“Catch me if you can!” My younger brother, Mika, whizzes past me into the viridian evergreens. The snow has just melted off their pine needles, and everything around us in the forest is in the most brilliant of saturations.
Our family had been coming to Sprite Rapids for eleven years, longer than Mika has even been alive. It was our parent’s honeymoon destination, and it is at least 50 miles of private land in every direction. Hardly any people are ever around up here anymore but this just adds to its beauty.
“Slow down Mika. If you keep running around like that, you will end up smacking right into a tree! Use your head for once.”
My voice echoes into the woodland area. Snow drops glint like specs of sunshine on the needles. After my words die off in the distance, it is silent around me. “Damn it Mika, we’re supposed to be back to camp in fifteen minutes! Come out now. You’re not being funny.”
My brother had a knack for getting himself into stupid situations. He’s been to the E.R. so often that he’s on a first name basis with the regular shift workers. He is very active, and constantly has to be doing something. That’s why my parents always told me, “Callen, make sure to keep Mika out of trouble now. You’re a good brother.”
Walking towards the thicker area of trees, I realized how easy it would be to become disoriented in here. The greenery swallows you whole. Mika must have seen this, right? Surely, he wasn’t dumb enough to keep running. Carefully, I pull back the branches, making sure to snap a few as markings so I could find my way back to the campsite. It’s no big deal Callen. He runs off all the time, and it’s only been what…five minutes? He couldn’t have gone too far.
In my head I think back to the campfire stories father had told us about this place. “You really ought to be watching your surroundings out there boys. Legend has it that Sprite Rapids is home to quite the mischievous bunch of fey folk. They like to mess with the landscape,” he told us while holding a hot dog over the flames.
“Yeah, whatever you say dad.” I snorted, getting ready to head back to the tent.
“Hey, I’m just saying, be aware of your surroundings while you’re exploring. It’s easy to get caught up in the beauty and forget how to find your way back.”
It was getting darker outside now. Our late afternoon adventure had turned into the dusk. Mom and dad were surely going to throttle us whenever we made it back. Around me now were shadowed trees, and I could hear the faint sound of a creek. Knowing my brother, if he’d heard it too…he would be sitting by the waterline waiting for me with some dumb joke like, “Water’s running, why weren’t you? You could’ve caught me if you tried harder.”
By the time I make it to the creek bed, it’s faded to nighttime. There was no way we would be able to find our way back, even with the trail of branches I had been leaving for us to follow. The shiny water seems to be glistening against the sagebrush. “Mika!” I call out, “Where are you?”
I hear a gurgling sound from the water. Its as if someone is giggling underneath it. “Hello?” I ask the land around me. “Is someone watching me?” The giggling stops. I sit down to rest for a moment, and quickly with the sound of the creek churning beside me…I am fast asleep.
In the morning, I know immediately that something is off. I look back towards the area that I came and the sticks I had been leaving to follow back had been picked up and stacked neatly into a pile. Not funny Mika. I thought to myself. That wasn’t the only thing that changed during the night though. Why is it so quiet?
The creek had vanished.
The only logical explanation would be that Mika found me in the middle of the night and carried me off somewhere else. As some sick joke. “WHERE ARE YOU MIKA?” I scream.
Then I hear the giggling again.
It is coming from past the pile of twigs closer to the wooded area. Today the colors appear even richer than they had before. It was beautiful, but I was terrified. I reached behind the twigs and noticed a small message carved into the dirt by one of them.
Good brother. It read.
“Okay, I am done playing games with you, Mika. We need to find our way back to camp. I know you’re watching me. It’s fine if you don’t want to come out but follow me when I leave at least.” I shove past the twigs and back into the great green wonderworld. Everything looked unfamiliar to me. It was as if the landscape had truly shifted overnight. Snow drops appeared on more of the trees to the west, so I walked towards there.
It’s a clever one. I hear whispered behind me. My skin pales to the shade of oatmeal. That voice did not sound like Mika, it didn’t even sound human. I start running as fast as I can towards the west. Behind me I hear, If you keep running around like that, you will end up smacking right into a tree! and the high-pitched cackling of creatures. I am panting and dripping sweat along the moss-coated logs of the forest. “LEAVE ME ALONE!” I cry out. Now I can hear small footsteps coming up behind me, they’re gaining…faster and faster and…
My head pokes out of the woodland and into a more domesticated setting. A small boy runs up to me with a head of soot-colored hair and mudstain freckles. “Callen! There you are. Mom and dad have been worried. Where did you go?”
My brain is still in panic mode, the blood has rushed to my ears and I’m listening for the sinister cackling of the creatures. “Where were you Mika?!?! I have been looking for you since last afternoon. I thought you had gotten lost in the woods.”
Mika looks at me, confusion spreading across his face. “We were only playing in the woods a few hours ago Cal. Mom and dad were just worried because dinner will be soon and they didn’t want for you to miss it.”
The look of distress on my face must have been overlooked by my brother, because he smiled and pulled me over to the campgrounds. “Mom, dad, Cal is back! We’re ready to eat.”
My father grins at me, “Good thing you’re here, I was about to go looking for you myself! Hope the sprites didn’t scare you too much.” He throws back his head and laughs like he has just told the best joke in the world.
And in the distance, I swear, as the moon rose to its peak, I could hear the giggles beginning again.