Sam was lost. He had gone into the woods across the street from his house, and now he was lost. He knew he was supposed to mark his path on the trees, but Mommy said that six years old was too young to have a knife.
As Sam walked, the woods got thicker and thicker, and the sky got darker and darker. Eventually, the shrubs, bushes, and trees grew so dense that Sam couldn't even push his way through them. He sat down and started to cry. He decided to look in his backpack and see if he had anything that would help him.
Mommy didn't believe in leaving home without snacks. Daddy said that she packed enough snacks for fifteen kids. Today, Sam was very grateful for that. He pulled out a bag of carrot sticks. Then he closed his bag and put it back on. He crunch on carrot sticks while trying to think of what to do.
Finally, Sam decided to try to head back the way he had come in. He tried to remember all the things Daddy had told him about the woods. He remembered that moss grew on trees, but not what that meant. He also knew that the sun rose and set across from each other, but again he couldn't remember what good that did him, either.
As Sam wandered aimlessly, it got darker. Night was falling very quickly. Sam found an old hollow log. He once again checked his backpack. Mommy had packed his jacket, his favorite blanket so they could have a picnic. Sam had put in his flashlight. That went everywhere with him.
Sam ate a can of chicken salad for dinner, along with the three crackers that came with it. He drank some water, packed everything back up, and lied down. He was asleep in minutes.


Sam was awakened in the middle of the night. At first he didn't know where he was. He tried to sit up and he hit his head on the log. Suddenly, he heard a noise and remembered what had woke him up. He grabbed his flashlight, crawled out of the log, and shined his light, but he didn't see anything. He crawled back in and went back to sleep.
In the morning, he at some pretzels and sipped some of his water. He packed up his things. He looked around and began walking.
After walking for an hour, he stopped for another drink of water. While taking his break, he suddenly heard a noise. Something was walking through the woods. He called out several times, then heard a noise like he had never heard before. The thing in the woods began moving quickly. Sam dropped his backpack and ran.
After three days of wandering the woods with no food and water, Sam sat down and began to cry. He was dehydrated, starving, hypothermic. He was exhausted and discouraged.
He heard the thing coming towards him again. This time, Sam just sat and waited.