Safe Zone
"Tag, you're it!" my little sister Cassie shrieked as she ran past me, towards the woods. I sighed and trudged after her, already sick of playing this game.
My name's Todd, and I'm twelve. My sister Cassie is 10, and I keep trying to tell her that we're too old to be playing tag. We should be out exploring and meeting new people, especially since we've just moved to town.
That's right, I'm the new kid. My parents just bought a new house in Wooded Glen, a town hundreds of miles from the town I grew up in. There's no way that any of my friends will ever end up visiting me out here, especially since it would cost a ton of money to get a plane ticket. I keep telling Cassie that we should get out and meet new people, but she'd rather stay near our new house and hide out in the woods.
If you couldn't tell by the name, Wooded Glen is covered in trees. I can't even tell where my neighbor's houses are – that's how surrounded we are. And I'd hate to admit this, but the woods creep me out a little bit. But I could never tell that to Cassie – she'd never let me hear the end of it.
"Come on, dork!" Cassie shouted as she dove into the trees. "You're totally it, and I'm going to make it to the safe zone before you!"
Luckily, my mom started calling us for dinner before I had the chance to follow my sister in the woods. I sighed silently and ran back to the house, happy to be done playing tag for a while.
The good thing about the new house is that it's completely awesome. I mean, I have a full basement to myself! And my parents bought me a brand new laptop and webcam so that I could talk to my friends back home whenever I want. Even though it's not the same, it's not a bad deal. And I really like my new room. I just wish we could take this house, move it back to my old town, and live happily ever after.
The only problem is that I haven't met a single person yet. There isn't anywhere for us to hang out nearby. No baseball field, no park, school, not even a library or pool. My parents keep telling us how exciting it is to have the woods nearby – "nature's playground," as my dad keeps calling it – but I'd like to meet some kids my own age. As much as I like my sister, hanging out with her 24-7 is getting old.
After we finished eating roast beef and mashed potatoes, my sister begged me to go outside again. "Pleeeeeeeeeeease?" she pleaded. "It's so boring inside!"
Our parents exchanged glances. "I don't know, it's getting awfully late," Dad said.
"But there are two of us! We'll stick together, right?"
"Charles, let them go out for a bit. They're so cooped up in here," Mom said. Dad shrugged and told us to be back in an hour, before it got too dark. I was half hoping that he would have said no. Like I said, the woods are kind of creepy, especially at night.
"Race you to the creek!" Cassie said, already halfway out the door. I trudged behind her, trying not to lose her green hoodie as she ran through the woods.
Of course, as soon as I entered the woods, I couldn't find Cassie. I started in the direction of the path that she usually took. As I ran, I kept going deeper and deeper into the woods, losing track of my surroundings.
Crack! I heard twigs snapping around me and turned around to look. Nothing.
I ran a little harder, trying to remember where the creek was.
Crack! It was a little louder now, and I turned again to see. Nothing.
As I kept running, I started to get that prickly feeling that someone was following me. But every time I turned around, there was nothing.
I wheeled around again. I took in the woods and the same rock I had now passed three times. I now knew exactly what had happened.
I was completely lost.