The woods are a beautiful place to relax. In the back roads of West Virginia, peaceful is last on our list. It all started back five years ago...I can still remember it perfectly...
The brisk fall rolled in on a windy October 18th, 2008. At the time, I was only eight and I was going to a big sleepover with me and my three other friends, Kylie, Amanda, and Hannah. We've been planning this big sleepover at Amanda's house for many weeks and were eager to go. The scary part about Amanda's house is that she lives in a deep part of the woods. I really liked the woods, so natural and majestic, but that appreciation soon changed...
Driving our Aspen through the rugged terrain, my mother said, "Will you be okay with Amanda, since she lives out in the woods?" I looked in the mirror at her. "It's just the woods", I said with a blank look on my face. Pulling up I greeted my three friends. The sleepover was really fun. We played on her Wii, ate ice cream and played a lot of games.
As 6:00 rolled in, the sun was somewhat low. Amanda had an idea. "We should go riding on our 4 wheelers! I love riding them through the woods, it's really fun!" We all looked at each other. "How do you ride them", I asked. "We have two, but two can ride on one, it will be fun!" We knew the idea was stupid, but I didn't want to embarrass myself in front of them, so, without her parents knowing, we set off. Luckily, Amanda brought her German Shepard, Buck for some protection. Buck was a large dog, about 6 or 7 years old and about the height of my upper stomach.
She told us to sneak out the back door, first went Amanda and Buck, then me, Kylie, and last Hannah. The little strip of backyard she had was very mossy and moist. We walked to the shed door. "You hold Buck's leash", she told Kylie. Amanda wheeled out the first 4 wheeler, then the second. "See that path?", she pointed. Out eyes jolted in the distance. "That's where we're going, it really fun and has a lot of bumps!", she said stepping up on to the 4 wheeler. Kylie shuttered looking at the dirt trail. "How will we find our way back?", she said. "We'll turn back around and follow the path back!" Amanda was eager for us to get on them. Hannah rode these before with Amanda's 17 year old brother, so she knew how to control one. Amanda gave the OK for Kylie to drop the leash, and Buck jolted for the woods. "He'll come back, he's just waiting for us to chase him!", she said. One by one we got on the 4 wheelers, I was with Hannah, and Kylie was with Amanda. Amanda started it up and wooshed into the trail, with Hannah close behind.
We found Buck and he joyously ran beside us. The trail was long and had many twists and turns. Amanda turned off into a unmarked spot and drove left for a long time. "Here's the fun part!", Amanda yelled back, as she sped up. A large amount of bumps and small rocks were ahead, this must of been what she meant by "fun bumps". I hugged Hannah tighter, I was very scared of falling off. Amanda with Kylie ahead hit the first bump, they went flying up in the air! She hit the ground with a smile, and swayed back and forth. It was our turn. I looked over Hannah's shoulder as the bumps got closer and closer, finally we hit one, and went airborne! The wind hit my face and it felt so cool, but Hannah's face was frozen. We hit the ground so hard that both our bodies went forward. The 4 wheelers tires slipped in the mud, and veered into a tree! Hannah did a total 360 and hit the tree from the right side, hitting both our legs pretty hard!
Amanda kept driving and did not see the crash, only Buck saw, and ran up to us. "Amanda! Amanda!", we yelled, and she finally turned around to help us. They both jumped off their 4 wheeler and rushed over. "Jesus Christ!", Kylie said, hugging us. "Oh, God, oh, no, what do we do?", Amanda said. "Do your legs hurt? Tell me where?", Kylie said very distressed. "My leg...", Hannah said. "My ankle feels really bad", I said. The two girls pulled us out off the bike. A humongous cut was on the side of Hannah's lower leg. It was covered in mud and was bleeding a lot. Instantly seeing it, Hannah cried. I didn't have too much damage, my ankle was bleeding a little.
