WARNING: This part contains an event that might trigger those who have been diagnosed with PTSD or other similar mental disorders, and might even cause distress in others. This part also contains strong language. Reader discretion is advised.

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Pages (according to Google Docs): 17

Words: 7025

Characters: 36577

Characters (excluding spaces): 29714

Published On: July 30th, 2020

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Summer is starting tomorrow, and the days have already gotten very hot and a little brutal. School's already out for summer break; the last day of school only being three days ago. I am extremely hyped-up for the first day of summer, despite the passionately loved season having a reputation for being hot, miserable, and having the ability to give you what's known as a painful sunburn if you don't apply sunscreen or if you don't apply it properly. I forgot to mention that I am also supposed to go out with Natalie tomorrow if the weather's nice. Oh, and did I mention that the greens of summer are now finally here? Now the trees are no longer leafless and they no longer make the atmosphere of any place very dull, lifeless, and very morbid, like something out of a horror movie. Spring is starting to evolve into summer.

And then there's me, slowly beginning to wake up from a well-rested slumber, feeling refreshed as a not so normal teenager can be. I attempted to get out of bed, but the warm comfort of my bed kept me from getting up. I slowly glanced over at the time on my alarm clock.

10:52 AM the time showed.

It turns out I woke up a little late, but I didn't mind. Besides, there wasn't anything important happening soon that I had to attend to, so it didn't matter. Plus the comfort of my bed refused to let me go, so I decided to watch a video or two on YouTube on my phone until my bed declared mercy on me.

After what seemed like hours but was only just a few minutes, the soothing comfort of my bed seemed more willing to give up, and I slowly got out of bed. I opened up the blinds and was instantly greeted with a bright, sunny day, in which I smiled a little as the light of a possible great day came to my eyes.

"Today's going to be a great day." I thought to myself as the idea of going out for a walk on this gorgeous day crossed my mind like a friendly passerby on a calm day.

As I was thinking about what I could do besides sitting in all day playing videogames as every other teenager would, I heard a knock on my door, and the sound of my door being opened. It was my mom.

"Since today was very sunny out, I decided to make you some pancakes to help start your day." Mom said with a smile on her face.

"Aww, thank you so much." I replied with an impossible to hide smile.

"No problem. The pancakes are ready when you are." Mom said as she gently closed my bedroom door.

I exited my bedroom and went to the kitchen to find out that mom really did make some pancakes for me. The pancakes had steam slowly rising from them, they were a perfect golden-brown color, and were drizzled with that sweet and sticky syrup everyone loves that comes from maple trees. I sat down and began to ate. But as I was eating, a dark yet eerie thought came to mind.

Is today going to be a repeat of that dreadful spring day?

I then realized that the dark thought I had was starting to get a little excessive and that I am most definitely mentally overreacting, so I pushed that troublesome thought towards the back of my head and forgot about it. Yeah, this day is starting in the same way as the day where I got blowdarted in my back, but it simply can't just happen again. The chances of me getting blowdarted again are literally zero; besides, getting blowdarted in public is the same chance as getting struck by lightning three times in a single day let alone in twenty-four hours, but somehow I was that darn unlucky to get blowdarted whilst taking a walk in town.

Wait a minute...

Are we supposed to be having a great day today and not be caught up with our past?

I think we are.

Me > "So I was thinking about taking a walk out today. Is that ok with you?"

Mom > "Yes, it is ok with me."

Me > "I thought you would be uncomfortable about me going out ever since I got blowdarted."

Mom > "I'm not. Besides, the chances of there being another blowdarting incident is never going to happen. Plus, you can't be fearful of everything your whole life."

Me > "It's not that I'm fearful of everything, it's that I don't know if you are uncomfortable with me going out ever since that fateful spring day."

Mom > "I'm perfectly fine with you going out as long as you are aware of your surroundings. That's all that matters."

Me > "Well I'm glad that you aren't uncomfortable with me going out. I was just wondering, that's all."

Mom > "Are you sure you want to go outside? It's getting pretty hot outside."

Me > "Yeah. I was wanting to go to the park for a while."

Mom > "Just put on some sunscreen and bring a water bottle and a wet rag with you."

Me > "Got it."

