Lost in the Woods

by Elsa & Graeme

I plodded on through the night. It was winter and my clothes were dripping wet. The logs were dangerously slippery. I was stumbling and falling many times, climbing and falling over logs. After the first half hour I'd lost all sense of direction. But still I wasn't worried, I loved this forest, and I was sure to find my way out again. I'd tied my raincoat around my middle but, as I kept on falling, I lost the coat and also my glasses. The moon had disappeared behind the clouds and it was very dark. I told my dog Caleb to take me home, but he wasn't listening. In the end I sat down and screamed for help for a while, in the hope someone would hear me, but nobody did. [ Elsa]

After that emotional outburst came the realisation that I would be spending the night in the forest. What to do about it? I sat there and tried to stop worrying and to think rationally. I needed a plan. Firstly, how to survive the night and, secondly, how to get out of the forest in the morning. I felt that I could come up with a plan but maybe I would not take into account all the possibilities and essentials. That was a concern. Then I had a brainwave. I suddenly remembered that I was a member of a writers workshop. If only I could pose my problem to them. Just think of the many and varied ways they would dream up for me to get out of my predicament. Of course, they were not here but I could, at least, imagine what each of them might write. Colin and Bev are both Sunday walkers so they would know how to walk out of this forest, and today is Sunday. Mary is bound to think up something at the very last moment tomorrow morning. And Jo has a colourful imagination, and Krista will come up with her surprising twists. Graeme will ask his friend Sherlock Holmes to apply his mind to the problem and, no doubt, he will say that getting out of the forest is "Elementary, my dear Elsa." Actually, when you think about it, being lost in the woods can be fun. [Graeme]

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