The same afternoon, the air was quite still and peaceful. The sky was a mix of navy and orange—delightful and picturesque. The street lights posted at every corner began to light up in a sequence like a domino. No matter the breathtaking city scenery, something was slightly off putting. A young boy, with blond hair that reached past his nape, and shoulders slightly hunched from a presence he could feel from behind. It was a narrow pavement, one cannot overtake someone, unless the person in front entirely stops to let them go through. He started to speed up but noticed the steps behind grew louder and closer.
His blond strands swayed as he turned to the person behind him.
The street lamp he just passed and a lonely misplaced brick from the construction site nearby and the apartment building entrance to the left with very fragrant roses on display. But… no sign of the pursuer.
“Ahem! Learn to look down more, brother.” A high pitched voice resembling that of a little girl was heard from below.
“Huh..? KYRA?!” It seems as though the boy finally found the pursuer, although a little short of height than he expected. It’s time the boy was named, it was none other than Lin. And the girl is his little sister.
“What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be at home!” There was a stroke of panic in his facial expressions not only for his sister’s well-being but also mostly about what he should tell his mother.
“I should… but I’m not!”
“Ugh, stop beating around the bush and tell me already…”
“You see, the kids from school can’t shut up about the forest at all these past few days. Some even wanted to become seasoned adventurers and planned on going there…”
Something about the conversation they were having, gave Lin a strong sense of déjà vu— was it the mischievous tone or them walking home together very close to the forest. Nevertheless, he felt the need to instruct her yet again about it’s dangers.
“I’m sure you didn’t try stopping them, but please be aware that you should never...” he felt like he was repeating the same dialogue.
“Never go in the forest, yup I know!! But… you see there’s a tiny problem.”
“Hm?” His eyes widened.
“I may have aggravated them into going there…”
“What?”
“I may have called them cowards and filthy attention seekers, so they kind of got extremely mad and also maybe more determined than ever. I decided to leave on my own terms, so it doesn’t look like I was shunned, because that’s cooler than them kicking me out..”
“What? When did this happen?!”
“Today…
Right now...” She looked up with guilty eyes as she twiddled her thumbs.
“WHAT!? Where are they? We’ve to stop them now!!” Lin made a complete rotation and started sprinting ahead.
“Not that way! They found a hole in the fence a little farther from the gates..!” She screamed at her brother from behind. “I didn’t want to admit it but those wimps actually thought far enough to avoid the main gate fence…”
“Uh..” He sprinted back the same way and joined her on the other side of the road.
“Lead the way..!”
Half way through the marathon, Kyra was steaming from the head from exhaustion.
“Huff-puff! Bro… give me… a second…”
Lin, who was also drenched in sweat looked at her with pity. “Come on, just a little further. You can do it..!”
“Are you kidding me?! I made a two round trip, okay?! I’m beat!” She faced the floor while she gripped her knees tightly.
“Didn’t you want to save your friends..?”
“Those… huff… duds are not my friends..! If anything they deserve whatever’s in store for them..!”
“Good grief…” Lin contemplated on where things went wrong for his own sister be this mad at her friends. But he knew they wouldn’t be in this situation if she never cared like she pretends to.
“You know what? Just give a piggyback ride.”
“What!? I’m famished too! Also your not as light as before and I’ve got to run as well..!”
“Excuses, excuses! That’s all I hear. You probably carry your girlfriend around all the time, and she probably weighs way more than me.”
Kyra found herself a topic that Lin was exceptionally weak to, no matter what. And she made fine use of it and if Lin didn’t comply, their parents would already know all about his love life.
“W-WHAT?!” His entire face turned red, even his ears. As expected of the mini master manipulator.
“…that..never happened..!” He spoke under his breath.
“Yeah whatever, we have to find those knuckleheads!” She reached both her arms forward waiting for her brother to give in already.
“Fine…” he reluctantly crouched down and bent his back forward so she could hop on.
“Gosh… you’ve gotten bigger and heavier…”
“Don’t tell me you tell big sister Demi that as well…. How rude!”
“…For the last time, I’ve never lift-” He didn’t even have the courage to finish the sentence out of embarrassment.
“Yeah, yeah… now onward my steed!” She pointed briskly like all the exhaustion she felt never even happened.
“By the way, you guys kissed right?”
“H-Huh?! Why are we still talking about this?”
“So, you haven’t?! How bizarre? Last time I checked you guys were so smitten for each other..!”
“..We have… like on the cheek…”
“What are you five? I meant, on the lips..!”
“And what are you thirty?! Why do you know so much for an eight year old? What have you been reading?!”
“Uh… I might have raided Gabbie’s off the limits drawer recently…”
“What! Even I didn’t have the privileges to open that thing and where did you find the keys to that anyway?”
“So you do know about it! Thank goodness!
The key was taped under the drawer above the forbidden one.”
“Huh? I looked everywhere for it, but since Gabbie still lived with us then, it was difficult to locate…”
“What do I say dear brother, you’ve got to learn to look down sometimes.” She was proud that her line seemed to have made itself more useful than she imagined.
