Blame my cousin for this one. She read some of my stories and she's all, "OOOOH! Write for the Andersen triplets!" There is no basic time frame for this, but there is a plot. Takes place just before The Problem Child.
Ara sucked in a cry of pain as she hit the ground. She had landed hard on her left arm; it was probably broken. Now it was almost useless. She wished Jake was here.
But there was no use wishing. The one chasing her had her brother and sister now. Ara got up, still holding in a scream, and scampered off as fast as she could.
It wasn't fast enough. He had caught up with her in a matter of minutes. They were in a clearing, sunlight streaming through the hole in the trees, blinding her. Ara had been in this forest for so long.
"Arabella Andersen," he said.
She turned. He wore black—black shirt, black pants, as usual—but there was a red handprint on his shirtfront. Ara didn't bother with its meaning much—she only assumed it was another one of his fashion statements. Then she remembered her cousin, May.
She rolled her neck, trying to appear as if she wasn't in pain. "Hey, loser," she said, greeting him as she always had, leaving her with a pang of hurt.
He smiled, but it was more of a grimace. "You're the loser now, Ara. You will lose."
Ara wanted to appear confident, but she was afraid she didn't do a good enough job.
"I've come here for the basket," he said bluntly.
"And I need my family," Ara said.
"We have an agreement, then," he said.
She almost rolled her eyes, but she pretended to comply, getting out her bag and searching through it. Come on, she thought, there has to be something in here to help me. She spied it in a small pocket on the side—a package of instant oatmeal and a small plastic spoon. Where can I find water to activate it?