My family and I walked through the meadows, leading away from the cottage. We walked on the trail leading to the woods through the green meadow. Lily and I fell in the back of the group carrying rolled up animal skin and other supplies. While the kids, and Sam led the way, carrying smaller packs. Fresh pine scent and wildflowers filled the air. Enormous green and brown mountains filled half of the sky to the south, while the coastline lay two miles north from our location. Different birds called out to each other, filling the forest with liveliness.
Reaching the forest entrance, I took one last glance back towards the now distant cottage. Trees loomed overhead and did a zig-zagged line for several miles down, reaching the mountains and eventually the ocean, which was always fun to venture to as well.
"Hey, watch out for the tree roots and shrubbery, we don't want anyone to get hurt and be down all weekend," I instructed, smiling.
My smile made my dimples show, the ones that Lily loved to run her fingers over, and the same ones that I had passed to the kids.
"Owies would be bad!" Emily stated frowning.
"They wouldn't be called 'owies'. It would be a cut, scratch, or even a sprain," Thomas replied, smiling at his sister.
"Oh," Emily said, looking dumbfounded and more interested in a snail she saw, passing by it slowly to get a good look.
Lily and I looked at each other exchanging slight laughs and grins. Sam was excitedly sniffing everything in sight and wagging his tail slightly. He was frantic to absorb all the unknown smells. It felt great to be outdoors, Jameson was right, I needed this, we needed this.
"Something smell good boy?" I asked when he paused in one spot for too long.
Sam cocked his head, but it did not cause him to lose distraction in sniffing the next bush, attempting to keep on route. Different, random steps appeared on their trail from tree roots stepping out, some even grew together. New tree branches loomed down on our path, and some shrubbery had to be walked around entirely. We were about one mile into it; and we were approaching the pond, which was close to our spot.
"Do you hear that?" Lily asked the children.
"What mom?" Thomas gazed up at her curiously.
"The frogs' silly," Emily said.
"Of course, I can," Thomas said, crossing his arms in defiance to his sister's response.
"You know what that means?" I asked.
"That we are almost to our site," Thomas replied.
I nodded my head.
"Woo-hoo! I want to go to the waterfall!" Thomas exclaimed.
Emily started running towards the pond, she was overly excited to see the tree frogs that she would catch each time we came here.
"Emily! No!" I yelled, and began to run after her full force, but she was too far ahead already.
"No! The flesh eaters," Lily murmured, feeling sick and putting one hand to her mouth and the other on her over-sized belly.
Emily was being single-minded again and not hearing a word that was shouted in her direction. Tree frogs! Almost there! The sound grew louder as she got closer. Her foot caught on a tree root! Tripping, falling, she was about to go headfirst into the water, where the flesh eaters would tear her to pieces!
YOU ARE READING
Black Tide Rising
FantasyA family curse that no one truly believed in, was passed down each generation as a story to scare one another. Until late one twelfth century night, a soul was taken by the devil himself. It was no ordinary soul and no ordinary man. He was one of th...
