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by Aria McFarland, 7th Grade 1st Place Winner

 

“Leah? Leeaaah?” Me, Pearson and Mercy shouted into the darkness, hoping for any sign of her. “She was just here!” Pearson’s voice was a haggard whisper, a plea of desperation. “You saw her by the raspberry bush, right?” His voice cracked. 

“Yes, I swear, I just saw her over here.” I said, puzzled. Pearson lowered his gaze to the muddy leaf covered floor. 

“We would see her prints in the mud, then, right?” He looked brightly at me for approval. 

With a curt nod, I say, “Start looking.” 

        After long, I realize there’s no tracks to be found anywhere near the bush. I wave both of them over. Mercy’s voice, small and unfamiliar, boomed throughout the vacant forest. “How could Leah just disappear like that?” “I don’t know, but we need to get back to camp before it’s too dark,” I say. The sunlight is starting to fade. The trees, which once provided shelter from rain, now lunge at us, clawing with their branches. “Maybe, she’ll be there anyway.” I say, as if to reassure myself. I start walking in a direction. 

I look over my shoulder one too many times, as if something were to jump out at us. My breath hitches. I broke into a fastwalk, the mud squealing beneath my boots. Open space. Too many possibilities. Not enough escape routes. Too easy for a disaster to happen. I freeze. It’s almost like time stops as Mercy and Pearson knock into me. Silence. Then, a snap of a twig. No, we were the only ones here. I refuse to believe anything else. I stared at my feet for a moment, realizing that my boot has streaks of dark crimson on it. My heart clawed against my ribs, yowling like an animal. Blood. 

Then, my breathing eased as I saw seeds. Raspberries. The relief was so great it left my head spinning. “Why did you do that?” Mercy asks, startling me from behind. “Do what?” I ask, confused. “Why did you kick the raspberry bush?” I open and close my mouth. Nothing would explain what just happened. I turn my heel and start walking. The trip is silent, both of us lost in thought. 

Just when I was starting to hope we would find camp again, I spotted a raspberry bush, trampled down as if.. Someone had kicked it. “Do you see that?” I ask Mercy. My gaze slips from the beaten bush to her. Her face is pale, her mouth wide open. Then she spoke, voice cracking. “Where…” She looked around wildly, then froze, her eyes falling to the ground behind me.

“Where is Pearson?”

I look around, then start running back down the trail, my heart hammering with possibilities. No, no, no. “Pearson?” I cry out. I reach behind me, trying to get ahold of Mercy. Instead, my hand clenches on cold, dead air, and I fall to my knees on the wooded slope. I slowly turn my head, afraid to see what I most dread. Loneliness.