On seeing nothing but a vast expanse of trees surrounded around him. The boy sighed until his eyes caught onto the tallest tree some distance away. “Should I climb on that one? But that won’t make any sense. Nothing makes sense, taking the dare was a stupid idea, like the stupidest ever.” He thought to himself.

Then he carefully got off the tree he was sitting on and made his way to the tallest tree. Navigation and traveling in the forest were not his expertise; he was holding onto whatever idea came to his mind to escape from the woods and from it.

Climbing on the other tree was harder, but having a sporty body gave him some favor. He was wary of his surroundings, looking out for anything odd, and very careful with his steps. The hooting of owls from all directions made him nervous.

As he reached the highest spot of the tree, which was strong enough to bear his weight, he scanned his surroundings from above once again.

The view was the same, just a little higher¾until his eyes caught onto something familiar under the full moon light. The barren land faraway, surrounded by walls whose texture was similar to the walls he had seen somewhere before.

 Something glistened in that place, the boy thought it was unreal. That glistening was of the Iron Gate reflecting the moonlight. He thought to himself, “The path near that gate is the only way back outside these damned woods.”

 A wave of relief washed over him, only to seep into worry and fear. In broad daylight today, he had failed to make his way out of the forest and had ended up just circling around the path leading back to that gate. The possibility of getting intertwined into that loop made him shudder. But taking the dirt pathway towards the gate was more bone chilling to him as he thought of it. What if that was waiting for him? To get his flesh it had missed before?

 ~~

At The Cabin house

Lunch was silent. Alright, not that silent; there was clattering of plates and spoons in between. The sometimes Rock’s voices in between. After that, we cleared up the table. I made sure that not even one speck of stain was left on the table. The dining table was shining.

The old man asked me what I had done to the table to make it like that. I had simply shrugged. The old man said I had gone overboard with it. But I paid no heed to his remarks. Later, I helped him with drying the plates and went back to my room. Rock followed me behind. I wished to have alone time, but I think this dog had soon become an exception.

Dinner time arrived, and there was a complete repeat of the drill we had in the afternoon. Expect this time Rock had now decided to stay at the old man’s room. I was getting jealous of that old man. In more ways than I had anticipated. One of the other reasons was that he had no homework.

This cabin and the whole forest-like environment was a relaxing place. The rustling of leaves outside and the earthy smell that came every time I opened the balcony door was refreshing from the city life, and them.

~~

Morning arrived, and I was greeted with the old man and Rock downstairs. The old man was holding a leash; he smiled at me. “Good morning, Casey.” 

I looked at the leash and Rock, who was staring at me expectantly. “Good morning, Si- Cole.” It was rude not to wish him morning greetings, but the smile he was giving me was making me nervous.

Within a minute, I knew what he wanted. After 5 minutes, I was outside, on the dirt path leading to the cemented road from where I had come from before. My hand held the leash of ours truly, Rock the Cabin House dog.

“A morning walk, amazing.” I told Rock. He did not respond; he was rather busy sniffing the dirt ground. 

 After walking for a while, we made it to the cemented road and began walking the path the old man had told me to strictly stick to. The chirping of birds and the morning’s coldness were vibing in the atmosphere. But that coldness of morning won’t stay for long.

Some cars drive past us. A couple of them greeted Rock. Rock responded with a ‘Woof’.

“Quite popular, aren’t you?” I asked him.

“Yes totally.”

I abruptly looked around, and that’s when I saw a person appearing out of the bushes. A boy, green eyes staring into mine, who was in his jogging gears.

A phone wrapped around his bicep. Fancy, but I don’t want to interact with this guy who came literally out of nowhere.

“Who are you?” he asked.

I sighed, “Name’s Casey, and yours?” If he knows my name, then so should I. Though I might forget his, and he will forget mine too.

“Robin.”

‘Robin Hood’ came the word in my mind. “You went for a run in the woods?" I asked him, to my own surprise.

“Yes, it’s awesome.”

I raised my eyebrows. “Is it not dangerous?” I asked, and the words of the old man were roaming in my mind.

He wavered his hands in the air. "No, it’s not.” He stepped closer to me. But then he stepped back immediately, realizing it would make him look like a creep. He continued, “…as long as you don’t cross the sign boards or fences, you’re cool.”

I nodded.

 “..and alive.” Then he showed off his bicep, which had the phone tied around it. “Could you tell me the time on it, please?”

I had a hard time catching up to all his words, and now he is asking for what time it is. I looked over the phone. “7:30 a.m.”

"Thanks, see you around Casey and Rock.” Then he began running along the side of the road, in the direction I was heading. After some moments, he faded down the road. I was left behind, standing here with Rock in the middle of roads, surrounded by woods. Some bushes are creeping on the cement road.

“Rock, aren’t you the famous dog of this town?”

"WOOF"

 ~~

After some time of wandering along the road and the coldness of morning wavering off, I made my way back to Cabin. My job of walking Rock was done for the day.

On entering the living room without making any noise by default, I decided to go into the kitchen. When the ringing resonated from the living room, it was a landline phone, to my surprise. Lying there covered under a translucent cloth near the TV was an object rare to my generation.

The old man, while coming downstairs, saw me and asked me to pick up the call.

“Hello?”

“Hello, who is it?”

I held onto the table’s edge. My body felt stiff the moment those words were poured out of the phone.