Stuck In The Forest
Stuck In The Forest
By Rubie Goldner
My Friendship
Chapter 1
I remember when I was young, no bigger than five I suppose, and I was running away from my dad who was apparently doing that thing grownups do when they chase the little kid pretending the kid is faster than them. Anyway I was running towards the forest thinking I could hide in there right at the forest edge my dad scooped me up and said, “no you don’t,” smiling and laughing, suddenly his smile faded replaced with sad eyes, “don’t forget your mother.” RING!!!!!!!!!! “Come on Lila don’t tell me you were sleeping again,” said my best friend Sofie. “Stop yelling at me, I had a perfectly good reason” “oh yeah, what was that” “I was sleeping about american history, because we’re studying it.” “Ancient egy” “Ancient egypt. Is what I meant to say, but because I am such a good listener I was still thinking about american history” “okay, and what was the last thing we studied?” asked Sofie. “American history” I say. “colonial times, I just don’t get it social studies is so interesting!” “okay whatever you say, now come on let’s get to lunch.” I say pushing our conversation aside. The rest of the day was the less important, PE, spelling, spanish, and feelings, which I honestly don’t know why we have to take it.
Today it was my turn to go over to Sofie’s house for homework because we switch off every other day. “Sofie do you still have those chocolate chip cookies that are to die for?” “I do” “yes!!! You’re the best!” I give her a quick hug and run towards her house. We walk into her kitchen, she grabs one cookie, I grab five. Then we head up to her room which in my opinion is the most fashionable room ever. Sofie has an antique bookshelf made out of wood, full of books color and height categorized. Each wall of her room is painted a different shade of blue, baby blue, spanish blue, navy blue, and midnight blue. She only has one reading light because most of the ceiling is a glass star above our heads for natural daylight. In the corner farthest from the door is a queen size bed with two white pillows two even bigger han purple pillows in the middle and another even bigger pigment purple pillow in front for show. Sofie has a white blanket that she uses for sleep and a ultramarine blanket at the end of her bed for show. Next to her bed she has a pearl white beanbag that is very soft, and across from her bed Sofie has a pearl white desk for homework with two periwinkle chairs (she got one for me when she and I started doing homework together. “I really think that if it wasn’t for me you would be failing science and social studies,” Sofie says. “And if it wasn’t for me you would be failing math and trying to make a friend.” I say sarcastically. We both start cracking up, I am so happy that Sofie’s dad would’ve lost his job if he hadn’t moved here. I know it sounds selfish but it’s true, and I only want to tell the truth! Not entirely. “I can’t believe there is only a week left of school before it’s summer break!” I say. “I know it’s crazy, it seems like just yesterday we were starting sixth grade and now, after this summer we’ll be in seventh.” Sofie says dramatically. “Okay let’s start homework.” my tone is awkward, but my face expression would send you into fits of laughter. “O-K-A-Y” Sofie says with a smile so wide you would think her face is going to break. It takes me fifteen minutes to do the math. I hand my math to Sofie and eat my cookies. Seven minutes later Sofie hands me the social studies and the first part of science. I copy it down then ten minutes later Sofie hands me the rest of the science and after that I help her practice for the mile run everyone has to do at Washington Praise at the end of each year for PE (Washington Praise is the name of my school). Sofie and I head out the front of her house, and next door to my house. I quickly remember I have to do barn chores. “Ss o fie. I have barn chores I forgot, I have to feed the pigs, Johanna, Rebecca, and Sarah and the cows, Lucy and Dave and the chickens, Taylor, Sabrina, Chandler, and Joe. I already feed Bella this morning.” (Bella is the only animal I have on this farm, she’s my horse). “No problem” said Sofie “I’ll help you.” “ thank you so much” I say. “Okay what should I do?” “you can feed the pigs! Just take the bucket of slop and replace it with the empty but still dirty bucket of slop.” “Why do I have to feed the pigs?” says Sofie in a whining voice. “unless you’d rather push that barrel of hay out into the middle of the cow field, I can’t help you,” I say pointing to the rather giant barrel of hay off to the side of me. Sofie goes to feed the pigs, and I push the berral of hay out into the middle of the field where the cows are eating grass. If I know Sofie correctly which I do, I know It will take her a longer time to feed the pigs than for me to push the barrel of hay. Once I’m done I go to feed the chickens and collect their eggs. “Why didn’t you let me feed the chickens?” asked Sofie once I stepped outside. “Because you also have to collect their eggs, and I know that you would have dropped them.” “I guess you’re right” says Sofie rolling her eyes. It’s not that Sofies clumsy it’s that Sofie is afraid of chickens when they peck you. She was clearly annoyed with me, but I guess that happens in friendships.
