The Forest Kidnappers, by Annemarie Harrah 7th grade

In a dark, misty morning, the hot, fiery sun had yet to awake. Light, misty clouds loomed over the dense forest, like a layer of thin whipped cream, giving the whole scene a sort of eerie, mysterious feeling. *Snap* *snap* each innocent twig said as they crumbled underneath my wet, soggy paws. Beady black eyes darted from place to place, trying to seek out the first signs of danger at its earliest. Smoky black and gray clouds slowly backed off the harsh night, like they had lost their claim over the sky, revealing a breathtaking dart of fiery colors. Oranges, pinks, and yellows speared the dark forest, seeking all the night out of every corner of every nook, And what I thought to be a horrifying, enclosing, never-ending night, soon became a brightly chipper, loquacious morning. As dawn broke over the levels of gray, slippery mountains, birds and squirrels and all sorts of wildlife creatures you could ever imagine, peeked out from their miniscule secretive homes, with their matted feathers and their bushy tails. I, too, crawled out from my hiding spot, just as relieved as everyone else. The nightmare was over, only until the moon would rise again, though, shining brightly on ever creatures face, giving each one a pale, fluorescent glow. A stream nearby trickled its way down jagged rocks, its blue, clear water reflecting the forest’s image. Catfish hopped and bounced in the air like Mexican beans n a can. Frogs belched, bounced, and bundled back up onto their lily pads, and as far as I could tell, everything was amazing and cheerful. But something was off, something had to be off. My eyes glazed the scenery, checking for and signs of danger. But that was the thing, I could see everything and I could see everything was ok. Where was half of the FOREST? My joy-filled bubble had popped, leaving to fall headfirst into reality. The forest had been taken, kidnapped. As word slowly crawled its way around, creatures started to get anxious. Where had it gone> who had taken it? Would they be back for more? I had a hunch they would come back. But when? Throughout the whole day these questions raced through my mind like they were in a Nascar tournament. Creatures were getting paranoid, looking for answers. Was it the hawks? The Falcons? or maybe the rickety old owl next door? I made my way across the sad, thinning forest and as everyone pondered and watched me with hopeful eyes,
I left.
I marched for what seemed like days, maybe months, through the never-ending forest. Anger and betrayal blew me up like a hot air balloon. And as I traveled, the forest abruptly cut me off. Peeking out behind an old willow tree I heard the wind whistle and whoosh in front of me, leaving a stench that would make any other creature roll on the ground and cough, But I was just too curious and enraged that my body ignored the warning and kept treading forward. These “things” must have been the fastest creatures in the whole world, going up to 75 miles and hour, at least. They seemed to be holding two moons inside their mouth, because two bright lights speared the mist morning, blinding those in the way. I stood my ground, watching in horror and confusion. Also, were they rolling instead of running? I had never seen such a sight. It looked to be like rubber circles, crawling their way across a winding, narrow gravel path. I stood and thought, more and more questions hitting me like a bulldozer. My heart beated out a rhythm so specific and fast that it was like a hammer was pounding it out until it warred to death. Suddenly, mid-though, a blinding stab of white light speared my eyes, like a ruthless animal, blinding me to what lay ahead. A low rumble erupted from the creature. As I could no longer see, my 4 senses left lept into high alert mode as I roared back, bellowing my hardest, hopefully scaring the horrifying creature. Screams filled the air, piercing my ears, almost canceling out another one of my 4 senses that were left. Without warning, everything went into slow motion, like it was told to by a remote. The “thing” came toward me its ruthless lights still blinding. I tried to move when I felt death tap me on my furry, static covered back, but it as too late. It was like one of those nightmares where you want to move SO badly but your legs have given up. The “thing” came closer, almost focused exactly on me. 5 yards away, 4…3…2…and as it rammed me in the side, a sharp piece of shiny metal pierced my in the stomach, and as the gravel swirled up toward my face, I knew I had lost. It was over.