One October night in the darkness of the Aberdeen Forest, a young man named Atticus was walking with his beagle, Clyde. Atticus and Clyde had just moved to their new home on Walnut Street yesterday afternoon, so they still weren’t very familiar with their new neighborhood. They were in the forest because Clyde had started chasing a fox, and without following the path through the woods, they had somehow ended up very lost. Atticus realized he had forgotten to charge his phone that afternoon, so it was only at 10%. He realized that he probably wouldn’t be able to call his best friend Nathan, who lived a few doors down from him, for help. He pulled a small flashlight out of his pocket, hoping maybe it would work. As he tried to turn it on, he hoped for a small flicker of light, but unfortunately, the flashlight was dead too. Well, Clyde, now how are we going to find our way back home again?
As Atticus and Clyde continued walking deeper into the forest, it began to rain. As Atticus began sliding in the slippery mud in his boots, he realized that it would probably be impossible to find their way back home, even more so now. Aside from a few granola bars and a bottle of water, Atticus didn’t have very much food to get him or Clyde through the night. He realized that they would both be stuck there camping out underneath a giant oak tree for the night, or just until the rain stopped.
Atticus sat down in the pile of leaves underneath the tree because he was getting tired of both walking and standing. Clyde lay down next to him and let out a small whimper because he was sad; they hadn’t found their way home yet. Atticus opened his backpack, took out his bright blue water bottle, and took a long sip. He and Clyde were tired, cold, wet, and hungry, and he really hoped the rain would stop soon so they could try to find their way home.
The forest was filled with lots of terrifying noises like the snapping of tree limbs, falling, the howling of the wind, and animals running through the forest, but the scariest sound of all was an owl hooting. Atticus looked behind him and saw the deep yellow eyes of an owl staring back at him. No wonder it sounded like the owl was so close by. Atticus held onto Clyde so he wouldn’t try to chase the owl because both of them were so scared, but that didn’t stop Clyde from howling at the owl. It was almost as if the two of them were singing back and forth to each other.
Before both of them knew it, the rain had stopped a little, so Atticus decided that they should turn around and try to find their way back home. After walking for what seemed like hours, they finally found their way back to the path and started walking in the direction of where their house might be. Clyde began sniffing the ground as if he knew where they were going, and before they knew it, they had found their way home. As they made their way up the hill out of the forest and back towards their house, Atticus only had one thing on his mind once they got home, and that was that he wanted to take a warm shower and have a nice hot bowl of chicken noodle soup for dinner. Luckily, his dad was an amazing chef and had prepared soup for him, so he would have something to eat for the first few days in his new home. Clyde was also hungry and happy to finally be home. Atticus got him a fresh bowl of food and water, and he was as happy as a dog could be. His tail was wagging nonstop, and all Atticus could think to himself was that he was glad they had finally made it back home.
This was written by our founder and editor-in-chief, Hanna Peters.
Image Source: Unsplash, Nicolas Spehler
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