Now that Sofie helped me with chores I could help her with the mile run. I put a saddle blanket on Bella, then I put on the saddle and tighten the girth. I grab her reins and hop on. “Come on! I want to see you sprint!” I say “Okay I’m starting” says Sofie. Sofie starts to run where I ride Bella, which is a mile if you make a whole circle which is why Sofie practices here. Sofie starts running, and halfway through she stops. I have to jump her half off her to avoid squashing her. “AHHHHHHHHHHH!” Sofie screamed really loud and I jump off of Bella to make sure she’s okay. As soon as he heard it my dad, John came running out of the house to see what happened. As soon as he saw Sofie he said “Sofie are you okay?” “yeah that was scary!” said Sofie fine now. “Okay now you, what happened?” asks my dad a little mad as he turns to me. “Okay I was helping Sofie practice for the mile run, and I was riding Bella you know getting Sofie to go faster. Anyway Sofie stopped short and I got so startled I jumped I’m so sorry.” “Slow down, Sofie come on into the house let me make you a cup of tea” said my dad. Then Sofie and I say this at the same time, “I am so sorry” I smile and she smiles back.
Che Forest Behind My House
Chapter 2
“Okay here we go one cup of camomile tea!”says my dad excitingly. “Thank you so much John” says Sofie warmly. “No problem now go have some fun out in the back yard, but promise me no more practicing for today.” “Thank you so much dad. Come on Sofie I put on Bella’s saddle, the one where it allows for two people to ride!” I say excited. “Okay but no jumping!” said Sofie. “Wait what happened to Bella after I fell!” said Sofie. “I left her in the field, she should be fine but she will be a little timid so we have to be careful.” Sofie sighs with relief. She knows how much I love my horse. As we are walking out I turn to my dad and say something that could be the biggest mistake of my life, “oh dad I am sleeping over at Sofie’s tonight so don’t expect me to be home.” “Okay honey have fun!” “Thanks dad!” “What was that all about?” asks Sofie once I have caught up to her. “I was just telling my dad not to be worried if he can’t find me tonight because I am sleeping over at your place.” I tell her. “What? I told my mom the same exact thing, I told her I was sleeping over at your place!” “We’ll deal with this later!” I say waving the whole thing away. “Look there’s Bella, we have to be slow and steady. We have to show her we’re nice peop” “Hi Bella nice horse, nice horse” Sofie said calmly slowly and trying to be careful she lifted up her hand attempting to put it on Bella’s snout. But Bella was clearly getting scared. I couldn’t stop myself I couldn’t cover my mouth, it was all my fault I yelled out “Sofie wait!” it was too late to take it back. Bella galloped away startled by my scream, she jumped over the fence and into the forest. “Okay come on we have to go get Bella back!” said Sofie. “Haven’t I already told you the story.” the story flashes in my mind.
I was in bed sleeping only four years old when suddenly I awoke to footsteps in the hallway. I walked outside to see what was going on my mom and dad were standing there hugging and crying. My dad said “Lauren you don’t have to go. What if something happens to you, what about Lila” my mom said trying to holding back tears. “You know I have to save my brother, I have no other choice. You know he would of done the same for me.” I thought this was odd I only had one uncle, uncle Matt my dad’s brother. Just then my mom noticed me. Managing to get out a new batch of tears she said. “I love you so much Lila don’t forget me and whatever happens I will always be thinking of you.” then after that very cliche sentence she takes off a necklace and puts it around my neck. I knew that this necklace was given to her by her mom and it connects them together. Then from the porch my dad and I watch her run off into the forest behind our house. Six months later my dad found my mom’s dead body on the edge of the forest. No one knew who or what killed her.
“Yes I know the story,” said Sofie awakening me from my thoughts. “I know your mother died from the forest but we need to get Bella back, and we are not going to get lost and die” said Sofie clearly desperate. “Okay!” I say trying to sound offended. We head out into the forest. Suddenly not so far away I heard Bella trying to get loose from a branch her reins got attached to. The forest spreads endlessly around me, flowers are in bloom and trees are everywhere. You can tell it’s filled with wildlife, hiding from the new appearance they had not come in contact with for a long time. Still following the sound of Bella, Sofie and I forget all about my mother. We find her struggling to get free from a branches grasp and untie her holding tight to her riens. I stroked her nose to calm her down. “Okay Sofie we got the horse now which way do we go,” I said. Sofie was walking around looking at flowers. “Sofie you were supposed to stand in a spot to mark where we would go back!” “wait this isn’t good, ummm let’s try going that way.” says Sofie as she points to a direction I know we didn’t come from. “Why don’t we try that way!” I say pointing to the opposite direction. “Okay let’s go” says Sofie.
As we walked on the trees seemed to get bigger and taller but it was still the same simply beautiful forest, after awhile I realized we were not going in the right direction I started to get scared. What would we do? “Sofie were not going in the right direction let’s turn around and got back to where Bella was stuck.” I know as soon as I say it it’s impossible. I didn’t know what it looked like where we stopped to get Bella, I didn’t know If we turned without noticing it. Sofie and I had to admit to one thing. We were lost and it really sucked.
Terrified
Chapter 3
“What are we going to do? Where are we going to spend the night? How are we going to find food? Lila, I am going to fail school.” said Sofie. “I don’t know Sofie, but I’m really scared.” We were walking through the forest, birds are chirping, animals are looking at the new arrivals. I am scared out of my mind wondering what was going to happen to us. Sofie’s face was white with worry, I really care about her but I think failing school is the least of our worries. For all I know someone or something could be watching us right now planning our fate. I am playing with my mom’s necklace, the last thing she gave me. I know it sounds cliche but life is at stake, and I loved my mother but I don’t want what happened to her happen to me.
