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I’m sure it wasn’t my best effort.
    â€œDid you see how big it was?” Sara asked, raising her hands into the air. “It was bigger than both of us.”
    â€œI thought Danielle said they sleep during the day,” I said, skeptically.
    She shrugged, her eyes shifting about the forest searching for the big, black beast.
    We both tried to forget about the bear, content that Sara’s loud voice had sent it off into the next county.
    Walking along for a while longer, we both seemed to need another rest, so we sat down at the base of a Redwood that had been knocked down by wind, its roots standing at least three times as high as me. There was an area down below that looked almost like a shelter, with plush grass and moss covering the ground. As we sat down upon it, it felt like a sofa.
    â€œIt’s getting dark, Ben. How long have we been out here?”
    I didn’t have a watch so I wasn’t sure. But she was right. Even with the fog and overcast skies, I could tell the sun must have been getting lower.
    â€œI’m hungry,” she said.
    I could agree with her on that. I pulled out a few granola bars and two bottles of water. We ate them fast, and I was glad I had taken them along.
    When we were done, my sister looked around our little fort. “Will we have to stay here tonight?” she asked.
    I hadn’t ruled that out, but I hoped we had gotten close enough to the road to see Danielle’s truck pass by on her way back from the woods. No such luck.
    â€œAre you cold?” I asked her.
    She shook her head.
    Her thick sweater would keep her warm, I thought. I was wearing a San Francisco 49ers windbreaker over a T-shirt. I wasn’t sure that would be enough. Especially if it started to rain.
    I should have kept my big mouth shut. Just then the first sprinkles started to fall. Because of the roots above us, the raindrops weren’t hitting us. But would they stop a downpour?
    Sara leaned closer to me, and I put my arm around her.

13
    My dad always told me never to fall asleep in a situation like this. You might never wake up, he had said. But I must have dozed for a moment.
    A noise startled me.
    It was a scratching sound. Maybe a mouse?
    No, this was bigger than a mouse. It could be the bear, I thought.
    My eyes tried to see something, anything from above. But I could see nothing moving there.
    Would a bear actually eat us?
    My heart raced out of control now.
    Did I really believe in boogie men and ghosts and goblins...or even hobgoblins?
    In the darkness, in the thick forest, it’s hard to tell your mind these things don’t exist.
    There was the noise again.
    Closer.
    I held my breath, not wanting the sound to reach whatever was there. Something was there, hunting us.
    Snap! A dead twig.
    Very close.
    Almost upon us.
    Something was up above us on the root. I shook Sara and whispered into her ear, “There’s somethin’ up there.”
    Darkness was almost complete now, so it wasn’t as if we could see much of anything. I could barely see Sara sitting next to me. I didn’t think it was actually night; I think the clouds were so thick that the sun couldn’t poke through all the fog and thick trees.
    It wasn’t raining anymore. That was one good thing.
    â€œMaybe it’s that bear,” Sara said loudly.
    â€œShhh.”
    â€œWhy? Danielle said to talk loud to scare the bears away. She should know. And it worked before.”
    â€œWhat if it’s not a bear?”
    She squeezed my arm really hard. She was stronger than she looked.
    Suddenly I saw a flicker of light from above. It looked like a small flame bouncing about the tree limbs.
    Then a little object peered over the top of the ridge. First there was what looked like a furry head, followed by a pair of beady eyes that sparkled in the light.
    I couldn’t stop myself from shaking, and I’m sure Sara could feel it because her nails were digging into my arm.
    My