It was exactly as the website described it—a well-kept, rustic little cabin surrounded by lush greenery, alive with the sounds of birds, insects and furry creatures going about their day. The late-afternoon sun sprinkled lazy spots of light through the leaves of the trees, ignoring the scowls of a few nearby clouds.
A weekend in the woods
“What do you think, kids?” Thomas asked as the van came to a halt and he quickly jumped out. He and Joan walked around the clearing in which the cabin, a gazebo and some haphazardly scattered wooden benches stood. A swing dangled from one of the trees, and there was a sign that said “Hiking Trail” nailed to a guava tree near a narrow, freshly cut path. A few bees moved lazily through the flowers that filled the garden at the back of the cabin, from where the couple could hear the river gurgling.
“This is heaven,” Joan whispered with a smile.
“Isn’t it?” Thomas replied. “I don’t think it’s what the kids will give five stars, but I think a tech-free weekend will do them some good.”
They returned to the van just as Harry put the last bag on the ground.
“I right down the hill if yuh need anything, eh,” he said, hoisting his heavyset body back into the van.
“Sure thing, man,” Thomas said and started taking the bags inside the house. Joan pulled out a pack of antibacterial wipes and began cleaning the kitchen counters. Sam and Tessa looked around the cabin, wearing the same forlorn looks on their faces.
“I lowkey wanna go home right now,” Tessa muttered.
“Bet,” Sam nodded.
“You two should get outside and explore. The fresh air will lift your spirits. I’ll call you when the food is ready,” Joan urged.
Wearing matching uninterested looks, the siblings walked out. Tessa headed to the hammock in the gazebo, with Huntrix’s “Golden” blaring through her headset, while Sam opted to pick some of the low-hanging, juicy guavas. He was hungry, and the red splotches on his pale skin were itchy. How he wished he had remembered to use insect repellent, as the brochure had recommended.
A voice in the forest
“Sam!” He jolted and turned his head in the direction of the sound, towards the hiking trail.
“Mom? I thought you were making dinner?”
“Sam, please come help me,” came the reply, this time a bit louder.
“Mom!” he shouted, running in the direction of the voice.
“Mom, where are you? I can’t see you,” he screamed as he went further and further along the trail, following the sound of her voice. Exhausted, he sat on a dead tree trunk to catch his breath. He felt as though he had run for miles, and his feet were covered in blisters. He had no idea when he had lost his Crocs.
Darkness and raindrops descended on the forest simultaneously.
“Mom, where are you?” he sobbed loudly.
“Please, Mom. I wanna go home.”
The rain eventually stopped and gave way to a pale moon. Sam lay next to the tree trunk, wet, cold, hungry and afraid. He heard a snap behind him and jumped to his feet.
“Ouch,” he yelled in pain. He heard an eerie snicker behind him and turned just in time to see the silhouette of what looked like a child with a big hat on its head.
“Who’s there? Please! I wanna go home!”
The children of the night
He sat and placed his head on the trunk, sobbing softly until exhaustion put him into a deep sleep. He dreamt that a group of faceless children, with legs facing backwards and dressed in tattered clothes, made a pillow of soft leaves and placed it under his head. He sighed dreamily as they cleaned the blisters on his feet and treated them with a poultice.
“Sam!” This time, it was his father’s voice.
“Son, thank goodness we found you.”
He opened his eyes. It was dawn, and there were about 12 pairs of eyes staring back at him.
Within seconds, he was squashed against his father’s chest.
“Are you hurt, son?” one of the men, a police officer, asked.
Sam pried himself from Thomas’ embrace and looked at his feet. His soles were covered with what looked like red dye, and the blisters were no longer raw and painful. His Crocs were resting on top of the tree trunk, clean as new. He shook his head.
“I just wanna go home, please,” he whispered.
A miraculous rescue
Perched safely on his father’s back as they made the trek to the cabin, Sam looked at the men who had helped find him. He later learnt they were a civilian group that helped families and law enforcement find missing people, rescue people who were stranded or trapped, and recover bodies from hard-to-reach places.
Joan, Tessa and Harry were waiting at the cabin, and as soon as the group entered the clearing, his mother and sister raced towards them. The family of four locked in a tight embrace that seemed to go on forever. Sam’s parents could not stop thanking the rescue team.
“You and your team deserve many more national awards for the work that you do,” Thomas said as he gave the captain a firm handshake.
Harry began loading their bags into the van.
“Whe we goin?”
“To the hospital to make sure he’s okay, then to the airport to see if we can get on the next flight home,” Thomas instructed.
“I bet mom will never send us out for fresh air again, huh Sam,” Tessa joked.
A final farewell
The van pulled away from the clearing, and Sam looked out the window, deep in thought. From the corner of his eye, he saw movement and looked at the swing just in time to see a child-like shadow jump off, wave and run into the forest. He raised his hand and timidly waved back.