I was four years old, I was running to the forest to see if my mom came back so we could be a full family again. All of the sudden I stopped cold, because right there on the edge of the forest was my mother’s dead body. There was not a single mark and not a single scar I didn’t know how, but yet right in front of me there she was dead. My dad was running behind me as soon as he saw me headed for the forest. When he got there he looked down. The sad emotion he had been holding in, trying to ignore the absence of my mom flooded out with the new sadness added on. He fell to his knees crying, right now he couldn’t comfort me and he couldn’t comfort himself. I was in shock my eyes froze and didn’t move from my mother’s body, then an empty longing filled me. Creating a hole in my heart, a hole that hasn’t been filled since.
“Lila are you okay?” asks Sofie. “Yeah I’m fine” I say, shaking the image out of my head. I regret not figuring out the sleepover with Sofie before we went to go get Bella and calm her down when she was still in the field. “Come on, can we get on Bella this way we’ll travel faster.” asks Sofie. “Okay but let me get on her first to make sure she’s calm enough” I say. I put one foot in a stirrup and I use all my strength to pull myself up. I kick Bella lightly in the stomach and she moves, soon were cantering I make her jump over a fallen tree and I circle back around. “I’m pretty sure she’s good.” says Sofie. I laugh at the way Sofie said that and help her get on Bella. I hop off Bella and give Sofie a leg up. “How do you do that alone every day?” Sofie says after being hoisted onto Bella. “Because it appears that I have been doing this my whole life, when you have just been doing this for two years when you got over your fear of horses.” I say teasingly. Sofie and I used to do this thing when we would say what we would do if we were to create one person out of the two of us, and we would never use Sofie’s fear of horses. I jumped up onto Bella in front of Sofie and got Bella to start moving through the forest, soon I stopped and looked down right in front of us was a big bag and I instantly remembered it as my mothers.
I just noticed that bag, a huge bag that could fit me in it, on my mother’s shoulders. I hadn’t noticed it before and as a watched my mom flee into the night, heading straight towards the forest I watched the huge bag disappear. I quickly jumped down from Bella and started walking towards the bag. Sofie who knew me so well said “is that your mother’s bag?” “yeah” I say sadly. I open the bag. In the bag there was a note that said…
Dear friend,
Who ever finds this bag will be placed with the trust of completing my mission to save my brother. In this bag there is everything you need, a rope for tying a few things and an ax for cutting firewood and building a shelter if you spend the night in the forest, a knife for hunting, a spear to fight off every strange creature that comes your way (there will be some) including the one that will kill me, and there is also a piece of silk cloth that once you find my brother you must wrap it around his head, and he will be free of the dark curse, there is also a picture of my brother so you know who to look for. After you find him in a tower locked up by chains and you save him, the compass in there will lead you back to my home. There you will meet my daughter Lila and My Husband John Malagarie you must show them this letter. The monster has already caught me and is straining my life so no one will know how I die. I barely have the strength to write this letter, but I know I have to save my brother Andrew Salve. Your friend thanks you dearly.
Sincerely,
Lauren Salve Malagarie
Another Part of Me
Chapter 4
I cry, I can’t stop it I cry and cry and cry. Sofie cries with me. I cry as if my mom had just been killed before my own eyes and I could not stop it. I think back to school, if only I had known when I left I would of got to say goodbye. Two hours ago I walked out of school and all I was thinking about was Sofie’s cookies. I manage to hold in my tears and get the words out. “Can we” suppressing half a smile to take some weight off my shoulders Sofie says,”lets go save your uncle” I half smile back for my own sake. I sniff up the last of my tears trying to be as brave as possible. With hope, holding my mom’s necklace in one hand I think that there might be one more piece of my mom left, and one more piece is bringing me closer to my mom who I will never get to be close to again. “Let’s get started, here is the map were here” I say pointing to a star that says you’re here on the map in my mom’s bag. “The monster lives here” says Sofie pointing to a cave that says my death is here. I tremble at the thought of my mom knowing she’s going to die so young and not being able to say goodbye to her family. My face goes pale and Sofie must have noticed and known what I’m thinking because putting an arm around my shoulder she says. “Don’t worry we are going to be fine, I promise. If you are not up to it I understand, but I know you and you are going to go and save your mom’s brother. One of the only things besides that necklace you have left of her.” “You’re right, okay let’s see. We have to act fast but we can’t cross paths with what killed my mom. So we’re going to have to climb down that waterfall.” I say. “No no no. we are not going to go down a waterfall.” “I get that you’re scared of hights, but would you rather face your fears or die. I mean if you think of it it’s more or less a win win situation, that offers an ever so slight possibility of dying.” “Are you trying to make me slap you right now because if you are you’re getting very close” Sofie says.
