did not make it to a gateway?

The creature suddenly appears. “For God’s sake,” she huffs. My foster sister bends down and rests her hand on her knees. Her thick black hair is knotted at the base of her neck with a thin strip of her bright orange dress. Her face and legs are smeared with dirt. She looks worse for wear than I feel.

I carefully step out from behind the tree. “Hope?” I call nervously.

Hope jumps around and spots me. Her friendly face fills with relief. She launches herself at me and hugs me with her thin arms. “Diana,” she sighs into my shoulder. “There was this awful voice that told me I have to go through a gateway to get home. When I asked it which way was East, it laughed at me and told me I was going to die.” She cries a little as she speaks the words. “I don’t want to die here.” She wipes her face with the back of her hand. “We are going to get home, aren’t we?”

Hope looks up at me with such huge, hopeful eyes. “Of course,” I promise her. I will do everything in my power to protect my foster sister. Especially since I failed my real sister.

We will reach the Gateway. I will get Hope home. Even if I have to die trying.

We walk through the forest and the mist that has gotten thicker. The mist is now a dense fog. I can only see a dozen or so feet in front of me. The ground has gotten softer and deep puddles cover the ground. The sun from up above has gotten duller. The sun is setting and night will soon be upon us.

"Diana," Hope murmurs as she stares at a puddle. "It is looking at me." She grabs my wrist and freezes.

Cautiously, I approach the puddle and try to find what she is looking at. In the puddle, there is a murky outline of two tennis balls. Except the balls are blue with green veins. They float just under the surface. Creepy.

"It isn't bothering us, so we won't bother it." I tug on Hope's arm and drag her in the direction of East. "We have to hurry." My voice comes out as a whine rather than fierce, but what thirteen-year-old would be fierce in this scenario?

Hope shuffles behind me as we continue walking. We creep through the fog. I keep my eyes out for any animals but find no signs. There are no droppings or footprints to be found anywhere. There should be animals here, shouldn't there be?

The mist gets heavier the further East we walk. Hope shuffles behind me. The fog is now a weight that presses against me and weighs me down as I walk. What kind of place is this?

When I take my next step, the fog breaks. It is visibly separated and does not enter the small circle of fresh, clean air. Energy crackles in the air. My eyes freeze on a green and purple glowing sheen in the middle of the circle. It looks like a puddle standing upright. The water swishes around and changes between green and purple. Around the edges of the odd-looking puddle are soft balls of cotton. Or they could be little clouds.

"Is that the gateway?" Hope sounds confused. Her eyes are pinched and worried. She holds on to my arm tightly, as if she worries that I will just disappear.

I shuffle closer to the puddle. "I think so," I answer. We stand a few feet away. A small breeze tugs at the strands of my purple hair. It smells of jasmine. Of home.

The young voice from earlier sounds, "You are the last two to arrive." The voice gets haunted, "Only one may leave." The voice repeats what it said earlier, "The other must remain here for the rest of eternity."

Hope starts sobbing. Big wet tears fill her eyes. "We can't go home?" She turns to me with such sadness in her eyes.

A plan fills my brain. One may leave. Only one. "Let's just check it out before we make any hasty decisions." Slowly, we creep even closer to the puddle. The wind picks up and causes me to stumble.

"I don't like this," Hope whines. She holds on to my wrist tightly. "How are we going to get home?"

I look at Hope. I'm sorry. "I'm sorry," I whisper to her. Her eyes widen as she lets go of my arm in shock. She looks so confused.

Hope does not notice my hands on her shoulders. She does not feel the bite of my nails through her shirt. She does not react as I push her towards and into the puddle. Her eyes widen as they look back at me.

"No," she calls out as her body crashes into the puddle. The water grabs at her while the winds shove her deeper into the depths. Hope looks at me. "No," she whispers as her body gets dragged into the colourful depths. Her face disappears and the puddle vanishes.