Into+the+Wilderness

=Into The Wilderness=

On April 2nd,1992 a fair maiden named Jessie was walking in the school yard. Jessie was beautiful with curly black hair as lovely as the night sky at dusk. As she passed a dirty brown concrete wall covered in ivy she heard a sound.

"I am Peter the prankster. I am Peter the king. Yucky yucky teachers all being mean. I am... But he never had a chance to finish because..." Jessie interrupted him.

"W-what are you doing?" She asked. "Your s-supposed to be in class!"Jessie exclaimed.

"Take it easy Jess. I'm just taking a break."

They argued on like this for a while until the school bell rang. With a humph Jessie turned around and strutted back to school. Peter on the other hand ambled and took his time getting back to the building.

Peter and Jessie didn't cross paths for a long time occasionally glancing dirty looks at each other. Until one day when Jessie was walking home. A little upset because some kids at school were teasing her. it was Friday and cumulonimbus clouds were starting to gather. Jessie broke into a light run trying to beat the nasty when she heard the laughing of thunder. In the distance she saw a thin figure racing towards her. There was no escape.

They collided together a pile of arms and legs. Jessie looked up to see a bushel of messy red hair covering a pair of murky brown eyes. It was Peter.

"What are you doing here!" He exclaimed.

"I was just about to ask you the same question." Replied Jessie.

"I just came back from Mr. Damion's house. I walked all over his pumpkins." Peter stated.

"Why that's terrible! How could you. Go back right now or I will for you!"

"Come on Jess don't tell him." But it was to late. Jessie was all ready storming to old man Damion's house.

Ding dong, said the doorbell as Jessie ran up the stairs.

"Yes", croaked Damion.

"We are here to apologize to you.'' Retorted Jessie. "You see sir, Peter is the one who walked all over your garden and he wants to say sorry to you." To everyone's surprise the old man laughed and welcomed them into the house.

Mr. Damion's house was not the house you'd expect from an old widower without a child. In fact, it was the complete opposite. T he smell of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies was emitting from the kitchen, there was knitting needles ready to do their job, and pictures of a little girl all throughout the room.

Looking around the room Jessie asked, "Who is that child in the pictures."

The one thing that no one suspected then emerged from Mr. Damion's lips. "That,'' he said slowly, "is my daughter."

"Your daughter!" Exclaimed Peter in shock. "I didn't know you had a daughter! What's her name? How old is she? Where is she? How have you been hiding her from us? Who is she?"

Slowly the old man replied. "Her name is Rebecca and she should now be 15. Her tale is a long one, I do not wish to speak of.'' He ended.

"Oh please tell us more," cried Jessie, you just have to go on.

"All right all right but first let me serve you some cookies."

So they all settled down with cookies and Mr. Damion started his tale. " When Rebecca was ten we had just moved here. There was a terrible storm. Powerful winds ripped through the trees like a sharp knife scattering branches and leaves every where. We were in the lounge eating supper. Poor Rebecca, who's never been afraid of storms before, shuddered at the sight of the wind ripping her beloved trees apart. We comforted her telling her it would be all right. Then dusk ended and night with it's terrible darkness fell upon us. Rebecca, still scared, made her way to the bedroom. We kissed her good night and my wife read her a story as she's done so many times. This one was about a lonely tree who finally finds a friend. It was her favorite as a child. Then we left and the house grew silent only to be disrupted by heavy breathing and an occasional scurrying mouse making its way to the cellar. Then the silence was broken by a terrified high pitched scream. The noise was coming from Rebecca's room. My wife and I sprinted as fast as we could to her room... but it was to late. My beloved daughter had vanished. We cried our eyes out and called the police but our troubles were useless." By know the old man had tears starting to form in his eyes but he continued on."The only clue we could find were many pairs of footprints leading into the forest. Then, as if things could get any tragic than that I lost my wife. We were searching the woods for Rebecca and stood back to back. When I heard a sharp gasp. i whirled around and saw a hooded figure slip into the underbrush. My wife was gone. I turned around and raced as fast as I could to the open clearing. My heart was racing and I felt like collapsing on the ground but I kept running." Mr. Damion was bawling on the ground and Jessie didn't know what to say.

"I wish I had the courage to go back in there but i don't. I'm to scared"

Jessie didn;t even think about it and said, "I'll help you. I will go into the woods and find her. I promise you that. I will go into the wilderness."