I look at her I know she’s joking and she will end up going down the waterfall but I can sense the nervousness coming off I just hope that Bella can’t sense it, but of course she does. “Quick!” I yell. Bella jumps up into the air trying to end all of this so she can go home and eat some food. I am not at all startled because I was expecting this to happen. But as always some one else was not expecting this to happen and all of the sudden nervousness that Sofie had before was now gone. I quickly calm Bella down. I am so relieved that I barely notice I had dropped my mom’s bag. Sofie quickly picks it up and I know what’s coming next. “Okay so if we did go down the waterfall how would Bella get down” she says more of mockingly that a question. I look at Bella all saddled up and an idea hits me. I hate to take Sofie’s moment of pride away but I have to if we’re going to save my uncle. “I could make something like an upside down saddle.” “and how on earth do you expect to do that?” I can tell from her face she is actually curious, she just wants to stay mad at me.
“I can sew Bella’s saddle and her riding blanket under her saddle together, with this saddle string I always keep in her saddle just in case of an emergency. Then we can tie the rope in my mom’s bag attach it to the girth and we can try our best to get her down that very steep hill, but we will support her with the upside down saddle.” I have to speak truly, I am very proud of myself for coming up with that. “Okay I guess we have to do it” says Sofie. “Really?” “Really.” I throw myself at her and say. “Thankyou thankyou thankyou you’re the best!!!” I am so happy that Sofie said okay, now we can go get my uncle and we won’t have to do it without Bella. “Okay I will go attach the rope to the trees, while you do the saddle thing” there is no mistaking the big smile on Sofie’s face. “Yes ma’am” I say back to her commands.
Sofie jumps up into the tree and almost instantly Sofie in a half whisper tells me to come quick. I jump up and I instantly see what all the fuss is about. “Aren’t they so cute!” Sofie squills. “They look new born” I say tilting my head to the side looking at the three little birds in the nest covered in some type of goo from their eggs. All of the sudden a beautiful bluejay came towards the nest and started feeding her young. Her wings sparkled in the sunlight, and her head looked soft and smooth. She cocked her head to the side looking at us questioning our appearance. She took a step toward Sofie being cautious of me because I didn’t have that huge awe so cute grin. I jumped down and began sewing again. The tough leather made my hand hurt but I had to make sure this was steady. Then I attached the girth to make sure Bella didn’t fall out. The sun was beaming down extra hot for a summer day. I felt uneasiness in my stomach from being hungry and I have to admit a little home sick. Sofie had finished playing with the bluejay and was tieing a really tight difficult knot on the tree branch because the rope was really long. Once I was done Sofie lead Bella over to me. Nervousness radiating off of her once again. “It’s going to be okay, I promise you” I say trying to be as calm as possible, but I am even nervous for my horse not me. “Thanks” is all Sofie can muster. I know she is trying to be calm but the fear on her pale face says otherwise. Sofie can tell I am nervous but she can’t comfort me right now.
I get Bella in her sort of upside down saddle. Sofie and I both know that we can’t lower her down the waterfall by ourselves but there is kind of a steep hill ish thing that is too steep for Sofie and I to get down ourselves but Bella can do it if we keep a good hold on her strong enough that she will only fall about once or twice because of all the slippery rocks from the waterfall spray. I know it sounds mean to let my horse fall but it’s the best we can do unless Bella suddenly learned how to swim and is fine falling twenty five feet into what looks like and I can imagine feels like freezing cold water. So Sofie and I are going to try our best to get Bella to the ground. Sofie and I quickly lead Bella to the edge of the hill ish cliff holding the rope tight, I have already attached the girth to the rope and almost instantly she falls. “Bella!!!” Sofie and I shout at the same time. “I have to help her there is no way she can get down on her own” I say but I look down I see Bella standing up on a rock ten feet down. “Bella!” she is scratched and bleeding but still continues to stand up. Sofie and I put all of our strength to help her. Once she hits the ground she is out of her upside down saddle and sprinting for the forest but luckily she gets caught on one of the branches in a place we can see her.
Taking Risks
Chapter 5
“Sofie!” I scream loud enough I hope she hears me. My heart is beating so fast, I and I feel the sweat on my palms. What if the rope is too long and she hits the bottom? I can feel the guilt and fear making its way into through me like a fish making it’s way through the water to find food, but that’s not a to bad casanirio. I look down and there it is swinging three feet above the water and land. “That wasn’t so bad!” Sofie yells from the bottom. I feel a pang of relief, I am so happy she’s alright. Sofie grabs a piece of the rope and jumps onto land taking the upside down saddle with her, she unties it from the rope and moves it from the water’s edge. Sofie has a smile on her face and you can tell she is glad she got it over with, but I also know that Sofie is less afraid of heights now. Once she lets go of the rope attached to the tree it’s my turn.
I jump on holding as tight as I can to not fall. I feel the thrill of enjoying something terrifying. I laugh at the fear of this type of freedom. Out of the corner of my eye I see Sofie smiling. I love making people smile, I fill up with happiness I have not felt since before Sofie had fallen off Bella. Just then a bug flies into my mouth and down my throat. Uhhh, I gasp for air. My hand falls off the rope getting the bug out of my throat, but my feet are not enough to hold me on. I am just about ten feet above water, my hands reach out trying to grab the rope I feel it brush against my hand. I am scared, even though I know it’s just water I’m scared of splashing down and not being able to swim my way up in this wild water. Right before I plunge in with one hand I grab the rope slowing down enough to not go to deep, but holding on long enough to dislocate a shoulder. The water is so cold it’s like a bunch of knives have been stabbed into my back, I try to swim to the surface but with one arm in pain and rough water it is very hard. I feel can the current pushing me to shore, well at least what I think is shore. Then I feel something grab my hand, I try to jerk my hand back but I can’t everything seems black.
