Into The Forest
Ariadne jerked her head down once again. Her horn was stuck in a tree. She glanced over at her friend, Faust. The sun shining in between the trees momentarily blinding her. He was zoned out staring at a robin in the opposite tree. “Psst, Faust, lil help here?”, Ariadne whispered. Trying to avoid startling him too much. Faust shook his head returning to reality. “Sorry, Ariadne.”, he squeaked. His eyes scanned the predicament Ariadne was in. “You really got it stuck bad. I could try kicking the tree to break the branch or loosen it?” He cocked his head in further thought, deciding if this was the best approach or not. No other ideas came to mind, so it had to be.
“Go for it, Faust. I don’t want to be stuck here all day. We have an adventure waiting for us out there!” Her eyes gleamed when she spoke the last word. She loved adventures, Faust not so much, but he still stuck with her. She snapped out of her daydreaming about this adventure to the noise of Faust aggressively kicking the tree. Each kick sent the shudders coursing through her body. Ignoring the vibrations, she started pulling down her horn yet again. Finally after three kicks and pulls, she was free. The force she had to pull with sent her rolling back into Faust and then a tree. Both momentarily dazed from banging into the tree, tried to regain their footing.
Finally able to right herself, Ariadne inspects Faust for any scratches or wounds. Now reaching his neck, she finds a thorn wedged into his fur. Pulling it out with her mouth, Faust lets out a short yipe. “All good now! Let’s get this adventure on with already!”, she shouts, doing a small frolick. After what seems like hours of walking, mainly due to Faust's mesmerization of getting caught on every bird, bug and butterfly in the forest, they finally reach their destination. Bursting through the shrugs Ariadne screams “We’re here!” Only to find it empty. They both stopped and looked at each other, confused. “Old Mac said this is where it’d be, why isn’t it?”, Faust mumbled.
Ariadne followed Faust around the small grassy terrain. “He wouldn't lie to us, would he?”, Faust mumbled again. “Even though he’s old and with a few screws loose, I doubt he’d lie.”, Ariadne reassured him. Though in her gut, uncertainty was sprouting. “Where do we go now? This adventure can’t be over with just yet.”, Ariadne huffed, prodding the dirt with her hoof. Faust was still circling, inspecting every little crack. Going in and out of the shrub lining. Ariadne sat down, trying to figure out what he was doing. On his last inspection of the other side of the shrubs to the right, he poked his head through, telling Ariadne to follow him. Ariadne still confused on what he was doing, followed him through the thick shrubbing.
They finally stopped in front of a cave. “Why are we here, Faust?” Faust continued to walk forward. “You’ll see, c’mon.” Slowly, Ariadne followed him, swallowing the lump in her throat. She yelped when she heard rustling besides him through the cave, causing a mob of bats to fly towards them. They both rolled and ducked to avoid the swarm rushing at them. They continued on again, her ears finally picked up the sound of, what she thought was water. Her excitement returned, a relief to the sense of caution she was feeling. She began picking up her pace, finding the sun crack were now more frequent than before. Before she knew it they emerged into a lush waterfall with plants and wildlife.
She stopped, having to take in all the beauty. Her and Faust looked at each other and mouthed, “wow”. Scared that if they did talk, the spell would be broken. After a few moments of making sure it was real, they headed towards the waterfall. They both spent the rest of the day taking dips in the water and exploring the area. Once the sun began to go down, they stifled their disappointment. Upon exiting the cave Ariadne screamed her excitement, “I can’t wait to come back! This adventure was awesome!” Faust nodded in response and a seed of excitement sprouted in his gut too. Their own secret hideout, Ariadne said to herself. Looking back at the cave, she promised that they would return to it.