chapter 1

Tired, sweaty, and out of breath, I pushed myself forward through the mysterious depths of the forest. I clutched my book against my chest, desperately hoping not to lose the precious item. I then clumsily stumbled on a rock. Staggering forward, I caught myself on a low branch, and continued forward. I thrust my head back, to see if I was still being followed. No sign of the tall man in black anywhere. I stopped, stepped behind the largest tree in sight, and slid down the old aged tree. I panted hard. I had been running for a long time, ever since my grandfather gave me the special book that was tightly wrapped in my hands. I looked down at the odd book. I fingered the finely done art on the cover, swirls and flowers covering the page. This morning, I walked proudly out of my Grandpa’s store, book in hand. Then, out of nowhere, a tall brunette man in black grabbed me! I was too terrified to scream, and I was scared, so I ran. That was really idiotic of me to run into the forest instead of running to Grandpa! Ha ha, lesson learned. I ran for at least half a mile, no stopping, occasionally looking back to see the mysterious man sprinting after me. Here I am now, in the middle of nowhere, searching for a sign of life. Anywhere. I had no idea where I was! This was not good. All I had was the clothes on my back and the strange book that I had not yet opened. I decided to take a peek. My hand moved toward the cover. NO!!!!!! I smacked my hand with my other hand. Grandpa said not to open it until my 13^th birthday, which was in 6 days! Oh my goodness, seriously, Grandpa? You know that I am very impatient! He always told me, “Good things come to those who can wait, Joey.” I hate when he calls me Joey! My name is Joel, but I could never tell Grandpa that I do not appreciate him calling me Joey, that would be rude. Good thing Grandma and Mom at least call me Joel. My dad calls me Joe, but I barely see him anymore because of his stupid work. You know, I just realized that I am thinking about my name when I am lost in the woods and my phone is dead! “Great job, Joel. Forget to charge your phone again!” I thought. Oh well, at least that scary guy is nowhere to be seen. I got up from my hiding spot behind the tree. What I really need right now is a nice, cool glass of water. I remember passing a stream while running for my life a while ago. I tried to form a map in my head from where I began running to where I am now. Hmmmmmmm…it would be easier to do that if only I hadn’t feared for my life the whole time! I began walking home. That’s odd; no sign of the tall man anywhere. Oh well, I hope he took a wrong turn, or something. I remembered most of the trees, rocks, and twigs as I passed them. Finally, I decided that I was way too tired and out of breath to continue on. So about 10 minutes after walking, I sat down. It was the middle of summer, so I didn’t need to make a fire or anything. All I needed was the wool hoodie that Grandpa gave me with the book. I lay down on the cool, damp ground and my eyes shut closed.