Lin realised maybe it was best if the rest of the trip remained a quiet one. Anymore of answering the devious questions of his sister would lead him into more embarrassment than a normal amount.
But there was something that troubled him after the conversation, “I haven’t really shown her how much I care, have I..?”
The question he asked himself seemed to have affected him. “Have I been insensitive? But that’s the last thing I would ever want her to feel, in fact I don’t even want to see it happen…”
“Ah! We’re here! Look over there, can you see the fence lifted up from the ground? They went it in from there.” Kyra pointed to the fencing near the edge, an inconspicuous area indeed. She almost jumped off his back on spotting it.
“This is where they went in, a nice spot I would say but it was already busted before we came..”
“Huh? Was it damaged?” Lin examined the torn up fence and noticed the damage wasn’t natural, someone intentionally cut up the fence.
“Someone did this…” he muttered.
“Kyra, how about you stay back-” Lin tried to make her step back by putting his hand in front of her, but Kyra immediately held onto his hand in protest.
“I brought you here, so it’s my responsibility as well. Also I want to see them wetting themselves in there anyway.” A sinister intent but atleast it showed she cared in some odd way.
“Fine, but stick close, okay? This is regarded as a reserve and is government property, so what we are doing is trespassing and that’s not alright.” He seemed to have slowed his tone and properly pronounced every word calmly, as he crawled through the fence.
“Gosh! I know what trespassing is, I also know we will be heavily fined if we get caught..!” She followed while screaming silently.
“So? How many kids are we going to rescue?” Lin looked around with his arms resting on his hips.
“Four. I bet Rachel left early, don’t like her but at least she’s smart. Two boys and two girls.”
The environment felt dead, for a natural reserve it definitely lacked nature. Nothing more than black pines all around and crunchy leaves on the dry soil. But leaving the city life and entering the woods is always a refreshing experience although they are mostly short lived.
“Bro, maybe text one of your friends our location… in an unlikely case of us disappearing in here.”
“Hey... if you’re scared you are more than welcome to stay behind. I know this place is spooky, so don’t force yourself…”
“Psh- I’m not scared..! But..uh… just in case..!”
Lin knew she was lying but admired that she stuck to her principles and wanted to hold on longer. He did as he was told and texted their location to a trusted friend– Robin.
“He’s definitely going to freak out, once he sees this..”
“Okay! It’s done...” he was interrupted by a tug of his arm.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Kyra seemed to have clasped tightly onto his forearm without a word of instruction from Lin. Lin was surprised to see her willingly hold his hand and suddenly felt bitter about bringing her here.
“How about you hold onto my palm instead? It’s comfortable for the both of us.” He said with a smile.
“Jeez, how can you smile in this situation..?” She held onto his hand either way.
The siblings walked through the trees, hoping to find some kind of dirt trail to follow. Every corner they turned was dead leaves and towering trees. It was dark even though the sun still hadn’t set. Lin was starting to feel something awry about this place and turned to Kyra.
“Something’s wrong. They couldn’t have strayed too far and we’ve been walking for quite some time now...”
No matter how much he too wanted to find the kids, he knew he had to prioritise his sister first, who seemed to be very shaken up by this place.
“No…they should be around here somewhere…”
As soon as they both started to feel lost, a rustle was heard from behind them. The crackle of bushes and the howling winds stirred up a mountain of anxiety for the two.
“What was that…?” Kyra whispered without a single movement.
“Shh..”
Lin turned around slowly and waited for the rustle to end, while Kyra stood still facing away.
The rustle eventually stopped and just as he turned back to Kyra a figure came busting out the bushes.
“AHH!!” Lin screamed as he immediately picked up Kyra from behind, but stopped halfway.
“WHAT IS IT?! WHAT IS IT?!!” Kyra screeched whilst covering her eyes.
“…Oh? It’s a dog…” Lin let out softly still holding Kyra by the torso.
“Dog..? Is it Jeremy’s ..?” She turned behind while hanging midair.
“Is it one of kids’ dog?” Lin went in for a closer look and noticed a collar.
“No doubt about it, it’s definitely Jeremy’s dog..
That dummy! How could he lose his pet..?”
“I think we should wait, maybe it can take us to the kids.” Lin was making bold assumptions but it was the only thing they could rely on.
“You think so?” Kyra looked intently at the dog hoping it would do something.
And it did! It took off like a bullet train with its stubby legs and caused a huge dust storm under its paws. The two gave chase. And soon enough they went full circle and came back to the fence areas yet again.
“Huh? We’re… back? But we went straight didn’t we..?” Lin was astonished.
“Yeah… I don’t remember taking any turns…” Kyra wore the same face as Lin.
Lin turned around and noticed the dog had vanished.
“Where’s the dog..?” He turned his head around in every direction possible but no sight of it.
While they stood scratching their heads in confusion, Lin heard a faint chatter in the distance. He turned to the sound and walked towards it. It grew louder and clearer.
