Lost

Daily Flash prompt 8/9

"At first, I didn't know where to go," 10-yr-old Grace said, face still streaked with tears and mud. "Then I kept walking. I saw something shiny, so went to investigate. I thought, well, you know the story of Hansel and Gretel? I thought maybe someone left me some breadcrumbs, but instead of a crumbs, I thought maybe it was it was something just for me, like a coin. Because I don't like bread you know."

"Of course," her dad replied. "So what happened next?"

"I picked up the shiny thing and it turned out to be a wrapper, not a coin. And then I was really lost. I couldn't see the cabin at all. That's when I started to panic," Grace took a healthy drink of water that had been presented to her when she'd finally made her way back to the family's vacation home. She then continued her terrifying encounter. "That's when things got weird."

Her parents leaned in to listen, still half mad and half relieved their daughter had made it back safely.

"I heard a voice. It said my name, but it was like, just a whisper. I wasn't scared, that was the weird part. I just followed it. I thought for sure I was walking further into the woods. Before I knew it though, I was standing right on the porch. Right in front of the door! Like it came out of nowhere. The really weird part was it sounded just like Mom. But it wasn't Mom, was it? She was right here in the house the whole time."

"That's quite a story," her mother said in disbelief. "Maybe next time you and Dad go for a walk in the woods, you'll stay close to him, yes?"

"Yes Mother," Grace said with an eye roll.