The Curse of Hidden Hollow

Exploring

Ash walked outside of the hotel, and sat on a snow covered bench. He looked around. There was nobody out, the street was bare. Only his family's car was on the side of the road. He got up, and starting walking down the street. He got to a monument about the town. It was a man, muscular and heroic. He looked like a trapper. He read the plaque. "Jed Smith; the founder of Hidden Hollow 1868" It read. "Huh" Ash thought, "So that's Jed Smith." He continued walking, and he came to a small house. He heard some clanking, and looked to see a trash can. The trash cans lid opened up, and there was Kiera. "Hey" She said, "It's you again!" Ash laughed, then asked, "what were you doing in there?" He asked. "I was looking for cool stuff" she replied. "Alright" Ash said. "Oh!" Kiera shouted, "you wanna see something cool I found?" She asked him. "Sure!" Ash replied. "Follow me!" She said to him, and she started off toward the mountain. Ash followed her, and they walked till they got to the trees. "We have to climb now" Kiera said excitedly. "I can't wait to show you this!" "What is it?" Ash asked. "You'll just have to wait." Kiera responded mischievously. They continued on for a while, until Kiera stopped. She starting murmuring to herself. "What is it?" Ash asked. Kiera didn't respond, but instead, just started walking again. Ash followed, perplexed. They came to a little clearing of trees. There was a cave on the other side of the clearing. "You know what that is?" Kiera asked Ash. "What?" Ash responded. "That," Kiera began, "is the Hidden Hollow mine!" Ash was awestruck. "Is it really?" He asked. "Yep" Kiera responded. Ash walked a little closer to the boarded up entrance. "There's gotta be a way in" He whispered to himself. He looked around, and saw a branch protruding from one side of the entrance. He went over and started climbing. He motioned for Kiera to follow. Using their agility and some conveniently placed branches that could only exist in a fictional story, they reached a ridge a few feet above the entrance. The ridge went back a few feet into the mountain, almost forming a cave. They walked into the small divot. Ash flashed his light, and there was a small opening covered in wood. "Yes!" Ash exclaimed as he walked over to it. Kiera didn't look so sure. "Ash, I don't know if you should go over that thing" Ash ignored her as he walked towards it. He kept walking, until he tripped and fell forward on a rock. He crashed through the wooden barrier, and fell twenty feet to the ground. He looked up and saw Kiera's terrified face, then everything went black.