Chapter 1
“Face it, we’re lost.” Evelyn glanced down at the crinkled old map in her hand, then looked around and handed it to her brother, James.
“We can’t be lost, we were right by the path just a few minutes ago.”
“Yeah, and whose idea was it to wander off, hmm? This is your fault.”
“You were the one who was supposed to be keeping an eye on the map.”
Evelyn pointed to a twisted old tree. “Look, didn’t we see that tree a minute ago? We’re walking in circles. So if we just walk this way…”
The twins went left, but were met only with dark, unfamiliar trees. A cool breeze picked up, and old leaves fluttered down ominously. An occasional animal howled or hooted in the distance, causing the twins to jump and glance at each other in concern. They eventually began to banter and argue as they walked. Suddenly they stopped.
“How are we back at the twisted tree again? We were walking in a straight line!” cried Evelyn. James looked up to find that the very same twisted tree stood in their path.
“Let me see the map.” Evelyn passed the map to James, who squinted at it.
“Maybe there are multiple twisty trees?” Evelyn asked.
“No, this is the same one.”
“Give me the map again”
James passed the map to Evelyn, then glanced around again. Everywhere he looked he was met with tall trees and vines. The sun had begun to set, casting eerie shadows on the trees. A sudden gust of wind made James shiver and wish he had brought a coat.
“What will we do,” he asked Evelyn, generally the wiser of the two, “if we get stuck here forever?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Mom and Dad will find us. They’re probably looking right now. We’ve been gone for a while.”
“But what if they can’t find us?”
“They will,” Evelyn replied firmly, though she was beginning to have her doubts. “Why don’t we try going in the opposite direction this time?”
They hiked right, and Evelyn began to hum.
“Would you cut that out?” James cried, more for the sake of arguing than anything.
“Why?”
“You’re annoying me”
Evelyn started humming louder, until James kicked her in the ankle.
“Ow, what was that for?”
“For being annoying.”
“Jerk!”
“Idiot!”
James stopped and turned away, crossing his arms, until Evelyn groaned and pointed at the twisted old tree.
“How the heck is that tree there again?” She cried.
“What? I know we were going straight, there weren’t any other familiar trees.”
“I mean, all trees kind of look the same.”
“We would have known if we were going in circles.”
“Well, what other explanation is there, the tree just got up and followed us?”
“I don’t even know, but we were not walking in circles,” James insisted. “And the sun is setting. What are we supposed to do now?”
Evelyn looked up and realized for the first time that it was almost dark. “We will have to sleep here. If we try to find our way in the dark we could risk getting even more lost.”
“Where are we supposed to sleep?”
“On the ground, where else is there? We could gather some pine needles and sleep on top of them, and use leaves as a blanket.”
“That doesn’t sound too comfortable”
“Well, what else do you suggest, Mr. Wise-guy?”
James started to speak, then glanced at the quickly-sinking sun and decided against it. “Fine”
The twins attempted to make the cold, hard ground at least somewhat comfortable, without much luck. An owl hooted in the distance, and the wind picked up again. Everything was shrouded in a gloomy dark grey color. James looked around, feeling oddly like they were being watched.
“Do you think someone should be a lookout? In case there are wild animals or something?” asked James uneasily.
“Yeah, I guess so. I can take the first watch if you want.”
“Okay, just wake me up when you’re tired.”
“Okay”
Within seconds, James was snoring loudly. Evelyn glanced around unable to shake the feeling that they were being watched. Finally, she sat down on her pile of leaves and leaned against the twisty tree.
Evelyn jerked awake to the sound of crickets and birds chirping. She looked around, confused and alarmed, until she remembered the previous night. Sunlight streamed through the thick leaves and small critters ran to and fro. It was almost peaceful, compared to last night, but something still felt off. James groaned in his sleep, then rolled over and sat up, brushing pine needles and leaves out of his curly hair.
“My bones hurt,” he complained.
“Same.”
James glanced around, then stood up quickly.
“Evelyn...where is the twisty tree?”
Glancing up, Evelyn realized that there was in fact no twisty tree. In its place stood a tall, straight tree. Everything else (as far as Evelyn could tell) was exactly the same. The twins stood, gaping at the tree for a few minutes.
Finally, Evelyn spoke. “Well, there must be an explanation for this. Maybe…” She trailed off, finding no logical answer.
“Maybe the tree just stood up and untwisted itself,” James suggested.
“Trees don’t just move by themselves, idiot.”
“You have any better ideas?”
Evelyn sighed. “I don’t know, but I have a bad feeling about this place. We should get out of here, maybe we’ll be able to find our way back to camp now that it’s light.”
Start writing here…
