Breaking the Rules - Words 236 - 11/7

Why be a kid if you have to follow the rules all the time?

Breaking The Rules

          Elmo and Rita ignored the stern parental memo regarding the "Unsupervised Thicket," striding confidently into the trees. Elmo, adjusting his unnecessary hiking boots, followed his sister, who seemed motivated solely by the challenge of defying authority.

          They hadn't gone ten feet when Rita tripped, spectacularly, over a surprisingly thick branch. "The woods are actively hostile!" she declared, dusting moss off her neon leggings.

          They reached a pathetic stream that required navigation. Elmo found a flat, mossy stone, perfectly placed for a stepping stone. As he lifted his foot, he saw something glinting on the opposite bank, a bizarre, man-made structure partially hidden beneath the ferns.

          "Wait," Elmo whispered, suddenly tense. "That's it. That's why Mom said no. It's some hidden bunker."

          Rita crept forward, using a broken branch to poke the foreign object. It wasn't concrete or steel. It was a construction of three loosely stacked, incredibly old bales of straw, clearly dumped years ago by a farming vehicle. They looked suspiciously like the base of a dilapidated children's fort.

          Elmo squinted at the scene. "They explicitly told us not to go in here... so that we wouldn't find some old straw?"

          Rita kicked the bottom bale, and a tiny, terrified mouse squeaked and darted away. They both immediately turned around and ran all the way home. Finding the absurd source of parental panic was far less enjoyable than the thrill of having broken the rule.

Total Words: 236
Prompt: Branch, Stone, Straw