Lost in the Woods

Mom

Where are you??

Mom

You should have been home fifteen minutes ago.

Mom

It’s going to be dark out soon.

Mom

I’m going to revoke any going out privileges if you aren’t home in five minutes.

Quinn

Mom, I’m fine

Quinn

I’m just at the library

Quinn

I’m coming home now

Quinn

Just lost track of time

Mom

That’s no excuse.

Mom

Anything can happen after dark.

Mom

Do you want to wind up like your Aunt Jodie??

Mom

Get home this instant.

Quinn

I’m sorry, Mom

Quinn

I’m on my way

Mom

Keep your phone out while you’re walking.

Mom

And don’t talk to anyone.

Quinn

Of course

Quinn

See you soon

I watched as my pile of canned food, blankets, batteries, and water bottles moved along the conveyor belt. The cashier gave me a suspicious look.

“Just donating to the homeless shelter,” I said, trying to sound casual.

~Oh crap, I told Mom I was at the library. If I don’t have a book, she’ll know I lied.~

I spotted a worn-out ~Agatha Christie~ novel among the magazines and tabloids.

“I’ll take this too,” I said, tossing it onto the belt.

After paying, I crammed my backpack with the supplies. I’d have to hide this in a bush before heading home.

Tonight was the night.

I was finally going to do it.

I’d finally be free.

***

When I got back to our tiny cottage in the woods, my mother was waiting for me.

I held the paperback tightly against my chest.

She looked at me, her eyes narrowed, fingers tapping on the oak table.

“This is unacceptable, Quinn.”

“I know, I’m sorry…it won’t happen again,” I mumbled, looking down.

“You’re right it won’t. Because you’re grounded from the library for the next three weeks,” she said, her voice stern.

Normally, I’d argue. My library visits were my only escape. My mother practically kept me prisoner here.

She homeschooled me until I was eighteen, cutting me off from the outside world.

My Aunt Jodie’s disappearance had really messed her up. I was too young to remember it, but my mother hadn’t smiled since.

This time, I kept quiet. Library trips wouldn’t matter soon.

After tonight, I’d be free.

“You missed dinner—it was fifteen minutes ago,” my mother said, her voice icy. “So you’ll go to bed hungry.”

My stomach growled, but I thought about the canned food hidden in the bushes. I could wait a few more hours.

As I started to walk to my room, I heard my mother muttering to herself.

“Foolish girl. Foolish, foolish girl. Foolish, foolish, foolish.”

“I’m not Aunt Jodie,” I said, but she didn’t respond. She just kept rocking back and forth.

***

I pulled my covers up. Any minute now, my mother would—

Right on time. She opened my bedroom door, peeking in to make sure I was asleep.

After a moment, she closed it, locking it with a click.

That was fine—I wasn’t planning on leaving through the door.

I threw off my covers and got out of bed, already fully dressed.

I pulled a hollowed-out book from my shelf, inside was a pair of heavy-duty pliers.

I used them to loosen the bolts on my window and quietly lifted it up. It wasn’t a far drop, but I didn’t want to risk it.

If I was going to run away, I’d need my legs.

I tied my sheets together and tossed them out the window, making sure they were securely looped around my bedpost.

I took one last look at my room, but I didn’t feel any sentiment or nostalgia. It was hard to feel fondly for a prison.

***

I smacked my flashlight against my palm until it flickered on.

Woods surrounded me. My mother thought a remote cottage in the woods was safer, but the isolation only made me feel more vulnerable.

It was dark and disorienting, but I had to start moving.

When my mother discovered I was gone, she’d probably start a manhunt to find me.

I wouldn’t be a prisoner any longer. I’d already lost eighteen years of my life over something that happened to my Aunt, who I barely even knew.

It was time to start living.

I started walking through the woods, hoping to put some distance between me and the cottage before sunrise.

As I got deeper into the woods, I thought of all the books I’d read about young girls wandering into the forest. Straying from the path.

I thought of my mother’s words…

~Anything can happen after dark.~

***

After several hours, I was officially lost. Every tree looked the same. Every step forward felt like a step backward.

For all I knew, I was heading back to the cottage.

My heavy pack was weighing me down and my eyelids felt even heavier.

I’d have to find a place to set up camp and sleep at some point.

As I pushed on, a glimmer of light caught my eye.

I saw long, wavy white-blonde hair disappear behind a tree.

Was this just my imagination, or was someone else actually out here?

As I approached the tree, a female figure darted to another one in the distance.

I thought I heard giggling.

“Hey, who are you?” I called out.

I followed the dancing figure as she moved from one tree to the next, her face hidden.

She was so graceful and mysterious, her long hair guiding me like a light.

I started to run faster. I needed to know who she was.

Suddenly, she turned around and looked directly at me. She was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. And her eyes…

They were the exact same silver-grey color as mine.

I blinked, and in an instant, she was gone. Maybe I really was seeing things.

I found myself in a perfect little clearing. I began to set up camp, spreading blankets on the ground and hanging one over a low branch to form a makeshift tent.

I didn’t know if that woman was real or a hallucination from my lack of sleep and my dinner of canned beans, but either way, I needed to sleep.

I drifted off, hoping tomorrow would bring me the freedom I longed for...

***

Ar-rooo-ooo!

I woke up to the sound of distant howling—probably a wolf.

It was still dark; I hadn’t slept long.

My eyes were trying to adjust to the darkness as I heard the rustling of leaves in the distance.

I’d prepared for a lot of things, but I hadn’t prepared for wolves.

I began to hurriedly stuff everything back into my backpack. It seemed like the smartest move was to keep going. I wasn’t sure how far away it was, but I didn’t want to stick around to find out.

AR-ROOO-OOO!

The howl echoed, twice as loud as before. It was definitely getting closer.

I needed something to protect myself. I quickly broke off a branch from the nearest tree, holding it out in front of me like a makeshift sword.

I found myself wishing for the mysterious woman to reappear and guide me to safety, but I was alone.

I started to run, clumsily crashing into branches and underbrush. I had to get out of these woods.

The sound of heavy paws crunching through the leaves started to resonate through the forest.

It was gaining on me.

I tried to run faster, but I tripped over a root and slid into the dirt.

As I pushed myself up onto my knees, I saw a large, snarling wolf standing right in front of me, drool dripping from its sharp teeth.

A nasty scar marred the left side of its face.

I gripped my stick and began to swing it wildly, but the wolf didn’t flinch.

It lunged at me, but I managed to hit its nose with my stick, causing it to yelp.

“Stay away!” I yelled, hoping to frighten it off.

The wolf’s red eyes narrowed as it began to creep closer.

I was trapped.

There was no one to hear my screams.

The wolf lunged at me, knocking me onto my back, its claws digging into my chest.

~Oh, my God, I’m going to die.~

It growled at me, almost as if it was savoring my fear.

Tears started to stream down my face.

I clawed at the dirt, trying to drag myself away, but the wolf was too heavy.

It seemed to be grinning as it opened its mouth wide and—

CRUNCH.

I screamed as a wave of pain unlike anything I’d ever felt before surged through my body.

The wolf had sunk its massive teeth into my leg.

It released me and disappeared into the darkness, leaving me to bleed out.

I thought wolves usually finished their prey, but this one didn’t seem to care.

My head started to spin as blood seeped through my jeans.

There was no way I could move. This was where I was going to die.

As my vision started to blur, another wolf emerged from the underbrush.

This one was even larger than the first, with grayish-blond fur and hazel eyes, but it didn’t seem aggressive.

Instead, it nuzzled me as my eyes began to close.