Young Writers Project
Ellie looked down at her map. It was weathered and torn, the lines and words barely visible. This map was a family treasure, passed down from generation to generation. And now it was her turn to follow the directions, and find the destination the rough lines led to. Every person in her family before her that had received the map were given one simple direction when they had gotten it. Find the place alone. She hadn’t been thrilled about the idea of wandering off alone in the middle of the forest, but she knew everyone before her had been fine, so she could brave it. No not could. She would brave it. So she had let her mother pack her things into a large hiking backpack and send her of on her journey.
And now, an hour into the trail, she was beginning to doubt she would ever find the sacred family place; as much as she wanted to see it, she was exhausted. Ellie had never hiked such unkept terrain in her life. She could barely even see the path! She had wandered off the trail multiple times, and had to pull out her compass to find her way pack to the path. But… She couldn’t just give up. So she persevered through another half hour. By this point, she had gotten used to the difficulty of the trail, and was starting to enjoy the hike. After all, the scenery was beautiful. The orange, yellow, and red leaves hung from delicate birch trees and a clear, crisp stream trickled along right next to the path. Bright green moss carpeted the forest floor, and small wild flowers and mushrooms grew among the colorful plant. These views were one of the only things that kept Ellie going.
Hours passed, and the path flattened out a bit. Ellie had noticed the ground had gotten a bit damper, and the leaves were now brown. She hoped that this meant she was getting close, even though she had no idea that those two things would signal anything, except for higher elevation. She didn’t care though. She WOULD find her way to the destination. And she did. After about ten minutes, she reached a clearing. She looked at her map, and somehow just knew that this was the place. She looked back up. Before her, a beautiful, magnificent waterfall stormed down. The water somehow looked teal and sparkly as it rushed over the rocks and dirt. She followed the falls upward and saw a delicate cherry blossom tree at the top of the waterfall, it’s roots twisted and curving along the stones. The trunk looked like it had purposely been twisted and twirled. Soft pink blossoms clung to it’s thin, braided branches. Ellie took a few moments to take it in before spinning around to see more trees just like the one at the top of the waterfall surrounding her. The ground looked as if it had been sprinkled with sparkly glass. Yet again, Ellie looked up. She had never seen anything so magnificent in her life.
Ellie looked down at her map. It was weathered and torn, the lines and words barely visible. This map was a family treasure, passed down from generation to generation. And now it was her turn to follow the directions, and find the destination the rough lines led to. Every person in her family before her that had received the map were given one simple direction when they had gotten it. Find the place alone. She hadn’t been thrilled about the idea of wandering off alone in the middle of the forest, but she knew everyone before her had been fine, so she could brave it. No not could. She would brave it. So she had let her mother pack her things into a large hiking backpack and send her of on her journey.
And now, an hour into the trail, she was beginning to doubt she would ever find the sacred family place; as much as she wanted to see it, she was exhausted. Ellie had never hiked such unkept terrain in her life. She could barely even see the path! She had wandered off the trail multiple times, and had to pull out her compass to find her way pack to the path. But… She couldn’t just give up. So she persevered through another half hour. By this point, she had gotten used to the difficulty of the trail, and was starting to enjoy the hike. After all, the scenery was beautiful. The orange, yellow, and red leaves hung from delicate birch trees and a clear, crisp stream trickled along right next to the path. Bright green moss carpeted the forest floor, and small wild flowers and mushrooms grew among the colorful plant. These views were one of the only things that kept Ellie going.
Hours passed, and the path flattened out a bit. Ellie had noticed the ground had gotten a bit damper, and the leaves were now brown. She hoped that this meant she was getting close, even though she had no idea that those two things would signal anything, except for higher elevation. She didn’t care though. She WOULD find her way to the destination. And she did. After about ten minutes, she reached a clearing. She looked at her map, and somehow just knew that this was the place. She looked back up. Before her, a beautiful, magnificent waterfall stormed down. The water somehow looked teal and sparkly as it rushed over the rocks and dirt. She followed the falls upward and saw a delicate cherry blossom tree at the top of the waterfall, it’s roots twisted and curving along the stones. The trunk looked like it had purposely been twisted and twirled. Soft pink blossoms clung to it’s thin, braided branches. Ellie took a few moments to take it in before spinning around to see more trees just like the one at the top of the waterfall surrounding her. The ground looked as if it had been sprinkled with sparkly glass. Yet again, Ellie looked up. She had never seen anything so magnificent in her life.
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