The Tree
“ I’ve walked this road for 5 years and I’ve never seen that tree in my life!” defended Maeve.


“You said this was a shortcut! Now we have to go back again” whined Axel.


“I swear I’ve never seen that tree there before! I know this road like the back of my hand! I came here all the time with my mom! I was just here yesterday!” Maeve said gesturing towards the tree.


“Well, obviously you’re blind to not notice a 10-foot tree in the middle of the road or you’re more dense than I thought.” smirked Axel


“UGH! SHUT UP AXEL!” Maeve pushed him.


“Hey! I have sensitive arms” pouted Axel, rubbing his biceps.


“Shut up you two! It’s like babysitting 3 year-old children!” exclaimed Cassie, rolling her eyes.



“Hey! I’m not 3! I’m 4, at most,” holding her head of high Maeve held out four fingers. Cassie and Axel looked at each other and burst out laughing. “What!?” pouted Maeve. “It’s the truth.”



“Dream on, idiot” Axel said looking at Maeve.



“Why do I put up with the both of you! I can’t believe I’ve been friends with you for over twelve years.” Cassie exclaimed, smacking her head. Maeve and Axel look at her.


“Seriously! You know you put up with me because I’m one hot piece of man,” bragged Axel, smirking at Maeve and Cassie. They laughed at him. “Hey! Don’t laugh at my genetic superiority!”
“Sureeee! Genetic superiority! I believe Brent Ford beat you to that,” sassed Maeve. Axel huffed and turned away mumbling something about ugly, brat boys and people not seeing what’s in front of them. Axel was not far from the truth, though. He did have some genetic superiority, or in his case, extremely good looks. In fact, all of them did. Axel had a messy, unkempt brown hairstyle, that was apparently working really well for him. He had icy blue eyes with tinges of gold. He was long and lean, but still muscular, but Axel was really tall, like 6'2 tall! Cassie was only 5’5 and was considered very short. She had long, straight auburn hair, a bit of an athletic build due to long years of swimming, and she had beautiful green eyes. Whereas, Maeve had huge, brown eyes, with long eyelashes and a set dimples to match, with her wavy, jet black hair, 5’9 with an attitude to match and her winning personality, Maeve was pretty well-known.
“Can we leave now? We’re gonna be late for school!” Cassie complained.
“Yeah, if you’re supposed shortcut makes us late, I’m going to go to your house and eat all your cookies!’’ threatened Axel.
“NOT MY COOKIES!! LET’S GO!’’ screamed Maeve in fear, sprinting away from the mysterious tree and the blocked road. Axel and Cassie shook their heads in laughter and took off running to join their friend at UN High School.
Maeve came to an abrupt stop panting, her hair in a disarray as people are staring at her and walking by. She looked behind her. “Where are those idiots?” she asked herself, looking around the dull, gray school buildings and the navy blue cul de sacs. She turned around and started walking towards a class… 505, her art class. Maeve was about to open the door to her class, when she saw an odd reflection in the mirror. Peering closer, Maeve got a good look at it. It was a sickish, pale yellow, with pointy ears, beady eyes and a creepy smile. Maeve yelped in fear. She quickly rubbed her eyes to see if she was imagining things and when she opened her eyes… it vanished. “Okayyyyyyy. I’m in official need of some caffeine.” Maeve said to herself. All of a sudden, something jumped on her. Maeve let out a bloodcurdling scream and dropped to the floor.
“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! YOU SHOULD’VE SEEN YOUR FACE!” screamed Axel, laughing hysterically.
“That’s not funny, Axel! You almost gave me a heart attack!” exclaimed Maeve, lying eagle-spread on the floor with her hands over face. “I could’ve died!” She got up and brushed off her pants, ignoring the stares of her peers around her.
“Ohhh! You’re being overdramatic.’’ huffed Axel, waving his hand like he was dismissing her.
“Whatever. Hey! Where’s Cassie?” asked Maeve, taking note of their absent friend.
“I don’t know. She was right behind me,” craning his neck, Axel turned around looking for Cassie.
“Who you guys looking for?” asked Cassie, appearing out of nowhere, munching on a bag of pretzels.
“What the heck! How do you show up out of nowhere? And where did you get pretzels!?’’ exclaimed Axel, exasperated.
“While you were running up to scare Mavie, I found a perfectly good bag of pretzels on the floor and took it as a sign that the universe wanted me to eat.” Cassie proclaimed, spreading out her arms in a wide arc.
“First of all, you know I hate it when you call me Mavie, and second PUT THAT DOWN! IT COULD BE POISONED!” screeched Maeve. “I thought your mom taught you good manners!”
“She did, but when it comes to food, all logic goes out the window,” calmly replied Cassie, still eating pretzels.
“And people say boys are pigs.” Axel said, rolling his eyes.
“Are you sassing me mister? Because I’ll go right here!” shrieked Cassie, getting in Axel’s face.
“You wanna go, you.. You… YOU EXPIRED COUPON!” screamed Axel getting red in the face.
“WHAT THE HECK IS AN EXPIRED COUPON?!!” sassed Cassie. Maeve shook her head and started to walk away from her bickering friends. She walked up and down hallways of near her art classrooms, not being bothered, due to school already being let out. She walked by a window in an old classroom and saw it again, the creepy, green, pixie-like thing. It was just staring at her with its black eyes and attempted to smile its sharp, pointy teeth. Maeve turned around to see if anyone was near or playing tricks on her, but the hallway was completely empty. She turned back around, but this time the pixie-thing was not a reflection in the mirror, but it was standing right in front of her. She screamed.

