A Walk in the Woods: LOST! (Part Two)

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A bit of a twist on an old, familiar fairy tale: A boy and his sister go for a fun day in the woods with their father when everything starts to go wrong. They lose track of their father and not only that...

Read Part One: A Nice Day for a Picnic in the Woods

It wasn’t long before both of the children were exhausted, tired, hungry and feeling very emotional. They decided to dig into the bag that their step mother had packed for them. In spite of their worries, they were really happy to have food to eat.
Henry reached into the bag first. He brought out a loaf of bread, wrapped in an old cloth. Then he reached in for the next thing. He pulled out another cloth wrapped item and set it on the blanket in front of them.
A cry of dismay caught his attention as he dug in the bag for more. Grace sat there, holding the cloth in one hand, and a large rock in the other. He frantically dug down in the bag only to discover that the entire bag was full of rocks.
“No wonder it was so heavy!” he said, spilling the contents out onto the blanket. Henry looked at his sister to see tears welling up in her eyes. “Don’t worry, Grace. We’ll figure this out. It’s going to be okay…” He closed his eyes and said a silent prayer that he was right. That it would be okay, because right now, he wasn’t too sure about anything anymore.

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“How are we going to get home? What if our father is hurt and you just left him there? What are we going to eat? It’s getting dark, Henry, what are we going to do? What if bears come and eat us?” Her voice was growing shrill, the questions coming faster and faster. Henry could tell that Grace was really ramping up for a big anxiety attack if she didn’t calm down.

He started to get angry. Angry at his father for allowing them to get lost. Angry at his step mother who obviously hated them and even at Grace, for expecting him to be the answer to all of her problems. He felt his blood start to race as Grace continued on, peppering him with her frantic questions.

“How are we going to keep warm? I don’t know how to build a fire without a flint, do you? How are we going to get home?”

“I DON’T KNOW!” Henry shouted. “I’m just a KID LIKE YOU!” Grace visibly flinched and shrank from him and Henry felt his anger rush out of him like a raging river. He sank down on a log and hung his head. “I’m sorry, Grace. I’m just scared too. I don’t have all the answers, but we’ll be okay. I promise. We’re smart and there has to be a way. We’ll figure it out.”

“Henry?” Grace’s voice was so quiet, he almost missed it.

“Yes Grace?”

“What if…” Her big, frightened eyes met his, “What if papa left us here on purpose?”

Henry just looked at her, not sure what to say. He hadn’t even considered the possibility. Surely their father wouldn’t have abandoned them, no matter how much their stepmother hated them. Surely a father couldn’t do that to his children. He tried to reassure her, “Grace, of course he didn’t do it on purpose.”

“Then where is he?”

“I don’t know,” Henry felt utterly defeated. It was time to find something else to focus on. “Listen, it’s going to be dark soon, and you’re right, we can’t start a fire without a flint, but lucky for you, I happen to have one right here in my pocket!” He reached into the deep pockets in his pants that were always filled with all sorts of things and pulled out a flint.

Grace’s eyes lit up, “Henry! You are my hero!” She jumped to her feet, full of life once more. “I’ll go gather some sticks! And then you can start a fire while I find us something to eat.” She ran up and gave Henry an impulsive hug. “Thank you Henry. I’m sorry I was being such a bother. I’ll help you out, you’ll see!” With that, she turned and ran to the edge of the clearing, gathering up twigs , obviously being careful not to let herself wander out of sight of Henry.

Henry smiled and cleared off a spot to build a fire.

They sat together, eating half of the bread and some nuts and berries that Grace had found. It wasn’t much, but it would do for now. It made them feel better just knowing that they had made it this far and made it work.

The two of them curled up next to each other and stared into the fire, their eyes watching the flames flicker and dance as they wondered what tomorrow would bring. Neither of them spoke for fear of ruining the calm with their worries. It was as if they had agreed to just pretend everything was fine for right now. They were very imaginative children and pretending was much easier than dealing with reality right now.

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The next morning Henry woke before Grace. The fire had burned down to ashes and there was a bit of a chill in the air. He gathered up some more nuts, berries and even found an apple tree just past the edge of the clearing. He was just barely out of sight, but when Grace woke up and couldn’t see him, she immediately panicked.

“HENRY!”

He heard the fear in her voice and stumbled back into the clearing within seconds. “I’m here, Grace! I was just getting…” Even that short period of time had been too much. Grace saw him standing there and burst into tears. He ran over to her and sat down with a thump. “Don’t cry, Grace! Please don’t cry. I got us some food to eat before we…” He realized then that he didn’t have any idea what they were doing next. “Before we start our day.”

Grace dried her eyes and gave him a wavering smile. He handed her an apple and they ate in silence. Grace grabbed the last of the bread and started to tear off a chunk of it when Henry stopped her.

“Wait. I have an idea.” He took the loaf from her and tore off a small piece, “How about we use this as a way to track which path we’ve taken? Then we won’t get lost again! If we find that we’re on the wrong path, we can just follow the breadcrumbs back here and try another path until we find the right one to take us home!”

Grace’s eyes lit up, “Oh Henry, what a fantastic idea!” She hopped to her feet, “We should start now. I don’t want to be stuck in the woods for another night.”

Henry stood and lifted the satchel that he’d carried yesterday. Without all the rocks inside, it was light as a feather. He clenched his teeth just remembering how much he’d struggled with the pack the day before, still a bit amazed that their stepmother hated them that much. He shook off the bad mood for Grace’s sake and they headed for a path. It didn’t matter much which one they took at the moment, since every path seemed to look the same, so they just chose one and started walking.

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“Henry, what do you think father will do when we get home and tell him about… her. About what she did?”

Henry took a while to answer. His silence seemed to fill the air with a heaviness before he finally answered. “I’m not sure. I can’t believe that he would allow her to treat us that way, but she is having a baby. He might not want to yell or be cross with her, even over something as bad as that.”

“What do you think she’ll do when we get back?”

“I supposed she’s going to wait until Papa is away again and then she’ll punish us something awful.” Henry was quickly losing any illusions about their lives. The more he thought about it, the less he wanted to go back. He couldn’t possibly say that to Grace, though. She was 8 years old and innocent. He couldn’t keep her away from her father, but he was starting to dread the thought of going back.

“Henry, what if…” Grace hesitated.

“What if?”

“What if father took us out here on purpose? What if he knew about the rocks and what if he doesn’t want us anymore?”

“Just don’t think about that right now. We have to find our way home and we’ll talk to him when we get back. Everything will be fine.” He looked around them, “This doesn’t seem at all familiar, does it? Let’s go back and try a different path.”

They left the trail of breadcrumbs and walked back to the clearing to try another path.

It was late afternoon and they’d tried four paths already. Nothing ever seemed familiar. Grace was tired and cranky and Henry was feeling more and more frustrated.

“This isn’t working,” he said. “Let’s just pick a path and just keep walking. Surely we’ll find someone eventually and then maybe they can just give us directions on how to get back home from there. We can just get out of this forest and never come back.”

“Okay, Henry.” Grace agreed and they chose a path, still leaving bread crumbs, just in case.

They walked until it was getting dark. It seemed as though they were just getting deeper and deeper in the forest. There wasn’t a hint of a human soul around. Just animals and insects rustling in the trees as the children interrupted their quiet home.

They finally had to admit defeat. They had walked all of this way for nothing and now it was too late to turn back.

Grace looked back and checked that the bread crumbs were still marking the way. “It’s okay, Henry. We can just follow the path back in the morning. We’re not lost, we’re just on an adventure!”

(To Be Continued Next Thursday)

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