May Lambert and the Mysterious Boy

I wake up from a dream where I was being attacked by rabid animals. Just the thought of that makes me shudder. I slowly get out of my bed and I see my dog Beanie laying on the end of the bed. I jump a little looking back at the dream. I go to pet her and then think, maybe I shouldn't. Maybe she has rabies. Maybe she will attack me and then I will get rabies too, and maybe have to go to the hospital and- I think I will stop there.

I slowly climb out of my bed and slump down the stairs and to the kitchen. I was surprised that my mom and dad are already out of bed and sitting at the kitchen table.

"Are you guys ok?" I ask as I see their serious faces.

"Honey, I think you should sit down."

Whenever my mom says, "I think you should sit down." That's bad news.

I slowly sit down in the chair across from them. My mom says something bad. Really bad. My face went from confusion to fear to anger. I had so many questions. I was getting filled with anger and fear. My fists were clenching so hard. A tear rolled down my face as I got up from the chair and burst out the door. Running across our yard, filled with emotion. Not knowing what to do, I ran straight into the woods behind our little yellow house. Leaving my family and everything I knew and loved behind. My parents told me I was adopted.

I ran past trees, trees and more trees. I didn't want to stop, I couldn't. I knew if I tried, I couldn't find my way back, so I just kept running. I ran by a flock of birds. When they saw me they soared up into the air, but I didn't care.

After a long and painful 15 minutes of running through the woods at full speed, I slowed down a bit to catch my breath. I saw a small stream and sat down on the edge of it. I didn't know if the water was drinkable or not, but I didn't care.

I drank the water so fast, gulping it down. I could feel the cold autumn water go down my throat. I looked up for a moment taking in my surroundings. The only thing I could see were these huge trees. I saw some squirrels coming in and out of their homes. When I looked up, it was like a ceiling of leaves. I couldn't see the sky.

Then suddenly, CRACK! I rapidly turn my body around to see what the noise was, but I saw nothing. I inched closer to the sound. CRACK! I heard it again, this time very loudly. I was getting closer. I don't know if getting closer is a good or bad idea though.

Suddenly, a head popped out from behind the tree. It was a boy who looked about my age. I looked at his ratty hair and clothes, his pale skin and bushy eyebrows. Then my eyes locked in his. For that one moment I knew I was going to be ok.

The boy stumbled backwards tripping on a branch. I ran over to make sure he was ok. He was lying on the ground unconscious. He had hit his head on a big bulging rock. I stared at him for a moment before dragging him across the moss covered ground, and down to the river. I didn't know what to do, but the only thing I could do was splash some water on his face hoping he would wake up.

What if he didn't wake up? I could have killed the boy from scaring him. I would get arrested, and go to jail. I might be sentenced to de- I will stop there.

His big green eyes shot open in fear and thankfulness. He slowly stood up and started walking into a place I have never gone. I didn't know if he wanted me to follow him or not, but he was my only hope. I followed him into the unknown.

He led me through trees and over logs. Occasionally I asked him, "Where are we?" or "Are we there yet?" He never answered.

Eventually we stopped in front of a river. I quickly looked at him and said,

"We were just at a river, why did you bring me here?"

"Fish." The boy said.

I squealed as he motioned me to go in the water and catch a fish. I saw little figures beneath the water's surface. I reached my hands down slowly and looked away, but I caught nothing. I did that over and over until the boy looked frustrated and sighed loudly. He ran into the water, reached his hands down fast and lifted a little shiny green fish out of the water.

The fish was surprisingly cute and I immediately became attached to him. The boy picked out a rock from in the river and went over to the little cute baby fish. The boy told me to look away as I heard loud bangs from the piece of wood the fish was on. As I slowly turned around, I covered my eyes so I would have to see what he did.

"You can look now." The boy said.

I opened my eyes, and the fish was gone. I assumed that it was in his pocket beacause his pocket was full. We started walking again.

Eventually, we actually saw something that wasn't woods. It was a big cleared out space except for a huge tree in the middle with some wood sticking out of it. There was a long ladder leaning against the tree with a hanging rope next to it. The boy started up the ladder, and disappeared into the tree. I stood there for a while not knowing if I should go up the ladder or not. I decided that I should go up the ladder and face my fear of heights. I climbed the first step, then the second, climbing all the way to the top.

I saw an opening in the tree so I climbed in. There was stairs leading up to the top. By this time, the sun was setting. I got to the first floor and saw some kind of kitchen. It had a counter made out of wood and a small cupboard that had cold beef in it. I went up the second set of stairs and came to a bedroom. There were leaves on the floor and then a piece of fur for a blanket. There was a little night stand made out of wood with a jar of firefly's that lit up the room. I went up to the last floor and saw the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. It was the sunset. The sunset was purple, orange, red and yellow. I went up to the fence on the topless and wall less deck and stared for a moment. I looked beside me and saw the boy standing and looking out into the sunset.

"Gabriel" he said, still looking out.

"What?"

"That's my name. Gabriel."

We kept looking at the sunset for a while. Then he looked at me and said,

"I'm scared. I don't want to go back to the way of society. I want to have freedom to do whatever I want to do."

"You can do whatever you want to do. As long as you don't kill anybody." I said.

He gave a faint laugh and then went to the kitchen to cook the fish. After dinner, I laid down in the bed he had made me, and I slowly drifted to sleep.

The next couple of days, we did the same thing. Wakeup, watch the sunrise, grab some food, watch the sunset, sleep. Nothing new or exciting.

One bright and early morning, I went down to the kitchen for a meal. I finally got used to the way Gabriel did things.

"Sleep well?" He asked.

"I guess."

"Well you better have because we are leaving."

I gave him a confused look and he grinned. He slipped out of the treehouse and down the ladder, I followed. Not knowing where he was going, I tripped over branches and thorns.

We came to a stop and I saw a barrier of leaves. Gabriel pushed away the leaves to reveal my little yellow house. I looked at him in thankfulness and motioned him to come with me. We slowly walked out from behind the leaves and I saw my family in awe. I ran to them and they ran to me as we closed the gap in between us. My sister and mom were crying while my dad and my brothers wondered, "How?"

I looked back as I heard my neighbors yell,"STOP!"

I see Gabriel stop in his tracks while running back into the woods. He slowly turned around and looked at me, then at my neighbors, then back at me. He didn't know what to do. I walked over to him calmly and whispered in his ear, "You can do whatever you want to do. As long as you don't kill anybody."

He inched over to my neighbors and they hugged him tightly. I guess both of our family's now have adopted kids.