Where our paths cross

Arlo

"For the next few hours we will leave you to find your way alone. Divide yourself into groups of five to six people and quickly discuss who will take the map. You will have approximately three hours to explore and discover the forest and neighboring areas. Good luck and see you in a few hours!" It sounded in a forest in Sweden.                                                                                                                  

A group of English teenagers found themselves in Pålsjö skog, a Swedish forest. They were there for a month-long school excursion to learn about the culture and nature of Sweden. Today they would explore the area themselves for the first time. One of the teenagers that was on the school trip was named Arlo Morgan. Arlo is an average-sized 16-year-old boy with light brown hair, and an old manual camera.                                                   

Arlo was very excited to go out on his own for the first time today. Together with his best friend Sam and a few other classmates, they decided to go into a group together. No one was very excited to keep the map, so they pushed it into the hands of a student who was required to join their group.                                                                                                                                                                              

The boy wanted to protest, but the rest of the group had already left, so he decided to leave it at that. He quickly ran after the rest of his group, and together they set off into these unknown forests, curious to see what else they would encounter on their path in this unknown terrain.  

the boys had not been on the road for even ten minutes when the first claps of thunder sounded in the sky. Arlo looked up at the sky worriedly. "Hopefully it will stay dry for a while so we can find our way back!" 

"Yes, I hope so..." His friend agrees somberly. Before we know, it it is pouring rain and we can no longer see where we are, and who knows how long it will take before they find us here... After all, it is a gigantic forest."

Arlo looked up worriedly. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all... Should we turn back, don't you think?" He looked questioningly at his friends. Sam thought for a moment. "We are very far in the forest. If we turn back now, we will never get back to the group before the storm. I think we should keep going, maybe there is a place close to us where we can take shelter." He said.

Arlo agreed. "Come on, let's walk quickly, maybe we can make it back out of the forest safely!" And they were gone. However, after 10 minutes of walking, they realized that this was not such a good idea. The drizzle had now turned into a heavy downpour, and they heard more and more claps of thunder in the distance. "This will never work out" Arlo thought.

They continued walking, and after about ten minutes they came to an abandoned barn on the edge of a slope. Sam looked curiously over the slope. "Be careful, you'll fall!" Arlo shouted.

 Sam chuckled. "Of course not, I'll keep an eye out." Arlo raised an eyebrow, but decided not to give any more warnings. Despite this, he continued to look at Sam. "What are you looking at?" Sam turned around. "The view here is really beautiful, you can see the rain falling over the entire lower area of ​​the forest!" Arlo thought for a moment, but decided to take a look anyway. He was too curious to leave it like this. What could have gone wrong anyway?...

The answer is: a lot.

Arlo curiously jogged over to where Sam was standing to take in the view. The rain made it difficult for him to see where he was going, and a few meters before he reached Sam, his foot got stuck on a pointed stone. Arlo fell forward, hitting his head on a rock. Sam looked back in surprise and tried to grab Arlo's arm to keep him from falling into the abyss, but it was already too late. In a single fateful second he plummeted down the cliffs. "Arlo!" Sam shouted. He ran to the edge of the cliff and looked down anxiously. "Arlo, are you okay?" No answer. Sam didn't know what to do. He shouted to the rest of the group for help. "Help! Arlo has fallen off the rocks, I can't see him anywhere in this rain! We have to get down before it's too late."

Sam carefully climbed down with the rest of the group, looking for any sign of Arlo. Due to the rain he could barely see where he was standing. After a few minutes he suddenly saw an orange flash, which looked suspiciously like the color of Arlo's coat, before the hail and rain took over his vision. "Guys, I think I saw him! Come help me." They climbed down with difficulty.

Sam had seen it right; Arlo was indeed lying where he had just seen an orange flash. He had his head between two rocks, and it looked like he had a severe concussion. Sam and a few others tried to lift him up. "Call the emergency number and we will try to get him back on the hill," he ordered the rest. 

but alas, they didn't get Arlo back on the mound. Fortunately, emergency services were on their way. Because the forest was too remote to reach by ambulance, they decided to take a helicopter to take him to the hospital.