The sultry air cools and the mellow sky darkens as night approaches. Among st thousands of pine trees lay many dreary campers, all are preparing to whether the cold. It is going to drop into the low twenties tonight.
Jandice, and her younger sister Trudy are helping their step-father hoist a tent up. A mother of thirty-four struggles to find a flashlight in the pile of junk that Trudy dumped onto the black ground.
"Argh! This damn thing! Can't we just live with sleeping bags for tonight?" Eric groans.
"Honey! Don't swear! It sets a bad example," Sarah chimes for the thousandth time.
"Please Mom, we're old enough!" Trudy calls back.
A banal tranquility settles over the family. For the first time in-fact. Sarah has just recently remarried, she had been a widow ever since Jandice could ever remember.
Night finally descends upon the family. Eric finally assembles the tents and stands back to admire his work.
"That was easy,"
"Uhh... Eric, where's our fire?" Jandice mumbles.
"Oh shit! The camp fire! How could I have forgotten it!"
Thankfully, Eric had remembered to pack matches. But the campsite was totally barren of fallen trees, and only several minced twigs were scattered around them.
"I hate to ask this of you girls, but could you two go scavenge for some firewood?"
The two girls whine, "But why!"
"It's O.K. girls! Mommy loves you!" Sarah shouts.
Eric begins to shoo them away, a small smile playing on his features, "Now don't forget! Small dry twigs! Nothing too heavy or damp, and lots of them... we'll be here for a few days!"
The lumbering man smiled and dashes to his new wife. Grinning, his arm ensnares her waist and assaults her with kisses.
"It'll be a while before they get back," he whispers.
"Why do WE have to get these stupid sticks?" Trudy grunts as she lunges to the ground.
"Oh stop whining Trudy, I'm sure Eric just wanted some "alone time"," Jandice mimes quotation marks with her fingers, looking disgusted.
The girls wander around, struggling in vain to find suitable fire wood.
"Let's go back! My legs itch! I'm cold!"
Dropping her sticks carefully, Jan glares at her, "Well maybe you shouldn't have worn that stupid skimpy skirt! Don't you understand what camping is like?!"
Trudy, a ditzy senior, chose to wear a short jean-skirt that just barely reached her mid thigh. With it, she wore a tight fitting black tank top (though she did bring a jacket). Jandice was wrapped in form fitting jeans and a thick black parka.
"You never know if there's going to be a cute boy in the woods!"
Jandice just sighs, finding it hard to fight with her sister.
"We should probably head back, I can barely see,"
"Finally!"
It's not long before the young maidens realize they're lost. It's not long before darkness overcomes the feeble flicker of their flashlight. Twisted trees and fallen branches bar every step, and the girls must clear, climb, and crawl through the twisted wood.
The girls come upon a small clearing. A circle of unstirred grass with a diameter of about eighteen feet.
"Maybe we should wait here, I can't read my compass that well," Jandice suggests.
"God it's cold," Trudy hugs herself.
"You're such an idiot," Jandice whispers fondly, removing her parka.
"Wear this, I'll be fine,"
Trudy smiles warmly and wraps herself in its warmth, sighing in relief. Jandice would be O.K. for now, she was still clothed in two t-shirts and a light undershirt plus accessories.
With the pile of twigs they had gathered, the sisters start a weak fire, which provides a little warmth for while they rest on the frigid soil. Jandice quickly falls asleep (Trudy falling suit). Somewhere in the teenagers minds' they rationalize that they'll be fine if they just wait until first light. It's not as though they were anywhere with particularly rabid wildlife.
And so the creatures of the night begin to awaken, filling the once silent woods with chirping, howling, and buzzing. Bugs and gnats pester her perpetually. Jandice finally becomes restless.
Attempting to ignore the sounds of the night, she stares up into the trees. The desolate and gray contorted mass surrounds her. She feels like she is being choked, her heart quickens and her eyes dart frantically, looking for relief. They're lost. How will they get home? Where are they?!
The sky is completely blocked out by the wicked mass.
Taking a deep breath, she trembles above a whisper, as though voicing her thoughts will give her the catharsis she so desperately needs, "I'm scarrrred,"
"How do you think I feel? I'm going to have to walk back alone tonight,"
She nearly screams, but two strong hands grab her face, blinding and silencing her completely.
Trudy is effortlessly lifted from her spot and carried away.