Sky was following us just a minute ago, but when we arrived at our next classroom, he was nowhere to be seen.

“Sky?”

I took a few steps back, but I couldn’t see him anywhere.

“Chill, bro. He needed to use the toilet,” Troy said, and I relaxed a little. “Didn’t you hear him?”

“I guess not,” I sighed, and returned to him, still trying to look for Sky.

“You always worry too much,” Troy chuckled.

“Well, if you and everyone else wouldn’t be so reckless all the time, I wouldn’t need to be worried,” I told him.

“Touché,” Troy nodded, and stared at me silently before he spoke, “You’ll hurt your neck if you keep doing that.”

“Doing what?” I asked while trying to see over the other students.

“Chill,” he said and forced me to look at him. “He is old enough to take care of himself.”

I didn’t bother to answer him. The minutes passed slowly. Troy tried to start a conversation with me, but I wasn’t listening. I had a bad feeling. I just… Something was wrong, and when the bell rang, and Sky wasn’t anywhere to be seen, I was getting really anxious.

“I’ll go find him,” I told Troy, and without waiting for his answer, I started running towards the other end of the hallway.

“You’ll be late!” Troy yelled after me, but I didn’t care.

I turned around the corner and saw the restrooms up ahead. I hoped Sky was there, and that he was all right. He’d been quiet ever since we left the nurse’s office, and I had the feeling it was because of me. I’d been too ashamed to talk to him, but now I understood I may have come across as rude. Maybe the reason for his silence was because I hadn’t had the guts to talk to him?

Or maybe he’d realized I had feelings for him and didn’t want to have anything to do with me anymore.

Once I reached the toilets, I yanked the door open and stepped in, calling for his name, but it was clear the room was empty. I checked every stall, but he wasn’t there. That horrible feeling I had was getting worse. Something was definitely not right.

“Sky?” I yelled his name after stepping out, but no one answered.

I didn’t know what to do, or where to look. I hoped he had got sidetracked again and was following a trail of ants, or a squirrel, or helping a bird, or whatever he always did, but my anxious mind started to form all kinds of awful scenarios.

“Sky!” my voice echoed through the empty corridors, but he wasn’t there.

Something woke me up, and I hurried to sit. I looked around in confusion, and for a moment, I couldn’t understand what I was seeing. Why was I in a forest? Then I remembered how I had gotten there, and why. I sighed and slowly stood up, stretching my back and legs. I had no idea how long I’d been sleeping there, and what was it that had finally woken me up.

Not until a horridly loud sound made me jump, and I looked up at the sky. A bright flash of light illuminated the dark sky, and I instinctively counted the seconds. Three seconds, and the rumbling thunder shook the ground under my feet. And it wasn’t the last one.

In just mere moments, the wind turned into a storm, and a heavy rain fell down on me. The sky was flashing angrily all around me, like Zeus himself had just hit his pinky toe in a corner of his table. It was bad. It was really bad.

I turned around, and was about to start running towards the school to get to safety, but then I had to turn around again. And again. I had no idea where I was, or which direction I needed to take to get back! The sky was so dark I couldn’t see the sun behind the angry clouds, so I couldn’t even tell what time it was. It could’ve been late evening for all I knew!

I tried to look for clues or signs or anything that could tell me where I was or which way to go. Then I remembered my phone! It had a map in it! I looked around to see where my bag was, but I couldn’t find it. Of course I couldn’t – I had stupidly left it by the road.

I had nothing else with me except my wet clothes.

“Now I’ve done it,” I whispered, but I couldn’t hear myself over the furious thunderstorm.

I had to find somewhere to stay. The thunder was right above me. It was dangerous to stay in the forest, and not just because of the lightning. The wind was blowing so strong the old trees were bending, and I could hear loud bangs all around me when the wind mutilated them.

I didn’t waste a second. I started running, hoping I was going towards the city. I heard a tree falling down somewhere close by, but it was too dark for me to see it. I rushed through the bushes and thick grass and tried to keep my eyes out for a shelter.

I tripped and almost fell on my face when a lightning hit a tree close by. I saw red and blue sparks flying everywhere, and the tree collapsed. I stumbled back on my feet and kept running in another direction.

I didn’t know how long I’d been stumbling through the raging forest when I saw a river looming up ahead. I laughed cheerfully when I saw it. I knew it was leading to the city! I’d been studying maps a lot, and it was the only river that size in this part of the forest. When I ran towards it, another lightning struck the ground close by. I picked up my pace, but ended up tripping again.

It was a struggle to keep moving forward without clear paths. I had to push through thick bushes, grass, and small trees to get to the river. Once I finally got to it, I had to stop to think how to proceed. The rocky riverbank was steep, and I could easily break my neck if I lost my balance, so I had to move carefully.

But I wasn’t being careful enough.

The rocks were slippery from the rain, and when another booming lightning hit the ground only a few hundred feet away from me, I nearly jumped out of my skin, missing my step. I slipped down the big rock, my foot getting stuck between the rocks. But my body was still moving forward.

I screamed in pain when my leg bent in a way it wasn’t supposed to, and I hit my head when I fell. For a moment, I saw sparks flying around, and it took me a moment to realize it wasn’t because of the pain. Another tree got caught on fire right above me, and it was crackling furiously when it fell in my direction. Somehow, in my slight panic, I managed to free my foot, and I hastily crawled my way out of the danger.

The tree fell right next to my feet and its huge branches buried me under them. I felt stinging pain all over my body as the branches scraped my skin, but my throbbing ankle was much more unbearable. I could only hope it wasn’t broken.

I crawled from under the tree and saw a little ledge right above the water. There was just enough room for a small boy like me to squeeze under it, but it was hard to get to it with my injured leg. I cursed myself for walking on the slippery rocks. I cursed myself for leaving my bag and my phone behind. I cursed myself for ever leaving the school.

I wondered if anyone had noticed me missing. I didn’t know what time it was. It was possible school was already over, and everyone was happy – and safe – back in their homes, watching the thunder under warm blankets.

I reached the little cave and pulled myself inside. I hoped there wouldn’t be any animals around. I was sure that everyone in that forest was panicking, and would attack me without asking any questions. I took a deep breath and curled up into a little ball, trying to be careful not to hurt my ankle even more.

My clothes were completely wet, and I was shivering from the cold. Even in the dim light, I saw holes and red stains on my sleeves, but I ignored them. I turned to look out of the cave and saw the dark river and trees behind it. The wind seemed to be getting worse and worse, and the river flowed faster, turning angrier by the second.

It took me a while to understand the cave had a few inches of muddy water in it, but it was still a better place to be compared to being out there in the open. I wished the thunder would end soon, so I could continue my way down to the city. I was getting tired and drowsy, but I couldn’t let myself fall asleep. It was too dangerous to fall asleep.

It wasn’t the first time when I got lost in the forest, and it wasn’t the first time I was outside in the storm. I knew I would be just fine, so I wasn’t scared. Well, maybe a little scared because this was the first time when a thunderstorm had caught me off guard and I had lost my phone. I didn’t have a map, and no one knew where I was. And I had just injured my leg. Okay, maybe a bit more scared than just a little.

I wanted to freak out and start screaming and crying for help, but somehow, I managed to keep myself somewhat calm. I was going to be just fine. All I had to do was wait for the storm to pass and stay focused. That’s all.

An average thunderstorm would last only for half an hour anyway, so I knew it would be over soon enough. Unless there was a tornado. Then I was screwed.