“Are you Maeve Shreaper?” rasped out the pixie, moving closer.

“AHHHHHHHH SON OF A BLOBFISH! IT FUDGIN’ TALKS!!” screamed Maeve in pure terror. She moved rapidly to get away from the creepy, green pixie. BANG! Maeve hit the art class window hard in her haste to get away. She looked at the pixie in horror, realizing she was cornered, she looked to the left and saw an open hallway. The pixie followed her line of sight and realized what she was about to do.
“WAIT!! Maeve Callisto Shreaper, I mean no harm! I wish to talk to you!” the pixie reached out it’s spindly arms are made a motion to grab her.
“GET AWAY FROM ME YOU CREEP! HOW DID YOU KNOW MY FULL NAME, YOU… YOU GREEN, ELF STALKER!!” Maeve shouted, ripping her hand from the pixie.
“No, Maeve Callisto Shreaper, I’m here to…” the pixie gets cut off as it hears somebody rounding the corner. “I must go, master mustn't know I was here, but I’ll come back! Be warned! Watch out for the one that betrays!” POOF! The pixie exploded in a cloud of green dust and leaves.
“The one that betray? What the heck just happened to me! Was that real? Am I hallucinating? Am I dead? DAD ARE YOU THERE?” Maeve rambled on, pinching herself to make sure she was alive.
“Great! Maeve is being a weirdo and talking to herself again,” whined Axel.
“Shut up, you indecent cow! Maeve are you okay?” Asked Cassie in concern.
“When did you guys get here? And what took you so long?” Maeve inquired.
“This..genius..decided..to..piss..off..a..teacher..by..being..to..loud..so..we..got..a..small..lecture….and..detention” gritted out Cassie, poking Axel with every word.
“Hey! You were screaming too! It’s not completely my fault if it wasn’t for you and your dang sidewalk pretzels” Axel said smacking Cassie upside the head.
“OH! YOU WANNA GO! YOU WANNA GO, YOU CRUSTY CABBAGE!” Screamed Cassie raising on her tip-toes to intimidate Axel.
“Watch it, shorty. Go pick on someone your own size, like a mushroom or a dwarf.” smirked Axel.
“THAT’S IT, YOU LITTLE &$*#$@” Cassie shrieked, jumping on Axel’s back, as she smacked him multiple times on the face.
“HELP! THERE’S A LITTLE CRUSTY AFRICAN BUSH MONKEY ON ME!!” hollered Axel, shielding his face from her blows. “WHAT THE FRICK FRACK SNICK SNACK ARE YOU DOING MAEVE?! HELP ME!!” hollered Axel.
“You’re on your own,” laughed Maeve. “Now c’mon guys. Let’s just leave school. It already started anyways, and I’m craving some ice cream.”
“Fine. As long as we can stop by the mall.” bargained Axel
“You dimwit, the ice cream store is in the mall!’' huffed Cassie, exasperated. The three link arms and start walking off, exiting the school. They walk down to the UN Bay Mall, which conveniently was three blocks down from their school. On the way, Maeve saw her normal shortcut route that she uses to go to school.
“Actually guys, hang on. I’ll meet you there. I have something to do first.” muttering a quick goodbye, Maeve ran off into the direction of her shortcut. She looks ahead at the pathway of trees winding into the forest. Tall, giant, oak trees, redwoods, and spruces towered over her in an intimidating fashion, save for one small little dirt pathway with bright light shining down. She takes a deep breath, and walks in.
“I swear there wasn’t a tree in the middle. I’m not crazy. I’ll prove it” Maeve claimed, marching down the pathway. Determined to prove her friends wrong, she walks into the clearing, and low and behold… there was a giant, imposing redwood tree in the way. “OH SWEET MOTHER OF JUSTIN BIEBER!” Maeve huffed and slowly approached the tree. Darting her head back and forth, she checked the clearing for anything suspicious. “I swear if I see any creepy, green, crusty, little..” she sweared. Looking up at the tree, she guessed it was about ten feet high.
“Twelve, actually.” said a husky, english accent.
“Lord? Are you there?” exclaimed Maeve shooting her head up to the sky.
“No. I’m Zach.” said a figure dropping down from a tree branch.
“STALKER! STALKER ALERT! CREEPY PERSON IN TREE! HELP! 911! POLICE!” screeched Maeve running around in circles. She stops and picks up a stick, holding it in front of her, she said shakily, “Stop. I have a weapon. I have no money. Please don’t kill me. I’m a good person. Okay, maybe I did throw that rock at a bully, and I was the one who threw a paper airplane at the teacher and blamed it on Axel, but I swear I’ll only be a good person!”
“What? No, I..” the guy was cut off, as Maeve wailed out.