To be honest, I thought that mom was unwilling for me to get out into the great outdoors on my own ever since that terrifying day, but look, she has let me go out with Natalie before. But I guess that's how mothers can be. They can be worrisome no matter their child's age. I got my shoes on, got an ice-cold water bottle, a cold wet rag, applied some sunscreen, and headed out the door. When I opened the door, I was greeted by a very warm and sweat-inducing breeze. There also wasn't a cloud in sight! The climate outside wasn't very recommended for taking a walk, but I was prepared to beat the harsh heat and to sweat some bullets. Before I went to the park, I decided to just pay a quick visit to the location in town where I got blowdarted. I didn't know why I wanted to do this, all I know is that I for some reason felt like doing that.

I made my way into town, and I noticed that not many people were outside today. It most likely could just be because it's really hot outside. The sun's rays were beating down on me mercilessly as my temperature began to steadily rise. After a little while of walking, I have arrived at the location where the unthinkable happened about three months ago. As I took in my senses, I suddenly started having flashbacks back to when I was blowdarted, the memory of that event being rememberable like as if it all happened yesterday.

I could remember me thinking about the upcoming summer, excited about all the possible things I could do to make the most out of the scorching hot season, when out of nowhere I felt my back receive a quick yet short-lived blow swiftly followed by a lingering shooting pain, which interrupted my deep thought of the soon to be exciting summer like an alarm clock waking someone up from a great dream. I swiftly turned around to see who had the nerve to assault a minor, but not a single soul was present nor did I see anyone running away, which confused me greatly as to how someone could just assault me and disappear in the blink of an eye. I decided to feel my back because I felt as if something was sticking out of my back. As I was feeling my back, my hands came across a long object that had a glassy texture to it and had something soft and fluffy on the top of it. I didn't know what I felt, so I pulled the object out from my back, causing much more unwanted pain. Once I pulled it out, I looked at what the hell I pulled out from my back, only to find out it was a blowdart! I could remember me being so scared and worrisome about what could possibly happen next, and also me afraid down to the marrow of my bones that I would quite possibly die. I swiftly pulled out my phone and dialed 911 and I even called my mom to tell her what happened. I remember a few police cars and an ambulance and my mom arriving on the scene, my mom rushing towards me, crying her eyes out whilst hugging me and wondering profusely if I'm ok or not. I later gave the blowdart to one of the police officers so the police could investigate it, and the paramedics put me on a stretcher and hauled me off to the hospital.

For some reason, I haven't had any nightmares since it happened, which is pretty surprising, but I am still slightly shaken up due to how quickly things went downhill. The only time I remember about the whole blowdarting incident is when someone mentions it or when I come to this exact spot. I felt as if I visited this spot long enough and walked over to the park since I started to get flooded by lots of negative thoughts and feelings.

After a little while of walking, I arrived at the park. The moment I set foot in the park, I remembered meeting up with Natalie at this very park. I even remember the exact tree I saw her at. The memory of meeting up with a friend is obviously much better (and comforting?) then the memory of being blowdarted. The reason why I came to this park is that this park has many paved paths you can walk on, and I haven't walked on a few of those paths in over two months. One of my most favorite paths in the park is one that goes into a woodsy area filled with leaf-covered trees. Not only is it because its ideal for going on nature walks no matter the weather (whether it be rain or shine), but something about that path just fills me with a certain feeling that's literally impossible to describe. The best I could do to describe that feeling is a pleasant, mellow yet magical feeling. It's literally like I'm connecting with mother nature herself.

But as I was walking along the tree-covered path, admiring my surroundings, I noticed another path going into another direction. I quickly began to realize that I have never seen that path nor have I walked a foot on it. Besides, the path looked fairly new. It appears that the path had been made about a week or two ago at maximum. I decided to further investigate it to see what was up.

I began walking on the new path, paying the best attention to my surroundings. I honestly didn't know how far this path went, but it caught my interest enough for me to walk on it for as long as I was willing to go. About a minute later the ground that was near and around the path was now consisting of many small ponds and muddy grounds. This made me more focused on not accidentally walking off the path and ruining my new shoes or quite possibly getting sucked under, but I honestly don't think the mud is THAT deep, is it?

Around two minutes later of walking and the ground that was near and around the path was now looking more solid and not muddy. I don't quite know why it caught my interest a little, but its probably because it made me more aware of my surroundings. I continued to walk until the path ended or until I was unwilling to go any further.

Five minutes of nonstop walking later...

It's been around eight minutes since I started walking on the path, and I was starting to think about turning around and going back to where I started. Just as I was about to give up on exploring this path due to how long it was becoming, I saw an end to the path. My thoughts were then redirected to seeing what was at the end of the path as it not only caught my attention, but it also caught my interest.

What could possibly be at the end of the path?

Something magical?

A cave, maybe?

A nearby river?

What could it be?