to get us killed,” I tell Alex while watching Brad with Jenn.
“Sorry, guys, I thought it would run away from me. I didn’t think it would charge me,” Brad apologizes, but I know the only reason he did was because Jenn told him to.
We continue on our hike. The last hour of our hike goes by slowly. Everyone is quiet, nervous about what we’re going to walk into next. Once we get to where the map says the portal should be there’s no portal to be found. I’m really disappointed and let down.
“So, where is this portal, Zac?” Jenn asks while looking around.
“It’s supposed to be here somewhere. My grandpa says it’s hidden, and there’s a certain way to turn it on. We have to look for something that may be out of the ordinary,” I tell them.
Brad sits down and leans back to relax. I realize he thinks this whole thing is just a joke but Alex, Jenn, and I split up and search the area. Nothing is standing out to me. All I see are trees, flowers, rocks, leaves, and a small river.
Now I turn around and see Alex and Jenn sitting with Brad. Everyone’s exhausted from the hike. I feel like a failure. What do I tell everyone? What do I tell my grandpa? Do we go home now? Was this whole trip a joke?
“Give me a few minutes to look at this journal and figure this out,” I tell them while giving them a bottle of water to share. They pass it around to each other. Brad, being wasteful, dumps the rest of the water on his head to cool off. If he continues on with us, we’re not going to be able to survive with the items we brought.
I open the journal and find an area that I didn’t read before. It says to find the portal, there’s a tree that has an odd branch which is a handle. When you pull the branch down, an area will open up in the tree to put the gem in. This will activate the portal. It says to make sure you step back because the trees are going to fuse together.
I put the journal back in my bag and start to examine the trees around me. I ask Alex, “Help me look for a tree that has an unusual branch that could be a lever.”
We look at every tree carefully, pulling on every branch that sticks out. After about 20 more minutes of searching I finally find a tree that has an odd-looking branch to it. I slowly pull the branch down, and a carved out slot is hidden behind it. This has to be it, and my emotions begin to turn to excitement. Is this real? Is my grandpa really telling the truth?
“Hey, guys, come here. I found it, this is it. Get ready and grab your bags. As soon as I activate it, we ’ll have 10 seconds to enter the portal. Is everyone ready?” I ask while getting the gem out of my bag.
“Zac , that looks pretty real. I really didn’t think that this would exist,” Alex says while grabbing his bag. He walks next to me, ready to go.
“Cool, I’m ready to go ,” Jenn says while dragging Brad over to us.
“ Now this I have to see,” Brad says in a smug voice. He slowly backs away from us.
“I have no guarantees on what is going to happen, Brad. We ’ll just stick together for now and all head in at the same time,” I try to say nicely.
Once I see that everyone is ready, I take the rainbow-colored gem and place it in the oval opening that opened on the tree. We all take a step back once the gr ound starts shaking like a subtle earthquake. The roots of the trees start to pull out of the ground, acting as if driven by an invisible force. The branches act like arms and start to reach for the tree next to them. They start to intertwine branches and merge into each other. It looks like you can walk under the trees now.
The gem begins to light up and starts to glow, brighter than it did when it was in my hands , reflecting light of all colors of the rainbow around us. The glowing now starts to enter the middle of the trees until it looks like clear water rippling vertically in front of us. It almost looks like a water mirror. The wind has kicked up, and its gusty. It’s blowing our
Anne Conley
Robert T. Jeschonek
Chris Lynch
Jessica Morrison
Sally Beauman
Debbie Macomber
Jeanne Bannon
Carla Kelly
Fiona Quinn
Paul Henke