In The Woods

The night sky is filled with a tapestry of stars, as smoke from a campfire rises in attempt to meet those glittering orbs of light. It ultimately fails as it reaches the height of the surrounding trees, and disperses as if it never had existed. The fire crackles and dances on its wooden stage. Little, fluffy clouds on twigs hover over the fire. "Pearl, pay attention! You're burning it," John warns. "Oh," Pearl snaps to and withdraws her marshmallow from a scorched existence. She grabs a piece of chocolate and two graham crackers, and wedges the marshmallow between them to make the sweet sandwich, s'more. "It's still good," she says with her mouth full, after taking a bite. "Don't talk with your mouth full. God, didn't mom and dad teach you any manners," John inquired annoyed. "Jeez, lighten up." Pearl rolls her eyes, "we're out in the wild. Living off the land. Sleeping in the brush. Wrestling with wildlife." "We're not doing any of that. We're camping on safe, tourist campgrounds. With a cooler of food. In a tent. No animals to be seen," John retorts. Pearl looks past John while eating her s'more, "then what's that bird doing there in the tree," she raises her eyebrows and smiles, with chocolate and marshmallow goo covering her teeth. "God, you're disgusting," John looks away as he puts his s'more together. "What? Is there something in my teeth," Pearl laughs. John shakes his head and takes a bite out of his s'more. Pearl looks at him, "you seem a little on edge." "Just wished I decided to go with my boys, instead of you, mom and dad," John confesses. "Okay, that's really... honest of you. Hurtful, but honest," said Pearl. "Sorry, it's sounds really bad, now that I said it out loud," John apologizes. "You think," Pearl quickly responds. "Speaking of mom and dad, where are they? They should've been back from their hike by now. It's already dark," John asks. Pearl looks around, "they probably got a little lost, but they should be fine. They'll be back in no time. Anyways, I'm calling it a night," she yawns. Pearl gets up and stumbles on her way to the tent, "you didn't see that." John chuckles, "I saw everything." "Was that a smile I spotted," Pearl jokingly inquired. "Shut up and go to sleep," John snarkily joked back. "Good night, big bro. It's been a slice," Pearl said. John responded, "good night, Pearl." John realizes that Pearl left him to tidy up the campsite and sighs. He'd stay up a little bit, waiting on their parents to return, but he grows tired and puts the fire out. It's time for him to hit the hay, as well. He hopes they'll be back by the morning. Pearl has trouble sleeping, worrying about their parents, as well. Her jokey demeanor faded in her restlessness, but she attempts to sleep. They'll be okay, she tells herself.

The next morning, John wakes up to Pearl lightly slapping him to get up, "John. John!" He sits up, still half asleep, "what?" "Mom and dad aren't back yet," Pearl said worried. "What, really," John asks. "Uh, do you see them around," Pearl retorts. " Pearl, please. The attitude. I just got up," John stands up and drags his hands down his face in an attempt to wake up. "I'm gonna go look for them," Pearl impatiently adds. "Gimme a sec. I'm coming," John gets ready to help Pearl search. She starts walking towards the forest quickly and John says, "Pearl, slow down. We need a game plan in case something happens." "I have a bad feeling in my gut, John. We gotta find them," Pearl says. "I know, I was feeling a little uneasy last night too," John admits. Pearl responds quickly, "then let's go. We'll talk game plans on the way." John tails right behind her, "stick together no matter what. Make mental notes of our surroundings, like making a breadcrumb trail of sorts, and turn back when it starts getting dark." "I'm not going back 'til we find them, John. It's not happening," Pearl snaps back. "We can't get lost ourselves if we wanna find them, Pearl," John explains, "maybe we should head to the campgrounds' attendants offices. See if they know anything, or can help out. Hell, maybe they're there." "They'd be back already if they were there for the night. I'm going on, with or without you," Pearl responds frustrated. John sighs, "you make it difficult being your big brother, you know that?" "We're gonna find them, if it kills us. That's it. We keep going 'til they're back with us," Pearl snaps back as if not to even listen to what John is saying. It's almost as if she is telling herself that. Psyching herself up to do this. She's scared and worried, so John doesn't respond to that. It's what they must do now.

They search for hours, screaming out, "mom! Dad," every so often. They're mostly silent the entire time. The only noises were that of crunching leaves and snapping twigs, under the stomping search of the siblings. Pearl breaks the silence as she spots a cabin, "John, look!" "A cabin in the middle of the woods? Oh no, I saw movies like this," John half-jokes. Pearl makes a run for it. "Pearl! Wait," John shouts out. He grabs her arm just before she pounds on the door. "What the hell, John! Let go," Pearl yelled. Their faces turn to shock as an old lady opens the wooden door, "what's all the ruckus about?" "Sorry, we--," John apologizes but gets interrupted. "Have you seen our parents? Have they come by," Pearl butts in. "Sorry, sweetie, they're not here," the old lady answers. "Okay, sorry to bother you," John apologizes. "Please come in for a moment. You must be tired. Have a drink and a snack. Then we can call the authorities for help," the old lady suggests. "That's probably the best thing we can do right now," John agrees. "No, I'm going--" Pearl starts. "No, you're not. We are calling the cops and letting them handle it. I'm just as worried as you are, but we have to be smart about this," John orders and walks in. Pearl stands there for a moment as the old lady gestures for her to follow. She does so reluctantly. They look around the home and notice the old lady's obsession with candy. Jars of gumballs, lollipops, chocolates and many other candies were adorned throughout the house like artwork. "This isn't weird at all," Pearl whispers to John. "Shush," John quickly retorts. They reach the kitchen with baked goods all about. "Come, sit. I'll cut you a slice of chocolate cake. I made it fresh last night. Nothing better than the married union of chocolate and cake, I say," the old lady claims. John puts his hand on Pearl's shoulder, "relax and eat. I'll call the police." Pearl nodded assuredly and sat down. The old lady cuts a slice of cake and hands it to Pearl, "here, my sweet. Enjoy." "Could you show me to your phone," John politely asked. "Yes, of course. Follow me down the hall," the old lady leads. John turns to Pearl, "I'll be right back." Pearl nods and whispers to herself, "this cake is pretty good." She feels uneasy though, so she decided to join John and finish the cake later with him. John picks up the phone, but there's no ringtone. He clicks the phone's hook switch a few times to see if it changed. "Your phone's not working," he turns to the old lady. "Of course not, my sweet," the old lady's jaw unhinges and emits a blinding light. Pearl walks through the door and sees the old lady's light consuming John, her eyes wide with disbelief. John became a large, rainbow-swirly lollipop and drops to the ground. Pearl screamed at the top of her lungs, "John!" The old lady snaps her head towards Pearl, and slowly walks to her. Pearl turns and runs, crying in disbelief and overpowering grief. The old lady doesn't chase her though, it seems. She keeps running anyways. The thought of all the treats in the house being prior humans strikes her mind. The piece of chocolate cake she ate, too. The thought turns her stomach and makes her vomit. She continues to run, still not being chased. Pearl remembered the old lady said it was made last night. Was it her parents? Did she eat her parents? She cannot handle the thought. All she can can do is run. Run away. She has to leave. She has to live. Run, Pearl, run.