I open my eyes and see Sofie pressing on my chest. I cough up brown water from the waterfall. “Lila you’re okay, oh my god I was so scared is your arm okay I think you dislocated it. Anyway the important thing is that you’re okay.” I look up and feel the pain in my arm, my clothes are soaking wet. “I’m fine besides my arm. Is Bella okay?” I ask. “Yeah, but I’m pretty sure she is still recovering from her little ride.” I laugh and start to sit up. “Ow!” I grab my arm where I hurt my shoulder. “Oh here we go, I have some of my mom’s clothes that I had to fix up at school today during art for my “project”” said Sofie. In art class we are allowed to chose our own art project, so Sofie chose sewing up and fixing people’s clothes so they would last longer. I chose decorating people’s lockers. Sofie takes out a blue shirt and white jeans, her mom looks to be about my size and is my height. “Okay here we go, please be careful and try not to rip these clothes. There is a reason my mom asked me to fix them for her, I don’t want to have to fix them again.” “it’s okay Sofie, I promise I will try my best not to rip them. Besides the fact that they are probably going to get dirty, because we’re in a forest with tones of dirt and some freaky looking plants” I say trying to make sure Sofie is okay if her mom’s clothes gets dirty. “It’s okay we’ll figure it out once we’re done, but only if you promise to try your best to keep them clean.” says Sofie figuring that even though I will try my hardest to keep them clean I do have a record for not keeping my cloths perfect. “Done deal! Thank you so much Sofie.” I say hoping to get out of my sopping wet cloths almost immediately. I don’t know what I would do without Sofie. I am so happy and miserable at the same time, I get up and my arm kills me. Sofie can tell my frustration. “I can’t believe this is happening to me were so close and now it’s going to be harder than it already should be. If I knew it was this hard and I was going to dislocate my shoulder I might have reconsidered.” I say hoping to get up as fast as possible to dull the pain. “Don’t say that! We all know that even if you knew all of those things you would still try to save your uncle no matter what I said to try and convince you it was a bad idea” Sofie says clearly proud of herself for knowing the truth. “This just proves how well you know me” I say a happy again with a smile on my face. Sofie looks like she just got a puppy for her birthday, she is so happy to put me out of my misery.
“Here we go, now go and put these on while I find something to help you with your arm problem” says Sofie helping me up and handing me her mom’s clothes. “Thank you so much! I can’t wait to get on the road.” I can’t wait to get out of these wet clothes if you want to know the truth. I walk happily towards some trees to hide behind when Sofie calls out “hey wait use this as a towel.” and she throws me a fraying towel that she hasn’t fixed yet and it falls to the ground. “Thanks a lot” I call back. “Next time I’ll remember to remind you that I just dislocated my right shoulder.” if you don’t know this yet I am a righty and I can’t do anything with my left hand meaning I can’t catch or write anything with my left hand. “Sorry?” says Sofie as I bend down to pick the towel up. I head out behind the trees and change as fast a possible. I look up and there are scratch marks four feet above where my arms can reach up high, and these aren’t every day scratch marks these claws seem to belong to a big tall animal that right now doesn’t sound so forgiving.
Clever Beast
Chapter 6
“Sofie! Come here I think you should see something” I am changed and holding up my right arm. I am panicked and when I’m panicked that shows in my voice. “What is is? And whatever it is I’m sure it’s not that bad” Sofie looks at what I’m looking at. “That might have been an understatement.” “ya think?” I say to Sofie’s pale face and worried voice. “Hey we have that dagger from your mom’s letter to help us fight off strange creatures that should work. We’ll just keep it in Bella’s saddle!” says Sofie with an not so sure smile on her face. “I guess you’re right” I say. “Of course I’m right, now come on while you were taking forever to changed I made something for you.” Sofie leads me towards where I was lying down sopping wet.
She picks something up from the ground and says. “Ta da! It’s an arm sling so you arm won’t be killing you and you won’t be complaining the whole time!” Sofie is smiling out of happiness and I am smiling like the sun was shining out of my face. “Okay but can you help me get it on” I ask. “Sure no problem” says Sofie happy to help. “Ow!” I yell from my shoulder being bent. “Sorry” says Sofie who finally got my arm in the sling. “Thank you now I actually won’t complain” I smile and Sofie laughs. She sticks her tongue out at me and I stick mine out back. “Oh by the way I am so sorry the sling is made out of my dad’s underwear, but I swear it’s clean and that’s all I had” Sofie says this fast, hoping I won’t catch all of it. “Sofie I am mad at you now but, I do need it and if it wasn’t for you I would be in a lot of pain so I’m torn” I say in a weird way. “Let’s go get Bella before she somehow manages to get loose” I say completely forgetting that Bella is with us. “Oh my god I forgot come on let’s go.” I find Bella quick and untie her. She has taken the time to calm down. “Good girl Bella come on now I’m gonna hop on you” I say soothingly. Since I can’t use both of my hands to help myself up I take her to a fallen tree and get up from there. Sofie follows and from the tree she jumps on. “Finally we use something we can step on first to get on your horse” says Sofie happy about the decision I made. “Your welcome” I say back smiling myself silly. I click my tongue and get Bella in a trot, she moves gracefully moving carefully through the forest. I can feel it won’t be long before we get to the village.
