Hide And Seek?

• Annabelle Parata, Grade 5
• Short Story
• 2022

I lived in a town with a small population. Everyone knew everyone. The whole town felt like family. I loved to spend the summer days adventuring with some friends. Our neighbourhood had an expansive forest which no one was allowed near. One day, my friends decided to play Hide and Seek. We were allowed to hide anywhere in the neighbourhood.
There were only ten houses making it less challenging than you think. The seeker would have one hour to find all of the players hiding. Oliver was seeker. He was considered the best player and had a streak of the most wins. We knew we had to pick a good hiding spot if we even had a chance. I went with Ava. She would always pick creative spots. Finding her was almost impossible.
When he started counting, we ran towards the border of our town. The seeker only counted to 30 before starting to search. As we reached the woods, Ava gestured for me to follow her. But I warned her that we weren't allowed to. She assured me that we wouldn't go too far, so I unwillingly followed her. We were running for several minutes until I told her we were too far in. But she replied, "Just a little further, trust me." We ran some more before stopping.
I couldn't recognise anything. There was no path showing a way back, just lots of trees. "Ava, I think we've gone too far," I told her. She then looked around with wide eyes. For the first time, I could see fear beginning to show on her face. "Don't worry, I-I know the way out." We hung out at a hiding spot for a while chatting in the beautiful environment. The forest was definitely alarming, but it was so beautiful in a way I had never noticed. There. were lots of butterflies and other stunning wildlife forms.
Eventually, Ava had looked at her watch and said that the hour is almost up. We began to head back. We walked in the direction we thought we had come. But it appeared to me that we had been walking longer than we should have. "Are we lost Ava?" I asked. "No," she said. Her voice trembled a little. "Yes we are!" I exclaimed. See that nest, we just passed that tree ages ago. She went silent. She knew we were going in circles. We decided to go in the opposite direction. Clearly the way we were going wasn't the right way.
Darkness started showing and I was getting worried. We had no technology or flashlight to help us when it was dark. Suddenly, Ava pointed to a fire burning out in the distance. Relive started to show. It could be a camper, we could ask to borrow a mobile phone or directions. As we approached the fire I yelled out "Excuse me!" No reply. That was when we came face to face with a terrifying monster that still haunts me to this day.