“I’M SORRY MOM! I BELIEVE IN KARMA NOW! FORGIVE ME! SEND ME CHOCOLATE CAKE WHEN I GO TO HEAVEN. TELL AXEL I’LL MISS HIS MONKEY FACE, AND TELL CASSIE AXEL’S TICKLE SPOT HIS NECK! OOOO! AND ALSO SEND BROWNIES! HELP! 911! CREEPY STALKER MURDER PERSON IN THE WOODS! Man! Now I understand why TV show characters are always so freaked out in the woods… its cause murders are there! I mean… HUMPFHH” Maeve was cut off as Zach wrapped his arm around her mouth.
“OW! GOOD GRIEF WOMAN! STOP!” shouted Zach as Maeve proceeded to swing the stick at his head. “I’m innocent! I’m not going to kill you! Take a chilling pill!”
“A chilling pill? What are you twelve?” Maeve shrieked with laughter, stopping from hitting him, as she rolled on the ground with laughter. Standing up she said, “Wait, if you’re not going to kill me, how come you were in the forest, in a tree?” Zach sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck.
“It’s a long story.” he replied, evasily avoiding the question. Staring at him curiously, Maeve finally took a look at what Zach looked like. He was kind of lanky, but you could see his muscles through his shirt, definitely taller than Maeve, maybe even more than Axel. He had hazel eyes, which Maeve swore she saw turn green in the light, a smirk adorned his elegant face, with a sharp jawline and high cheekbones, this guy could very obviously be a model. “Checking me out, Amber?” gleamed Zach.
“What? No! And Amber? Who in Santa’s nutsack is Amber?!” defended Maeve.
“Well, you haven’t told me your name, so I’m calling you Amber.” shrugged Zach. Maeve started rambling at him, throwing her arms up for extra emphasis, she went off on him.
“Why Amber?! Out of all things Amber. It could’ve been crazy victim, or unicorn, or basically anything in the universe! But...Amber?”
“It’s the color of your eyes in the sunlight. Amber. So, I’m calling you that until you tell me your name.” Zach explained.
“My name isn’t Amber and for all I could know, you could actually be a serial killer, who murders girls in forests.”
“Well, why are still talking to me then?” Zach replied, raising one eyebrow.
“Good point.” Maeve turned around and started walking in the opposite direction, heading to the mall.
“No! Wait!” Zach started to say. “I’m actually a little lost. Can you help me?” Zach sheepishly admitted.
“I don’t know if I should trust you…”
“C’mon! Help a chap out.” He pleaded.
“Ugghhhh! Fine! I’m going to to mall to meet up with my friends. I guess you could tag along.” She sighed, giving in.
He grinned. “You’re a real corker!”
Maeve spun around. “A corker! What’s a corker!? ARE YOU INSULTING ME!”
Zach cowered under her intense glare. “NO! A corker means someone who is amazing or outstanding! It’s what we say in Bristol!”
“Bristol?”
“Yeah it’s where I’m from.” Maeve looked at him.
“That’s a long way from here. How did you get here?”
“Ummmmm…my parents moved here.”
“Mhmmm okay.” Maeve said, looking at him suspiciously. She started walking ahead. Zach ran to catch up with her.
“Is this the way?” asked Zach, like a whiny child.
“Shut up pretty boy”
“Pretty boy?” Zach smirked, twisting his body to look at her. Maeve ignored him and continued walking. The pair strode off in silence towards the mall, while in the shelter of the trees, there was someone watching them. Oblivious to this, the pair continued their merry walk to Maeve’s friends. You could hear faded laughter and shouts of “You’re an idiot” and “Amber” but if you really listened and ignored the other voices, a faint sinister snickering could be heard from the trees.
As the UN Bay Mall came into view, Maeve and Zach had gotten well acquainted. Walking through the automatic doors, Maeve stood on her tiptoes to look over the crowd for her friends. Spotting a familiar head of auburn hair, Maeve snatched Zach’s hand and ran into the direction of her friends.
*Time skip*
“Wow it’s getting pretty dark! I should go back” exclaimed Maeve. “C’mon Zach. I have to get back home. Bye guys!” Maeve stood up from the table they were all sitting at and started walking out the exit. Zach quickly got up from his chair and ran off to the girl. They both exited the building and started walking down the familiar path towards the forest. As they were getting closer, Zach started getting noticeably uncomfortable. “What is wrong with you? You’re acting really weird.” Maeve asked.
“I’m so sorry” Zach replied. Then, the world went black.
“Ugh! Where am I” groggily asked Maeve as she looked at her surroundings. She saw Zach looking guilty down. “Zach?”
“I’m sorry. I couldn’t do anything.” He replied vaguely.
“What? What do you mean?” Maeve exclaimed, stumbling to get up.
Zach gave one simple answer that shook her world. “You’re inside the tree.”