It was a good hour’s drive before we arrived at the four-hundred-acre park. Everything was the same as the first time I’d seen it, and mixed emotions began to stir in me. I was more than a little daunted.

As we were getting supplies out from the trunk of the car, Martin seemed to notice my nerves. “Ell, you okay?” Martin asked while readjusting his backpack into a more comfortable position.

“I’m fine,” I said. I have to face this. “Let’s try to find the spot where Dr. Lin found me.”

“Do you remember seeing any signs?”

“Yeah, Dr. Lin found me by an exit sign, three miles from here.”

“So, let’s keep following the path and we should find it eventually.” He sounded optimistic. “Katie, is Gwendolyn ready?”

Katie placed her doll with long, blond hair into the side pocket of her backpack, making sure that the doll’s head and arms peeked out neatly. She nodded enthusiastically.

“Gwendolyn?”

“Cute name, eh?” Martin winked at me, he then put a yellow hoodie in Katie’s backpack. “And you got your map?”

Katie proudly held up the Hemley Park map pamphlet.

“All right,” I said. “Let’s go!”

Katie skipped happily several feet ahead while Martin and I walked on the cement path. It was nice to see her enjoying this little adventure even though a part of me felt uneasy about revisiting the park. I was glad Martin was here with me.

I inhaled deeply and the earthy scent of pine and cedar filled my nostrils. Hemley Park was sheltered in the shadow of tall evergreen trees that flanked the path on either side. Many of the trees towered hundreds of feet over us and their trunks were easily ten feet in diameter. I marveled at their sturdiness and imagined them to be majestic sentinels standing guard over the park.

Beads of sweat formed on my brow and the nape of my neck as we walked in the summer heat. I swiped my hand across my brow then slid my hand under the nape of my hair. As I mopped my neck, I grazed by the burn mark. I decided to mention it.

“Martin,” I said.

“Yeah?” He put the cap back on his water bottle after taking a swig.

“A while back I found some kind of weird marking on me.”

“We all have bruises, babe.”

“No, I mean look…” I showed him the burn mark on the back of my neck.

“Did you have a tattoo removed?”

“I don’t know. Oh, and you know what else? I don’t have any other scars on my body. None.”

“I don’t think that’s possible.”

“I checked everywhere.”

“Maybe you weren’t thorough enough.” He teased. I rolled my eyes, choosing to ignore him, and looked ahead to see Katie standing in front of a sign that indicated a fork in the road.

“What did you find?” I asked Katie.

She turned around and pointed to the sign. The left side of it read Hemley Park Bird Sanctuary; the right side read Hemley Park Lake.

“So which way do we go?” asked Martin.

“We’re not going to the Bird Sanctuary—that’s for sure.”

“Cause you’re afraid of birds?” Martin laughed, as did Katie.

“Yeah, that’s right.” I straightened my back, almost puffing up my chest. I had no trouble owning that fact. “Can’t stand them. All they do is swoop, poop, and peck at things.”

“They’ll be in cages, Ell.”

“Okay fine, but that’s not the point. The point is that I know I didn’t come from that direction that night.”

“All right, all right,” he relented, holding his hands out to pacify me.

We strolled for close to an hour before I started to recognize the place. And there it was. The exit sign.

“There!” I shouted. “The first thing I ever read.”

“‘Hemley Park Exit, three miles,’” Martin read with a smirk. “That’s great, Ell. So, this is your furthest memory?”

“No. It was a while before I wandered here.”

“You could have come from anywhere.”

I looked at the sign and distinctly remembered grabbing on to it as I stumbled out of the woods.

I positioned myself by the pole, reenacting the way I stumbled out. “That way. I was in the woods before I got here.” I decided, pointing behind me.

“There isn’t a path back there, Ell.” He ruffled his hair, and just at that moment we all heard a loud, ominous thunder.

I looked to Martin. “Storm?”

He shook his head. “Nah, I checked the weather forecast before leaving—no storm.”

“That sounded like thunder.”

“I know it sounded like thunder, but I checked the forecast, and there’s no chance of rain.”

“Who are you gonna believe, my ears or the forecast?” My hands were locked on my hips now.

“Come on, Ell.” Martin encouraged. I glanced over at Katie and saw the eagerness in her eyes. She really wanted to go on this expedition.

“Fine.” I hesitantly agreed.

Katie’s face lit up with excitement.

The three of us treaded toward the woods, and almost as soon as I had agreed, I regretted my decision. But I couldn’t go back on my word, especially since Katie seemed so excited.

Martin took the lead, I was in the middle, and Katie followed behind us. I liked being in the middle, neither first nor last and always protected.

Here, the foliage grew wild and untended, so we had to walk carefully, slowing our pace to adjust to the uneven terrain. The tall evergreen trees towered over us and provided much needed shade. The sound of dry twigs snapping beneath our feet energized me and any worries I had about the brewing storm vanished. We continued on this way for some time before I noticed that the sun was setting.

“Martin, it’s starting to get dark,” I said.

“We’ve got flashlights, babe.” He reached behind him and casually rolled two flashlights out of his backpack. “See? Two of them—right here.”

“Great, you take one since you’re in the front, and Katie can—” I was interrupted by a high-pitched shriek from behind us.