Magic Forest Story

Vines twisted and twirled around the rail of the arced bridge. The water below was infested with lily pads with fluffy pink flowers atop them that looked like whipped cream. A willow tree swayed on the warm July day. The skies that day were a brilliant blue, like that of blueberry Kool-Aid. There were dots of clouds here and there, which looked like bits of cotton. The water below the bridge was a little murky and some golden colored fish surfaced and jumped.

Meg knew she was restricted-that she would get in trouble. She knew all of that. But the bridge was too inviting, and so was the wood beyond it.

Meg, short for Megan, had blondish-brown hair that reminded everyone of ground cinnamon mixed with gold dust. She kept it cut just below her ears. Her eyes were hazel, but the light reflecting off the water tinted them a royal purple.

Meg stepped lightly, as if not to disturb the blossoming life around her, across the bridge. There was a sinking feeling in her stomach about the wood. She looked ahead to her destination. Even more light, if you can imagine that, spilled through the almost rabbit-sized hole and glowed a circle of Easter egg yellow on the edge on the bridge.

Meg giggled to herself. The funny thing was, she had no idea what she was laughing about. Then she realized it was because she was scared. She always laughed or talked to herself when she was scared. She took again another step and continued to the strange hole.

Upon reaching the space, her heart stopped. She did not know why. She slowly placed her left hand inside the hole and then her right. It felt cool on the packed down dirt. Maybe it was cool, or was it damp? Meg's senses could not figure it out. Even though it felt cold, Meg felt perspiration building up on her forehead. She sucked in her sides to somehow feel smaller, and saw only inky darkness.

After some time, she came upon a small pinhole of light ahead of her and sighed. When her head jerked out of the hole she turned her sweaty face upward. Through the thick branches and leaves of trees she realized the sky had darkened to a light navy blue while she had been crawling. The cotton balls were crowding together with each other, sticking together like magnets, and forming bigger and more menacing looking clouds.

Something told Meg there was more to the wood than the bright leaves and inviting trails.

Still, she pulled herself up and started walking again. A small gasp of pain escaped her lips because her legs and feet felt like Jell-O. In fact, everything below her waist felt that way. She was incredibly thirsty and hungry, but she saw no signs of water or luscious berries anywhere. "Well…"she started hesitantly. She startled herself with the word.

She looked up a third time. She guessed the sky was black, for it was hard to see on a count of the clouds, which now could not be called cotton balls. They were almost completely black too.

"Well, I guess…" She started again, but she didn't have to finish. Someone else finished for her. "You should find shelter," Meg jumped at the sound. "I mean, I think it might rain soon." Then there he was. Extending his hand at her. She had a look of surprise and shock on her face while his held comfort and help. She threw her hand forward and shook his dumbly. "Hi! My name's Zachary,-Zac for short- what's yours?" He had blond hair cut just above his shoulders, and green eyes the color of fresh grass. He seemed to make the forest look beautiful and clean. Meg's voice was shaky, "Mmmeeggaann," She said, trying to manage a smile, "Meg." She dropped her hand. "Alright Megan," Zac said, "You'd better come to my house. I can tell it's going to rain soon." Meg smiled at the thought of being inside.

The shack had looked much smaller on the outside. There were wood floors, of course, that looked old and dirty. There was a worn but perfectly fine dark green couch in the corner and a small table with a lamp beside it. The living room led off into a petite kitchen that looked fairly cluttered. Meg saw no other rooms besides that.

"Um, Zac…where's the bathroom?" She was scared of the response she might get, and she guessed Zac noticed. "It's out back," He laughed. Meg found a window and, through the thick forest mist, saw a small outhouse with a moon etched into the door. "Oh!" She giggled.

"So, you live here alone?" She walked over to the couch and sat down. He followed, sitting beside her. "My parents died in a car crash a year ago. I'm an only child. I went to school up until my parents died, which was a year ago, and then I was too afraid to go back. I couldn't bear facing my friends. I felt like I had been branded, 'The kid with no parents,' or something. Anyway, the only family I have left are my three cousins, ages four, six, and ten. They live here with me." He pointed to a small door Meg had not noticed quite yet.