“Sofie I feel like somethings watching us” I say not really sure for some reason and picking my words carefully. “Yeah I’m getting that sensation that something is watching us and it’s not just me eating too many nachos” says Sofie trying to push away the problem. I laugh but soon my laughter is interrupted with a dark shape moving towards us. It is the size of Bella and has a long sleek body with what looks like rock hard skin with sleek fur on it. The animal has a long black tale that is curved up. It’s head is twice the size of Bella’s and looks really cat like I can tell it’s a female but surprisingly not old enough to have cubs based on how big she is. She growls opening her mouth to reveal two huge canines on top and the rest of her teeth are sharp for gripping prey, her mouth is huge and opens as wide as a hippo. Her legs are long and strong, they look fast for chasing prey and I see Sofie is looking away at a tree covered with flowers. “Uh Sofie I think I know what was watching us” I have a sense of nervousness in my voice. Sofie looks and instantly her face goes pale. One look at her and I know what she wants to say but is to scared to say it. “Hold on tight” I say so frightened I could barely get the words out. I push Bella’s stomach with the heal of my sneakers hard and she goes flying. Almost instantly the animal flies after us faster than a cheetah when the cheetah fully accelerates. “Sofie we don’t have much time, quick hand me the rest of your dad’s underwear and the rest of the rope, then grab onto the reins” I say urgently. “Okay” Sofie says in a quick response. She hands me the underwear and the rest of the rope. “Thanks” I say because we don’t have much time, the animal is almost at our tale. I tell Sofie to tie the rope and the underwear together and then tie the underwear to the dagger from my mom just incase we miss the strange and deadly animal and have to throw it again. The animal is at our side getting ready to launch and Sofie passes me the rope just in case she misses Sofie throws the dagger, the rope slips from my hand but the dagger cuts into the animals rock hard skin and I pull back hard on the reins to stop Bella. Bella stops short and sends Sofie and I flying onto our backs, but this time instead of running off Bella just puts her head down and starts eating grass. “Ow my back hurts” says Sofie rubbing her back. “Well it’s not just my back it’s also my dislocated shoulder” I say sitting up and rubbing my shoulder in pain. “We should probably get up and grab your mom’s dagger then get back on Bella” says Sofie. “That’s probably a good idea” I say pulling myself up and walking over to Bella while Sofie gets the dagger out of the dead beast that tried to kill us.
I pull Bella’s head up with the reins and jump on. “Glad you know how to get on Bella with one arm, and I can’t get on her with two” says Sofie lightening the mood. “Here” I say, “jump on this tree trunk then get on” I say pointing to a tree trunk. “Okay thanks” says Sofie. I lead Bella over to the fallen tree trunk and Sofie hops on. “Okay here is the map in my pocket let’s take a look at where we are” I say full of confidence. I am relieved the dramatic parts over so we can go save my uncle. “Okay so if the waterfalls here on the map we’re here” I say pointing to a place on the map. “That means the village is here, so it’s not really far!” says Sofie happy that our little horsie ride is almost over. “ I am so nervous, “what if my mom was mistaken and it was a different person?” I question. “I’m sure your mom was correct or else she wouldn’t have given her life to try to save him” says Sofie giving me some confidence. “I guess you’re right” I say sadly. Picture my life: you’re twelve years old and you’re miles from home probably lost in a forest that killed your mom. Oh and you don’t have an adult in fact you are only here with your best friend, and you almost just got killed by the scariest animal you have ever seen and you don’t know if there’s more of them. We are riding when all of the sudden I see a town that looks like it came out of a fairytale with people walking around and buying dinner. It’s that beautiful time of a summer day when the sun is just beginning to set and an evening breeze is flying through the streets on a hot day. Sofie and I say at the same time, “we’re here finally!” “come on we have to walk Bella down and find a place for her while we go get my uncle” I say hoping this plan is enough for Sofie. “Okay you seem to have thought it through, but first we need some background information on your uncle” Sofie says testing me. “Okay I guess that’s fair” I say because it’s the only thing I can think of.
