The Unfortunate Woods

Edmund!!", yelled Lucy in her British accent.  "What are you doing?!"  Edmund woke up from his sleep startled from Lucy's yelling.

"I fell asleep. I didn’t keep track of time," he explained.

In impatient frustration and excitement, Lucy sat down next to him.

"Did you get permission?  Did you pack your bags?

Edmund was extremely tired.  He just nodded.  Then from the other side of the bus stop came Jane and Jake. Lucy, Edmund, Jane, and Jake were all students at Prep-Valley High School.  The school has arranged a perfect two-day camping field trip near the Woods…The Unfortunate Woods.

These kids have no idea what they are about to face.  All the four kid are around the same age.  Lucy is 13, Edmund is 15, Jane is 17, and Jake is 19.  All four students were good friends. Jake and Jane saw Lucy and Edmund came running to them with their packed bags for the trip.

"Wake up Dolly Daydream", joked Jake running toward them.

Jane was following Jake behind.

"Hey guys, you ready for the trip?"  Lucy has a positive and caring personality.

"Yes, we are about to have a whole lot of fun", she answered.

The bus had just arrived, and all of them got on.  Lucy and Jane sat together in one seat.  And in the next aisle sat Edmund and Jake.  It was an exhausting two-hour trip.  After the longest two hours in their lives, the bus arrived at the destination called Wood Camp.  The setting was so gloomy and dark.  The camp was abandoned. As Jane looked outside, her eyes were sparkling in excitement. However, when Jane saw the depressed feeling of no sunshine, the old wretched camp’s broken, creaking wood steps, and no stranger lurking around, she gave a big sigh in dismay. Then, all the students came out of the bus.

"This is greeeaat!"  Edmund sarcastically cheered.

Lucy tried to be positive, but she was having a hard time to find something positive in this unpleasant area.

"Come on let’s eat. I'm so hungry I could eat a horse" Jake said.

The teachers lit the campfire, and everyone was roasting marshmallows.  Suddenly Frank, the 18-year-old, tall skinny guy, had a great idea.

"Does anyone want to have a scare? Because I am about to tell you about a hidden legend about these mysterious Woods.  I will tell you why it is named the 'The Unfortunate Woods'.  Legend says he that goes beyond the caution sign near the Woods gets lost and is never to come back."

There was a silence, everyone looked at each other and started laughing as if Frank said something hilarious.  BAM!  The lightning struck, and it started to rain rapidly.  Everyone ran inside the cabins.  After the rain slowed down, Edmund convinced all four kids to check out the place in Frank’s story.  They left and reached the sign saying in capital bold words CAUTION— DANGER AHEAD.  The kids went left, slowly thinking that Frank’s story was not real.  The kids later came across a girl wearing a royal looking blue gown and, over it, she was wearing a dark blue, long hood ending just above her beautiful blue heels.  She looked as if she was looking for something. She gently lowered the headpiece of her hood.  Her hair was dark brown and tied up neatly.  She looked back and saw the four kids and she was surprised.

"Sorry. Don't mind me asking, but what are you wearing?"

Edmund started laughing and said, "Funny, we should ask you the same thing".  She looked serious and was not joking.

"Hi, I am Jane, we are students from Pre-Valley High School."  Jane goes for a handshake.  The girl looked at her hand in a weird but friendly way for a moment, then she gave a curtsy and spoke.

"Good day to you Jane from Prep-Valley High School.  I am princess Rose from the Kingdom of Rosveld, and I just turned twenty actually."

As she bent over, she found her crown that on the floor and said, "Finally! I’ve found it!"

Now the kids got panicked and told the princess about what happened and introduced each other.  The princess was excited.

"Yes, an adventure! But first let’s get you all look a little unsuspicious.  Come on!"  she cheered.

The kids followed the princess and they saw two knights standing in armor.

"Princess, how are you?"  one said in a sweet but honorable voice.

"Happy to serve you my lady" the other one kneeled down and said in a charming and pleasant voice.

"Come on guys, stop it!" the princess laughed in a friendly way. Both the knights took off their steel head protectors.  One was a girl with dark red hair that almost looked dark brown.  Her hair was straight and neatly tied in a low ponytail.  The other one was a boy. He had short, wavy brown hair.  Both the knights were very happy to see the princess.  They handed her a gift.  And when they saw the four kids, the knights also looked at them weird.  The princess introduced us to them, and then they introduced them to us.

"These are some people who came from another side of the world, they are extremely different.  Remember the legend…it’s true.  They seem like good people, so we need to help them" Princess Rose said; then, when all agreed, she turned to the four kids.

"As you know, I am princess Rose.  These are my two trustworthy friends.  They’re nice, kind, generous, funny, and much more."  She pointed to the boy.  "This is Peter. He is 19 years old."  Then Princess Rose pointed at the girl.  “She is Violet.  Violet is 20 years old."  Both gave a friendly wave to us.  Princess Rose and her faithful friends helped the four students to stay blended and not look weird.  They wore beautiful suits, ready for riding and even battle.  The princess also changed her gown into the same type of adventurous clothing.  She did not wear her crown.  That way no one would know that she is the princess.

They all rode horses, took breaks, ate food, and came into some danger.  They had to hide from the bad people.  But finally, they reached their destination.  The other side of the land, there was a tiny door hidden beside the plants.  At this point, they all became great friends.

"Wow. I can’t believe the legend was true. The royal librarian, Caspian, he told us all about this door" Violet said.

After two days, the friend finally found the hidden door.  Lucy, Edmund, Jane, and Jane thanked the three friends.  But they had a feeling they did not want to go.  They decided they will always come the same way they came.  And they will always remember them.  When they went to the door, they crossed the tunnel and had entered the closet of a certain cabin.  When they came out, right in front of them Frank was walking with some sort of ancient ring.  He put it on.  Lucy's eye caught the ring, and she called out to Frank.

"Now you believe me, right?"  Frank looked at them, smiling.

"It wasn't as bad as you made it sound" said Jake.

"Bad? Are you kidding? I want to go again!" said Lucy.

"Until next time" said Jane.  The five talked about the secret land and went back to school in a positive mood...hoping to go there and meet their friends again.