"Power Rangers in space!" One of Zac's cousins, Meg guessed the four-year-old one, burst out the door that she hadn't noticed with a shiny red power ranger in his hand. Having great fun, he ran across the floor in his socks, sliding as he went, and stopped suddenly in his tracks at the sight of Meg. He just stood there with a puzzled expression on his face. This child had fuzzy brown hair that looked like it hadn't been combed in centuries. He had on a Power Rangers nightshirt and bright red pants. "Oh, Johnny, this is Meg," Zac confirmed to his cousin. "I met her in the…" He was interrupted by Johnny. "Zzzzoooommm!" Johnny screamed, running in circles. Meg couldn't help but giggle. "Please Johnny, your sister and Destiny are sleeping!" Zac yelled over the noise.

"No I'm not! Would I really deceive you Zac? I'm not that dumb!" Johnny skidded to a stop and then crumpled up on the floor like a pile of old rags. You could tell from his sighs that he was exhausted. Meg turned to find that the outburst had come from the door to the "hidden" room. The girl who stood outside of it was most definitely ten, because Meg doubted she was six. She had long black hair that went just past the middle of her back. It was lightly tangled in places and frizzy. She had green eyes, but they were not bright like Zac's, they were dull and tired-looking. "Oh?" Zac asked accusingly. "Oh!" She answered. "I've been working my…" She stopped herself, thinking of Johnny. "My behind off!" She finished with satisfaction; and with one last sigh she plopped down next to Meg. "Who's this?" She asked Zac. "This is Megan," He said, motioning to Meg. "Meg…" She giggled flatly. "And this is Destiny," Zac said to Meg. "Oh hello Meg," said Destiny, holding out her hand. "Hi." "So…" Destiny started. Zac knew what she was about to say so he started in. " I met her in the woods, it was starting to rain, I asked her here and she said yes. So we're here!" he said in an I-Told-You-So tone. "Oh…cool," Destiny got up. "Well, as you know, Johnny here is a handful. He tried to make macaroni and cheese by himself today! Luckily, I stopped him before he poured the box in cold water. So, I suppose we are having macaroni tonight. Sarah was great. All she did was sleep. I'd better go wake her up though," Destiny retreated into the room. Johnny got up and ran to Zac, jumping on his lap. Zac swallowed a cry of pain, but his face turned a bit red.

Just then a crash of thunder bolted the sky. At that very second, a small blue-tinted vase that had been sitting on the shack's windowsill slid off and crashed to pieces on the floor. "Oh no!" Cried Zac immediately, throwing Johnny off his lap and jumping up. "She's here!" "What?" Meg jumped up also, confused and scared at the same time. "Stay here!" He practically pushed her back onto the couch and ran frantically to the bedroom, pulling a helpless Johnny with him.

"Destiny, keep the kids in here. Do not leave this room. Do not eat, do not sleep, and do not talk. Just stand there in silence until I get back. The only things you may do are breath and blink." Zac was dead serious. The three kids stood and did as they were told, but they had no idea what Zac was talking about. No one did.

"Come on…I'll explain along the way!" Zac pulled Meg's hand, which was now stiff and cold, while they flew into the storm. It was now raining hard. Droplets of water bounced off Zac and Megs' faces as they plowed down the trails. Zac took a deep breath and then started. "There's some kind of weird witch in this forest. I don't know why she's here. She turns the beautiful days into storms, and she doesn't stop at that. She makes everyone miserable. She makes everyone suffer. You sit on the bed, she breaks it…" Suddenly he fell. His face smashed in the mud. "Oh, are you okay?" Meg cried, leaning down to take his hand. "She's at it again," He said as he wiped his face with his sleeve. "You see, we have to find her and stop her…I don't know how…but we do."

Finally they came to the witch's castle. It was huge with boulders as the walls. By that time it was raining horribly. There was no doorbell that either kid could see, just a big metal knocker. Zac pushed it onto the door three times, and then waited. Waited. Waited. The door opened suddenly and she appeared. Her hair was gray with specks of white. It reached her waist and tangled at the ends. Meg thought her eyes were strange, but just then a crash of lightning bolted very near, as if on cue. Meg had noticed the witch's eyes in that moment and gasped. They were black.

