Liam spun around, looking for the voice, a fear-filled expression on his face as his eyes darted around. Rowan’s smile fell at the sight of his brother, and he became nervous. Why did Liam look so worried?

   “Liam! Over here!” He waved with both hands above his head, hoping to be seen as the shaky old bridge they were on let out a loud creak. 

   “Stay where you are!” Liam shouted once he caught sight of Rowan. “Don’t move.” Liam looked to the left. There was a large branch barely hanging off a tall tree. Ropes tied to surrounding trees anchored the bridge up in the air. One of those ropes had been tied to the unstable branch, and every movement made the branch loosen its fragile grip on the trunk.

    Little Rowan, following Liam’s gaze, saw the breaking branch and screamed out to his brother in fear, “Liam! Help! I—I’m scared!”

    “Don’t be afraid! I’ll come get you, just stay there.”

    Liam slowly inched his way across the bridge, keeping his eye on the huge branch above, watching as it stiffly swayed up and down. As Liam crept closer to Rowan, there was the sound of a crack as the splintering branch lost more of its fragile grip on the tree, threatening to fall.

    “Liam!!” The boy yelled, making Liam pause and instantly move his head toward Rowan.

The branch, with a loud crunch, split off the tree and crashed into the bridge. The weight tore planks loose and took the bridge— and Liam— down towards the lake. Rowan’s breath caught in his throat as he saw Liam fall with the bridge, arms flailing, hands grasping for anything. The boy couldn’t tear his eyes away from his brother, nor could he move as he saw Liam splash down into the lake below. Rowan felt a jolt of adrenaline as more of the bridge broke apart in front of him. He quickly ran off the bridge, nearly escaping its collapse.