Sofie, Bella, and I walk down to the town and look around. I spot the tower that my mom said her brother was in and I point it out to Sofie. “Here let’s go ask this lady about the tower” says Sofie pointing out someone. We walk up to her and I say “hi my name is Lila Malagarie what is your name” my voice is friendly just like how she seems friendly. “Hi my name is Sarah Barton what can I help you with children?” says the lady. “I am thirteen and we need to know about that tower over there” says Sofie pointing to the tower. Sofie hates being called a child but twelve isn’t when you’re a teenager so she lied and said we were thirteen. “Yes the tower what would you like to know about it?” she asks kindly. Now it is my turn to speak, “we want to know everything especially the story about anyone who is or used to live in there. That is what we’re mostly interested in.” I say hopeful to get the right information. “Ah yes, well there was once this really nice guy, he was once the only child, but ten years later his parents gave birth to his little sister. He loved her so much, even before she was born he always wanted to protect her and he helped his mother a great deal while she was pregnant. When his little sister was born a dark witch came and tried to curse her, but her brother took the curse instead, because he promised to always protect her. The curse was that when you turn forty you became locked in a tower as a man eating monster. Well this man grew up and forgot all about this curse, but his little sister remembered it from the stories and was scared for him. She loved him just as much as he loved her, but couldn’t do anything to help her. When she was twenty she left hoping that if she left the curse would disappear, no one knows where she went but she was suddenly gone. Well time went by and it was the brothers fortieth birthday and as I said he had forgotten all about the curse but all of the sudden out of the ground the tower arose and he was somehow dragged to the middle of the square. His shape changed his eyes gleamed red and fur jut out of his body, it was the most terrifying thing you have ever seen. He was pulled to the tower and a roar interrupted all over town. When the roar interrupted all over everyone was scared he would come out and kill them. But he hasn’t been heard of since and of course he was never to be seen from or heard from again as the curse says. Well now you know the story good bye now” said Sarah Barton cheerily. “Well let’s go and save the most terrifying thing anyone has ever seen” I say scared out of my mind now. We go back to Bella and grab the piece of silk cloth from my mom and walk to the tower. “Okay let’s go” says Sofie keeping up the good spirit as we walk towards the tower.
The Monster of The Family
Chapter 7
“It’s so dark in there Lila I’m scared and I don’t want to go in there” Sofie said fear in her voice, in the expression on her face, and in the air making breaths rigid. “I don’t like it either Sofie but were so close to saving him, and if there is one place a cursed person would go it is definitely here. Look we will just think about it as night time and we are walking up jaggedy stairs at home” I say this for both mine and Sofie’s sake. “We can try but this is definitely not a home” Sofie says in a bit of protest. “Well it’s been home for my uncle for the last couple of years” I say knowing this will definitely get Sofie to come with me and help a lot. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it that way” Sofie says sorry. “It’s okay I know you didn’t but now we should try and save my uncle” I say heading into the pitch black darkness of the tower. Sofie follows timid like me, but with a sense of braveness which gives me great comfort. “I don’t like the feeling here” I say scared to the bone. Sofie is to creeped out to give me a answer to gives both of us more discomfort. The stairs a rigid and crumbling, they are steep and we have to hold the wall to keep from falling. The stairs go around in circles making it harder than it should be. I step up on another stair then another and all of the sudden one crumbles, “Sofie!” I cry out and jump back startled at rock making its way downstairs. “It’s okay I think, I mean we kinda have to expect crumbling stairs” says Sofie knowing exactly what to say to make me feel better. I keep walking up and try to avoid crumbling stairs. Finally we reach a place where the stairs end and there is a wood door. “Lets pull on the count of three” says Sofie pointing at the wooden door. “One” says Sofie, I say “two”, then Sofie says “three”.
We pull with all of our strength and the door flies open, something big and harry with huge canines lunges at us missing us by two inches. Sofie and I are too terrified to scream. It goes by in a blur to fast for us to get a good look at it. Then it stops and gives us the answer why our heads are still attached to our necks, the monster looking thing was being held by chains. It had small eyes, and it had a red evil glow eyes and a tail with giant sharp needles all along it, it had four long legs with daggers for claws, and its body is twice the size of Bella’s. The weirdest thing about this monster was its head, its head was the size of Bella’s in the shape of a human’s covered with fur it had a snout like a lion’s but triple the size, and the monster had huge sharp teeth. This was indeed the most terrifying thing I have ever seen and not just in real life, this includes horror movies. In the corner of the dark room was bones, human bones as white as snow with not a bit of flesh of blood left, licked clean so many times. Sofie must have seen then two because her face was pale and she couldn’t take her eyes off them. “Ghrrr” the animal gave a low growl. The walls were grey, made out of stone, and crumbling on top of the monster of my uncle there were rafters made out of wood and they seemed to be the only steady things that can hold some weight. If I touched something it would crumble into pieces, I know we have to get my uncle out of here but I don’t know how. Sofie was scared half to death and I had a mix of emotions. I was scared by my uncle. Would he eat us if we came any closer? I felt bad for him being stuck here all of these years, this monster in this horrible place. I felt happy that I could finish my mom’s mission bringing me closer to her, and I felt sad because I don’t know how Sofie and I are going to complete the mission. I know we are; I just don’t know how. Sofie almost instantly answers my question, “I think I have an idea. I could distract while you climb the rafters or it can be other way around but the person on the rafters could cross the room, jump up behind him and wrap the piece of silk fabric around his head!” this plan sounded like it would work and it was the only one we got so “lets do it” “really?” “yeah I mean it’s totally insane but it is the only plan we got, so lets do it!” “great!” says Sofie. “On one condition I climb the rafters I really want to do it for my mom” Sofie smiles at me and says “deal! I will distract” I smile back. I reach my arms up to the rafters “can you give me a boost?” I ask. “Sure” Sofie says back. “Lila be careful, I want us to both go home in one piece” “I will be” I say as Sofie gives me a boost up. “It’s go time” I say and start across the rafters.