"WHAT DO YOU WANT!?" The witch screamed ghastily. Meg shivered with fear. Zac grabbed her hand and squeezed it. "Well, you've been changing the forest every chance you get when it is pretty. You've been changing it to this," He dropped his hand from Meg's and motioned to the muddy trail and ghostly clouds hovering above. Meg was scared once again, but found that after a moment Zac's hand found hers. "Life is short," He stated. Meg could tell a speech was on the way. "We want to have a good day, a beautiful day, to show us just how nice this forest can be, but you're ruining it completely. We see no actually point in doing this, and would be honored if you could explain what rational reason you have. You see, we want to enjoy life while it lasts, and easy as it might seem, you continue to make it hard." Zac noticed the witch tapping her foot. So did Meg. "The point is," Meg said cowardly, "We want you to stop doing this."

"Life isn't all fun and games," Snarled the witch. She grabbed both kids by their soaking wet shirt collars and dragged them into her lair. Meg's hand had been separated from Zac's in this confusion, and tried frantically to find it again. No use. As the witch pulled them further and further through the castle, Meg glanced around. There were bottles and bottles of different-colored liquids all over. She noticed a few bats, two black cats, a toad, and a jar labeled, "FLIES" with fluttering insects trapped inside. An unlucky few had fallen to the bottom and died. Meg thought that somewhere she had heard files only live for a day. 'How could she gather that many in one day that hadn't died yet?' Meg asked herself. Unfortunately, there was no inner response, only the tap-tap-tap of the witch's shoes against the stone floor. Soon she pulled the kids up and ordered them to walk for themselves. "DOWN THE STAIRS!" She bellowed. They obeyed. She pushed them into a dungeon cell and locked the door with a small key, which she slipped into her pocket. Then she slammed the door and charged up stairs again without another word.

Meg fell to her knees and started to cry. "Oh Zac! What do we do now?!" Zac started to cry too, but controllably. "I…don't…know," He answered hopelessly. Just then Meg turned to examine the poor environment she had been forced into and screamed. Zac turned to. He did not scream, but was very close to doing so. In the corner of their cell lay a skeleton.

"Wait a second…" Zac started walking toward it, while Meg suffered fright in silent agony. He found a small note beside it. Written very poorly was it, but Zac translated it as good as he could and read to Meg, " Dear friend, by the time you get this, I will be a skeleton…the one in the corner. The witch, Emma, kept me here for too long. I'm sure I will die of dehydration. Anyway, if you want to save yourself, spend as much time as you can doing just that. Time is short here, as you will soon find, and if you want to save yourself, do as follows: Push the bars very hard on the window. I have loosened them for you, although I do not have enough strength left now to climb out. When you can climb out, run as fast as you can, and as quietly. Emma watches the castle at all hours. I wish you luck." Meg gasped. "There's a way! Yes! There's a way!" Zac was excited to. "Yes…" He said. "We'd better get to work." Meg helped him reach the window, and he pulled as hard as he could. They did not budge. "He didn't loosen them enough," Zac sighed. "No!" Meg said, pushing him up further. "Do not say that!" he tried again, and one came out. "Yes!" Meg cried quietly. Zac set it down on the stone floor and then Meg pushed him back up to get the others down.

Zac jumped out the window and followed Meg. They ran softly and quickly, like the note had instructed. They ran all the way back to the cabin without a word, and since the witch did not know they were gone, nothing bad happened to them.

By the time they got back it was night, but Johnny, Destiny, and Sarah were all standing in the same place, not moving at all. Zac hugged them and they hugged back. Meg helped Zac make macaroni for a late dinner and the kids played freely around the house.

~

Nothing ever happened to them that was bad again. The witch had killed or kidnapped all of the other residents of the wood, and she had planned to get Zac next, for he was the last one living, or so she thought. She did not know of the kin living with him, or of Meg. When she put them in the dungeon, she never went down there again. She thought she had killed off everyone, so she never again turned the good days into bad ones. She had no reason to. It wouldn't make anyone unhappy, so she just stopped doing it all together. She didn't change being bad, though she only lived until she was eighty-one and then died.

Meg went home, she had to, and told her parents everything. For her honesty, they granted her the promise that she could visit Zac anytime if she asked first, of course.

Just to make this story perfect, Zac and Meg got married when they grew to be twenty and twenty-one (Zac was thirteen when this happened, and Meg was twelve). They did not have kids and instead took up the responsibility of Johnny, Destiny, and Sarah. They both lived long lives and died on the same day at the same time, when they were ninety-three and ninety-four. And so this story ends, right where it began, at the mysterious entrance to the enchanting wood, which lured Meg there in the first place.