The Land of the Hidden

1

The forest had always been there. I would look from the window of the attic, otherwise known as my room. I would stare at it. What could be in there? But nobody was allowed to go in. I continued to look at the abundance of trees.

"Orion! Come down here please." I turned towards the stairs where I heard my mother call me. I walked down the stairs gripping the coarse railing. I had never liked the railing. It always gave me splinters. Yet rather than just walking down the stairs, I always felt the need to grab it. Possibly the minor feeling of security, though the railing didn't provide much security itself. I went down stairs and walked into the kitchen. "There you are darling. Me and your father are going to see our friends down the street. We won't be back for a while. Bedtime is at ten, understand?"

"Yes ma'am." My parents never really left the house. It was a rare occasion when they did. They never brought me if they did so. I never knew why they choose to leave when they do. They walked out the door waving. As my father closed the door I began walking towards my room. Click. He locked me in. One thing about my house, is it can lock from the inside or outside. But you need a key both ways. So there was no way to get outside. Did they not trust me? Why couldn't I have a key? It didn't make sense. I walked up the stairs to my room. The stairs creaked every step I made. The stairs were so old. I went up the next set of stairs to the attic. I never wanted the attic as my room. We have 5 rooms on the second floor. A bathroom, my parents bedroom, and three empty rooms, painted and carpeted. But they're empty.

I took out a comic book and flipped through it. I closed it and looked out the window. Examining the bark on the trees. I had done it a million times. Whenever I asked my parents why I couldn't go in the woods they changed the subject. There was a large oak tree that I could see over all the other trees. It was really far back. But I could still see it. I looked at the clock. Exactly eight pm. I looked back at the woods and closed my eyes. Something made me open them. I stood up and looked out the window. There was a girl. She looked no older than me. She had short blonde hair and she wore a small white dress. She looked around and walked into the woods. There shouldn't be people on our property. How would I get out? I moved the desks and pushed the window up. It hadn't been open in years. I managed to get it open just enough to crawl through. I struggled to get through but I got onto the roof. I was really high up. I saw a tree branch maybe four feet away. I then did the dumbest thing I have ever done. I ran to the end and jumped off, reaching my hands out to grab the branch.