Into the Woods “Hurry up!” Maisie's brother Jeremy groaned as he hiked up ahead of her. “I have to use the bathroom and the next resting spot is only a couple miles ahead!” Her seventeen year old brother was going to be a senior in high school and thought the whole world revolved around him. “It's not my fault I have short legs!” Maisie retorted. She had just turned twelve this June, a summer baby and on top of that, a late bloomer. Their dad, Michael, in an effort to become close again with them after the divorce, had taken them on a Appalachian mountain hike. The year before, Maisie's mom and him had begun to start fighting more and more often. Now, Maisie and Jeremy lived with their mom in a little suburban house in Florida while their dad lived in Massachusetts. Coming to his bachelor pad for the month in the summer was awkward for all of them. They had been used to him coming down to their city Weston in Florida and staying in a hotel. She didn't have any friends in Massachusetts and worst of all, she was missing her friend Shawna's big pool party where her crush Connor was going to be. This summer had been one of the worst of her life so far. They had been hiking for two hours already and Maisie was hot and exhausted. August was definitely not the time to go for a hike, especially during the beginning of a heat wave. Her dad and brother were marching steady a couple yards up the trail from her. She was listening to her iPod admiring the forest when she looked up and suddenly, she couldn't see Jeremy and her dad anymore. Maisie kept hiking, hoping to catch up with them. A fork in the road was just ahead and she stopped dead in her tracks. “Dad? Jeremy?” All Maisie heard was silence. A little louder she shouted, “Dad? Jeremy? Dad? Jeremy?” With no answer, she decided to continue forward to see if she could find them. Against her better judgement, she took the right trail. Continuing on the trail for a couple minutes, the path slowly faded to brush. Maisie spun around to look behind her and the path had disappeared. All the trees were evenly spaced and she didn't know which bush she had just passed. The rest stop is just ahead, keep going straight, she thought to herself. Maisie hiked ahead hoping to find her brother and dad or the rest stop. She was unsure, had she passed that tree with the big knots before? That bush looked familiar. At this point, Maisie had no idea where she was but kept walking forward in the direction she thought the rest stop was. She was starting to feel more than a little worried. Soon, afternoon turned to twilight, and Maisie began to feel scared, they had to have noticed her missing after a while. They'll have to send a search party out, said the hopeful voice in the back of her mind. The sun was setting and she still didn’t know where she was. All Maisie had was her backpack, iPod, sweatshirt, water bottle, and a couple granola bars. Mosquitos were coming out and she could hear the crickets chirping. The only thing she could do now was find someplace to sleep and hope to be found tomorrow morning. Maisie looked around for a big tree to stay for the night. Finally, she found a big oak that seemed sturdy and safe. Swatting at the mosquitos swarming her head, she pulled a granola bar out and ate half, saving the rest for later. Covering herself with her sweatshirt, she tried closing her eyes, but they flashed open when she heard a crackling among the sticks. It was far away but it seemed to be getting closer with every step it took. Maisie had never felt more scared in her life. She heard a foreign noise, sounding like nothing she'd ever heard before. What would be in the middle of the woods in the middle of the night? Fear overtook her mind. Maisie arose and sprinted behind the next massive oak tree. A dark black shape came closer and closer. Crackle. Crackle. Across the forest, she spotted a hidden area of foliage. It was her only chance to get away from this shadow that was