Granite Falls was truly a stunning and captivating place.
The many pine trees were high and if you looked straight up them, the bright sun would probably blind you.
All around were Bravura Mountains –one with a very clear waterfall streaming down it – and behind them, the forest seemed to stretch on forever.
The sky was blue, the sun was shining, the grass was olive green, and right beyond the mass of trees ahead, there was a lake that seemed unrealistically clear.
But Phil Lester had no time for appreciating the scenery because there was a problem at hand and he'd taken it upon himself, as part creator and manager of these life forms, to sort it out.
Not being used to the extremely long walk, he was almost panting from exhaustion and heat when he finally arrived at the campsite.
Wiping a layer of sweat from his forehead with his sleeve, he gazed around the place. Dil had said he'd meet him here – where was he?
"Phil!"
Phil spun around to detect the source of the voice, and soon found his Sim, Dil Howlter, standing beside some sort of weird moose statue.
Unsteadily walking over with his hands in his coat pockets, Phil noted the numerous lodges surrounding them, all around. What was the point of going to a campsite if you were just going to stay in provided accommodation; camping was about 'roughing it' out in the open and sleeping under the stars, not… 'glamping'.
Not that Phil liked camping anyway; he had a few unfavourable memories of it that usually kept him from going ever again. He certainly hoped he didn't have to stay overnight tonight.
"Still can't find her, then?" He sighed, and Dil shook his head.
"I've looked as well as I could – she said she was going out for a walk this morning and I haven't seen her since," Dil explained, nervously, "It's hard to look for people in the woods: it's so big and dark, you can hardly see anything."
Phil bit his lip, anxiously, and once again looked about. He could remember this all from a few years ago when he and Dan had sent Dil and Tabitha with the Pancakes. It had been a… memorable time. Bob wouldn't let anyone play horseshoes, Dil spent his time dressed in a panda suit, roaring at people, and Tabitha had, at one point, disappeared into thin air.
And, of course, it had happened again.
Only this time, it wasn't as simple as reloading the game.
Nothing was ever that simple anymore, and nothing ever seemed to go to plan.
"What do you suggest we do now?" Phil asked, and Dil shrugged,
"Not much else we can do, really…" he replied, looking over his shoulder, "I've extended the plot rental for another two days, though, so we have plenty of time."
"A… another two?" Phil swallowed, feeling a hot shiver run down his spine, "Do you really think it'll take that long?"
"I hope not," Dil mumbled, "But I can't be sure. Here, come with me and we'll head to the tent," and he started to stroll away.
Phil took a second or two to process what was happening but he soon followed closely, down the dirt path leading across to where you could pitch a tent and go properly camping.
It wasn't a long walk, and when they got there, Phil noticed the large, purple tent, which was set up, pegged into the ground.
"It's been five hours," Dil said, eventually, "I thought she would have come back by now, but she knows we were meant to leave at half eleven to be home by twelve, so she'd definitely come back before then… so then I started worrying, as you do," he continued, "And went out searching for her, but, you know… No joy this time."
Phil frowned and stared into the trees, far into the dark depths of the shadowy forest. Surely there was nowhere else Tabitha could have disappeared off to; she had to be in there somewhere… hadn't she?
Phil supposed that there was only one way to find out, and so picked up the torch that was set on the ground, and clicked it on and off to check that it worked.
"You come with me, then," he told Dil, gesturing to the seemingly endless woods ahead of them both, "We'll find her eventually."
"Thanks for giving me a hand out here, Phil," Dil smiled, following him toward the trees.
"Yeah… No worries, I guess."
"Is something wrong?"
Phil shook his head, though he didn't seem entirely sure of himself.
With his substandard sense of direction, he felt he probably wouldn't be of any help in searching for Dil's wife, but he'd do what he could, even if it meant potentially getting lost, bruised, scraped and muddied.
…Not that he hadn't had encounters with mud previously this week.
The forest was gloomy, deep and lonely.
There were almost no sounds to be heard: only the crinkle of leaves and sticks underneath your feet, the rustle of the leaves in the wind and the occasional far-flung conversation, though the words were too distant to recognise.
Phil had assumed that they'd be able to hear Tabitha in the forest, seeing as it was so serene and the leaves on the ground would crackle loudly whenever you stepped on them, but this theory was proved false: even when he and Dil stopped still, neither of them could hear any other person anywhere.
It was beginning to seem that their search was all in vain anyway.
Phil gave a loud sigh and fiddled with the torch in his hand, apprehensively. Neither Dab nor Dan had any idea what was happening, and if he couldn't find Tabitha today, Dab would certainly be horror-struck and it would be Dan who would have to sort him out, alongside the jobs around the house.
Phil didn't want to leave his friend too many tasks, but it was turning out to take longer than expected to find Mrs Howlter.
Which reminded Phil that he had earlier assured Dan that he would call him.
He turned to Dil, who seemed to be listening closely for any sign of his wife, and cleared his throat.
"I… I hope you don't mind just for a minute, but… I really should call Dan to let him know I might be out for… quite a while."
Dil turned to him, surprised,
"Does he know where you are?" He asked.
"Well… not really," Phil replied, uneasily, "But listen, I should let him know what we're doing. Are you alright out here on your own? We can meet back at the tent at seven."
Dil agreed to this idea, even though he seemed reluctant to split up, and gave a wave to Phil as he seemed to instantly and seamlessly disappear into the trees.
All the big trees...
