FIGHTING FOR SURVIVAL

Chapter 9

Alyssa

It was a calm June night with sparkling stars and a shinning moon that cast it's cool silverly light onto the forest and bathed everything in whitish silver. My parents had gone for a stroll not too far off and I was supposed to stay inside the tent at all costs.

We were on a camping trip in the famous woods of Crescent Hills, a town that we had only moved into three years ago. My father had suggested that we camp out in the woods for a night to get closer to nature and to actually feel connected with it.

I was just grateful that he had not chosen an unknown location where we would have no connection with the real word. Here, at least I knew that my house was only a few miles away, and that we were not too deep inside the woods. But we were deep enough to hear the crickets chirping, and hear the hoots of owls up in the trees. The trees were dense and a lush green. The leaves became the colour of emerald when the light from the moon fell on them. They moved slowly in the light breeze that had started and made a soft, calming noise.

I started debating whether I should just curl up and go to sleep or whether I should stay awake and wait for my parents. I decided on the latter and took out my flashlight. The yellow beam of light blinded me for a moment, but it wore off quickly. I took out the book I had brought with me and started to read. I easily got lost in the story and imagined everything as if it were happening right before my eyes. I loved to read. I just felt so good doing it. It was as if I was transported to another world: ons where you didn't have to worry about being judged, where you could find out so much about other people.

I was almost done with the last chapter when I heard a soft, rustling sound outside. I shook it off immediately, deeming it to be some animal of the forest. But hardly a few seconds later, I heard it again. This time it sounded much nearer.

I tried to convince myself that it was just some forest creature, but my mind refused to believe it. I silently crawled to the entrance of the tent and peered out. There was nothing there though. The clearing we pitched the tent in seemed as calm and quiet as ever. The grass blades were swaying slowly and the leaves of the trees cast soft, wavering shadows onto it. I looked around once more and decided that I had imagined the noise before going back to the opposite wall of the tent.

I smuggled down inti my sleeping bag and closed my wyes because it was clear that my parents were not coming back anytime soon. The night was fairly warm, but still, I somehow felt more protected in my soft and comfortable sleeping bag.

I could easily picture my parents sitting together on the edge of some stream or something, and forgetting to come back to the tent. They might have been a little careless sometimes but I couldn't help loving them.

My father: a tall man with broad shoulders, had blonde hair and emerald green eyes. My mother on the other hand, had bushy brown hair and deep, beautiful eyes that were the colour of chocolate. We moved to Crescent three years ago when my father got a new job here. I grew to love the town very fast, with it's beautiful gardens, and the view of the mountains in the distance.

I was almost asleep when I heard the sound again. This time, I was sure I had heard it. It sounded even nearer than before. I decided to just go out of the tent for a minute and see what was outside. It wouldn't take longer than a minute.

So I crept over to the other side of the tent and clambered out. The cool air brushed my skin as I stood up, looking around me. Everything seemed to be normal. There was no sign of movement in the trees.

I was just about to go back inside when I heard voices. Then, I heard the leaves rustling as if somebody was walking through the trees, more like running actually. A moment later, I saw them. There were three kids running from something. They were all wearing black jackets and it was hard to distinguish any features . I figured that there was one boy and two girls though, and they seemed to be about my age.

The girl on the boy's right glanced frantically around her and patted him gently on the shoulder. He was clutching his sides and his breath was coming out in short puffs. The girl took something out of her pack and gave it to him. It was a flask, and as soon as the boy drank whatever was inside, his breath seemed to return to normal and he let go of his sides.

"Quick," said the girl. "We need to go." I watched in shock and horror as the three kids took off again. I tried to see where they were going or who they were running from, but I couldn't see a thing. They seemed to have just vanished into thin air. How was that even possible? No one could move that fast, and my nine year old brain could not comprehend why three kids would be running in the forest like that.

I went back to my tent, as confused as ever. But I forgot about everything once my head hit the pillow. I was out like a light within minutes.

"Alyssa, honey wake up," my mom cooed. I opened my eyes to see her shaking me gently. Her brown hair was pinned at the top of her head and she wore a happy expression. I could feel the sun beaming down on us and it's heat prickled my eyelids.

"Morning, mom," I said. "When did you guys het back?"

She got a faraway look in her eyes before replying. "Oh, we got back at around midnight. We found you sleeping so we didn't wake you up."

"Oh," I said, disentangling myself from my sleeping bag. "Where's dad?"

"By the stream. We're having breakfast there and then packing up. Unless you want to stay longer, of course."

"No, no," I said hastily. "It's fine. Besides, Alex is with Mrs Burke all by himself." Alex was my little brother and we had left him with our neighbour, Mrs Burke for the night. My mom chuckled softly and ruffled my hair.

"Hurry up, Alyssa, your father's waiting," she smiles.

While my mom and I were making our way towards the stream where my father was, I could not help but wonder exactly what had happened last night. Who were those kids, and what had they been running from?

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A/N

I am honestly really sorry for the late update. I'll try and update very soon now :) Oh and as you can tell, this chapter was written from a nine year old's perspective so that's why it's a little immature. That and I wrote it in under one hour while feeling really sleepy. It has officially been two years since I joined Wattpad so I felt like I had to update to let you know how much your support means to me.

Please vote and comment, and thanks a bunch for reading this XD