“Found you!” He shouted as he walked into a conference in the bushes.
“AHHHH!” Children’s screams were deadly to the ears.
“We’ve been exposed! An old fart has found us!” The kid with the missing tooth screeched.
“O-Old fart?!” Lin was shocked at the description.
“There you are! You dummies were here this entire time!?” Kyra emerged from the bushes with a sharp glare.
“Ugh! Well if it isn’t Kyra, the traitor that was too scared to join us..!”
“WHY YOU LITTLE-” she was ready to throw hands.
Lin had forgotten what actual kids Kyra’s age are like—rowdy and obnoxious. It gave him a headache just trying to listen to them talk. He was very used to the mature speech Kyra somehow developed but nonsensical yapping was not his usual.
“Kyra, no!! Don’t fight here!” Lin stopped them.
“These brats need to be taught a lesson!” She roared.
“Yeah! Old fart get out of here, this does not involve you!” A kid screamed ready with face paint and torches.
“What the… how did you get those?” Lin did not know where to look, there was so much going on that needed his attention. But the priority remained the same, get the kids out.
“Okay! That’s enough, Kyra! We have to get out of here now! MOVE, EVERYONE!”
“Sorry, I got a little carried away…” Kyra brushed her clothes clean.
But nobody seemed to be an bothered by Lin’s words and were too busy arguing away.
“I told you this spot wasn’t the best!”
“How was I supposed to know we’d be found so easily..?!”
“HEY.” Kyra demanded their attention as she crossed her arms and looked dead in the eye at every one of her friends. There was no child like wonder in those eyes.
They immediately piped down from that echoing voice. Even Lin was slightly shocked to notice the sudden transition and also came to fatally realise that he held no power in this faction of theirs even though he was significantly older.
“You can’t s-stop us..”
“Shut the hell up, Jeremy..”
“Yes ma’am!”
They somehow quietly shuffled their way out the forest while Lin followed terrified from behind. He took one last look at the forest and realised this will be the last time he’ll see this place.
“So, should I tell your parents?” Kyra spoke in a commanding tone.
“N-No!!”
“Then, will you ever go in there again?”
“…no.”
“Good.”
“Bro! Problem solved, thank you for your unbiased help!”
“Uh-huh! That’s great...” he turned to the kids and crouched down to meet their eye level.
“Kids…uh, please never go in there ever again, okay? It’s really dangerous to go there alone like you did today because you can get lost very easily. Don’t worry your parents and get home safe, alright?”
He hoped they would have learnt something from those words and not make the same mistake again.
“Uh, so who’s this old fart?” The kid had no ounce of remorse. And the comment shattered Lin’s soul.
“This old fart? He’s my brother.”
Lin turned rapidly to her face in soul crushing betrayal.
“Why didn’t you correct them..?”
“Sorry, your last line really made you an old fart…”
“I see! Then you are not an old fart! You must be in high school right?” The kid’s eyes lit up. “Obviously, he’s in uniform!” Another kid added.
“Huh? Yeah, that’s right!” Lin responded even after the heavy blow to his dignity.
“Coool~” All the kids seemed to have suddenly changed their minds about calling him an old fart.
“Sigh… kids are so fickle.” He brushed through his hair in frustration.
“Aren’t you glad I’m not like them?” Kyra smiled in a superior manner. Lin walked away without a response. “Hey! Don’t ignore me..!”
“Kids, sorry I don’t know your names, but everyone knows their way home right?” Lin had to put on a happy face for the kids.
Everyone answered confidently and even Lin was reassured once again that they all live in the same apartment complex. So they would all be going in a group which lessened his worry.
“I’m glad. Then this is goodbye, get home safe, okay?” Lin stood up and waved at the bunch.
They all shuffled away quietly. But Lin felt the need to scream one last word of advice before they turn the corner.
“Look both ways before crossing and maybe hold hands ..!”
“Old fart..” Kyra mumbled under her hoodie.
“I heard that.” Lin turned around and started walking.
“Hey! Wait for me..!” Kyra zoomed from behind. As she tugged onto his bag straps she asked the question that was riddling her the entire time they were in the forest, “How did we not see any wolves in there?”
“Wolves?” Lin paused for a second to jog up his memories. “Oh! From that story you heard from Demi?”
“Yeah! The Tamed Wolf! Don’t tell me there were never any wolves in there to begin with!?”
“N-No! There are wolves in there, they’ve just… reduced in number. Climate change and all…” He had no choice but to lie about it. There were never any wolves in this part of the world but the parody version of the original children’s tale narrated by Demi did. That story was convincing enough for the genius eight year old to believe and it turned out to be a good thing. It happened to be the only way to keep her out of that place.
“Hmm… I see.” She glanced at her brother to read his facial expressions. She decided it was time to completely rid herself of the idea of venturing into that boring old forest and do something more productive. “I was told that the next camping trip for young scouts will be in the Eastwood rocks. Much more interesting than Tenebris…”
“That’s wonderful!” Lin cheered her on.