Lost and Found

Tearing between tree branches and over roots that seemed to stick up from the ground and lash out at my boots, I made my way back through the woods. I had been running for several minutes before I realized I had no idea where I was going. All of that careful planning of landmarks so that I could find my way back to the tree, and eventually Grandma’s cottage, were out the window as I sprinted away from the teenaged boy I’d seen chopping wood, a vision of his blue eyes in my mind and nothing in my line of sight save the occasional tree branch that reached too closely to my face.

My lungs were burning when I slowed to look around and recognized that I had been running the wrong way. I had a feeling my Grandmother’s house was off to the left--but it might be to the right. I spun around a few times, looking for anything that appeared to be familiar but saw none of my carefully chosen markers. I was lost. 

Going back the way I’d come was also not an option, not because I was afraid that the guy I’d just run from might think there was something wrong with me but because I didn’t know where I’d come from. I could see my footsteps in some of the damper spots on the forest floor, but not enough of them to track my way back. It wasn’t as if I had any experience at all in the woods or any sort of talent when it came to discerning visual cues from the trees that might help a skilled tracker find their way back. I was essentially lost in the woods with no clue where to go.

With a deep breath, I chose a direction and started briskly walking that way.

Nothing around me looked familiar. The trees all looked the same as one another, nothing distinctive. No flowers or stumps I knew I’d seen before. Frustrated, I turned again and headed a different direction. Again, nothing looked like the area around my grandmother’s house.

Panic started to set in. I had no idea when it would be dark, but it seemed like the sun was going down. It couldn't be any later than 3:00 or 3:30, but I swore it was getting darker. Not knowing what else to do, I began to run again, checking my phone and seeing I had absolutely no bars as I dodged between trees. I shoved it back into my pocket and then picked up my pace again.

I swore it was getting dark around me--not just the sky, but the trees and the ground. Rather than the vibrant green leaves I was used to, the further I went, the more they turned first to an olive green and then to a mossy brown color. The trunks were darker, too, not brown anymore but black. I didn’t hear the birds anymore, and there were no animals skittering around the trees either. A glance down at my feet told me that even the grass had ceased to grow here. If I didn’t know better, I’d think this was some sort of a burned out part of the woods, but I didn’t see any ash or charred marks anywhere. Whatever had happened here, it wasn’t natural, and the feeling of life and energy I always felt when I was in the woods was missing as well.

I was just about to turn around and head back the direction I had come, certain that this was not the right route, when I saw the top of a house in the distance. I stopped and moved my head a little, straining on my tiptoes to see if what I thought I was looking at really was a house.

It was, but it was an odd house. At least, from this angle, it looked different than any house I’d ever seen. It was a two-story house, but it wasn’t straight, and it’s dark exterior looked almost black. The feeling I’d had that this part of the woods wasn’t right carried over to the house, and a sinister feeling overcame me.

But it was a house. And a house meant people. And people meant I wouldn’t be lost anymore. It seemed silly to be frightened to approach one of my grandmother’s neighbors based on the fact that their house was painted a dark color and this part of the woods seemed a little frightening to me. 

So… I kept walking. I wasn’t running like I had been before, but I was walking forward, trying to talk myself into losing my fear and asking for help. What was the worst that could happen? Maybe no one would be home. I doubted this was the home of a serial killer.

I was almost to the opening around the yard when movement to my left made me stop abruptly.

It took a moment for me to register what I was looking at, but once I got over the shock, it became clear.

A wolf, a large one, almost as tall as me on all fours, stopped in front of me between two trees, blocking my path. I recoiled, taking a few steps back, my hands flying to my face in fear. But it didn’t seem to want to hurt me. Instead, it simply wanted me to change my direction. 

As terrified as I was, I didn’t look carefully at the wolf at first, but as I began to back up, hoping wolves didn’t pounce when you ran from them like most wild animals, I realized that the pair of eyes looking at me were the same bright shade of sapphire blue I’d seen in the guy chopping wood. It was quite odd--but I didn’t have time to contemplate why that might be. The wolf clearly did not want me to approach that house, and if I had to choose between continuing to be lost in the woods or being the snack of this canine who’d appeared out of nowhere and was almost large enough for me to ride home, I decided to take my chances amongst the trees.

It was another wolf, an even larger one, with huge green eyes that glowed through the shade of the trees at me. Again, it didn’t growl or howl at me, only seemed to say this was not the right path. I turned again, not heading back the way I’d come or this direction but choosing a different path.

I hurried along, praying this was the right way. I must’ve ran for ten or fifteen minutes before a wolf about the same size as the first one, this one with chocolate brown eyes and light silver fur came to run alongside me, seeming to steer me to the left. It was almost like being followed home by a puppy. I ran parallel to the wolf, but when I started to stray too far to the left, another wolf appeared. This one was the smallest I’d seen yet, about the size of a grown Siberian Husky, with vivid purple eyes. I had the feeling that this one was a female for some reason, while the others had given me the impression that they were male. She steered me back the other direction, and now I had one on either side of me as I ran with the idea that the other two I’d seen were also behind me, making sure I didn’t go back the way I’d come.

Eventually, I began to recognize the woods around me. Gone was the blackness and decay. Here, everything was green again, with light filtering through the tops of the trees, birds singing, and small animals skittering around in the trees, particularly when they saw my companions. Once I had the familiar tree in sight, the wolves came to a halt. I glanced over my shoulder at them but continued to run, even picking up my pace a little as Grandma’s house came into view. I was so relieved to be back home, glad to be away from the wolves, even if they hadn’t been a threat, and happy to have not needed to enter that strange part of the forest, I kept running as fast as I could until I burst through grandma’s back door, breathing deeply as I slipped the lock into place, so relieved to finally be home.