The rafters are squeaky and can barely hold my weight, they have splinters and I have to be more than careful. In the background Sofie is shouting out crazy thing and is getting close enough that in a matter of seconds she could be shredded into pieces. Finally I am right behind him, the hair on my arms stand up waves of fears sweep over me like being caught in a huge wave in the ocean, your head is under water so you can’t breath and your being tossed and turned over, you don’t know if you’re going to be able to make your way back up to a place where you can breath freely and fear just takes over your body. I jump down and as fast as I can tie the piece of fabric around his head. He turns and open mouth I back away to the wall as soon as I hit the wall I have nowhere else to go, he opens his mouth wide and roars jaws less than and inch away from my face saliva splutters all over me and I don’t move or do anything I just scream. Jaws open to close on my throat and all of the sudden he backs away and starts to shrink, the fur on his body disappears and there is a light, when the light fades all we see is a man on the floor on all fours. Slowly he stands up a bit wobbly and I run to his side to help. I don’t know why he didn’t changed the second I got the cloth around his head, it must have been a late reaction. He looks exactly like my mom but instead in a man’s body. He has the same chocolate brown hair and beautiful blue eyes, he has all of her features. I fill up with a sadness and longing for her I crumple to the floor like the crumbling walls and start to cry, as I cry the tower starts to disintegrate lowering us gently to the ground.
Sofie just stands there in awe, I stay crumpled and crying, my uncle is also in awe. “The curse is broken” he says. As we hit the ground the stone we were on disappears leaving us on the soft grass that wasn’t here before. I stay there crumpled, “here let me help you” says my uncle. My uncle extends a hand. “My name is Andrew Salve. You saved me from the curse, but why?” “because my mom never made it” I say my face wet with tears. “Who is your mother?” asks Andrew. “My mom is your sister Lauren Malagarie, but her maiden name was Lauren Salve” I say full of confidence. “And I am her best friend who also helped save you, just so you know” says Sofie who clearly didn’t want to be left out. “Oh my name is Lila Malagarie” I say so he knows my name. “And this is Sofie” I say pointing my hand at Sofie. “Ah I never knew I had a niece, you must come and meet my family and children!” says Andrew. “My children much be grown up by now, I missed their childhood. That is something I will never get back” he says sadly. “Oh is Lauren here?” Andrew asks looking around for his little sister. “No she died a couple of years ago” I say on the verge of tears again. I can’t tell Andrew that she died trying to save him, it might tear him apart. A tear falls from Andrews eye. “Well we should get going it’s almost dark and you should spend the night. It’s not safe to be out in the forest at night” he says wiping the tears away. “That would be great just let me go grab Bella” I say totally forgetting that she came with us. “Who’s Bella?” Andrew asks. “My horse, I will be right back” I say. I run and grab Bella, jump on her and ride her back. “Wow what a beautiful animal, wow” says Andrew like he’s never seen a horse before. Just then he comes back to life. “Well come on you should meet my family” Sofie and I follow as Andrew leads us to a house near the middle of town.
“Here we are this is my home” Andrew opens the door and instantly a women goes flying at him into a hug. “Andrew the curse it’s gone. Oh I am so happy to see you!” says the women who you can guess is his wife. “Girls this is my wife Katy” Andrew could not look more happy to see her. “Oh my is this my child?” he asks h Katy. A boy about fourteen is tending to the fire. “We should get right to sleep” I say not wanting to intrude. “Yeah we have to be up bright and early” says Sofie. “Of course” says Katy, “you probably have to get up bright and early to get home” says Andrew. “Yeah, we do” I say back. “What about dinner first you two must be starving” Katy says generously. Before I can say anything Sofie says, “I could eat” I nod to be polite. Katy gives us some bread and meat and soon we’re off to bed.
When I wake up the sun is just starting to rise. “Sofie wake up we have to get home” I whisper. “I’m awake, I’m good” says Sofie. “Great” I say back. “Are you guys leaving already?” Andrew is awake and ready to start a day’s work. “Yeah. you start work this early?” I ask. “Yeah, everyday” he says back. “Okay Bella’s awake” says Sofie. “Did we wake you up?” says Sofie looking at Andrew. “I’m so sorry” says Sofie. “No no I was getting ready for work” Andrew answers. Sofie and I walk outside and hop on Bella. “I have the compass to lead us home” says Sofie. “Great let’s go” I say. “Bye Andrew I promise I will visit” I say. “You better” says Andrew with a smile. “Goodbye Lila, it was great to meet you and thank you and Sofie for saving me so I can have a normal life and live with my family after all of these years.” “no problem” says Sofie. “We were happy to” “Bye” I say. “Goodbye” says Andrew as Sofie, Bella, and I run off towards the forest to go home. “What are we going to tell our parents?” asks Sofie. “I don’t know, but whatever it is it will have to be good” I say back. “You got that right” says Sofie ready to be home once and for all. We both are ready to be home, and ready to face the punishment for what we did together.
The
End