Once there was a boy named Mike who lived in a house near a forest. He was ten years old, and he lived with his mom and dad. His mom worked at a bakery and delivered deserts to the people in the town. Mike’s dad was a policeman who worked alone driving through the town waiting to help it. Sometimes, he played in the forest and looked for mushrooms to collect, but he heard that there was a kidnapper in the forest. He collected the mushrooms for no reason with his friend Bob, who just liked going to the forest. There were only squirrels in the forest, or at least that’s what he thought…

One day, Mike went to the forest alone, and he went really far in and got lost. He saw brown mushrooms, and he read in a book he found in the library what mushrooms you can eat, and what mushrooms you can’t eat. In the book, it said that you could eat them, so he did. It tasted like the mushrooms his mom made at home. It was a very good taste that he enjoyed. When he saw the mushrooms they reminded him of his home and gave him hope that he would soon be home. As he walked in the forest, he just kept walking until he saw a bear. This bear was a big bear with a very angry look. His eyes were very big and he began to run towards Mike. Once Mike saw the bear, he turned around and ran for his life. But the bear was so much faster than him. However, Mike began throwing sticks at the bear causing him to slow down. As he ran and threw the sticks, he yelled for help. He was so loud and sounded so scared he grabbed a helicopter’s attention. As the helicopter came down, the bear turned around in fear and ran away.

Once the helicopter reached the ground, Mike was so excited that help had finally come. A tall and nice-looking guy stepped out of the helicopter and reached for Mike to help him out. Mike was in the helicopter and told the nice guy where his house was in hope of the guy taking him home. However, he realized that the guy was going in the wrong direction.

Then Mike said, “Ummm… Mister, you are going the wrong way… ”

The guy just stared at Mike and didn’t respond. Mike was so scared and preferred to be lost in the forest alone than with a stranger. Then the helicopter guy landed in a random place Mike had never seen before. Once Mike stepped out of the helicopter, he saw a brick house surrounded by trees and flowers. But the weirdest thing of all was that it was very silent and he wasn’t even able to hear the birds. The guy forced Mike inside the house.

Inside the house, Mike saw a very clean house with very weird paintings hung up on the wall. There was a TV with a table on the side that had a computer on it. Everything seemed to match the white wall, including the big blue and white couch. Before Mike could say anything, the guy walked Mike into a room where the guy locked him inside. Although Mike was scared, he tried to calm himself down. Mike wandered around the room and found a key, but didn’t know what it opened. He tried to open the locked door with this key, but it didn’t work. The room was lit up, so Mike could see another door that the key could possibly unlock. He put the key in the lock and opened the door. The key worked!

When he opened the door, he was outside and saw tall trees and a clear blue sky. There was grass on the ground with rocks and roses growing from the ground. Mike spotted a path and decided to follow it. The path took a left and lead Mike to find the man who kidnapped him. The man began to run after him and chased Mike through the forest. While running, Mike saw a big rock and hid behind it. Mike saw the man run towards the rock and ran past it, thinking that Mike was still running from him. Mike came out from his hiding place and could not find the path. Mike was scared and tired. He decided to rest on the ground next to the big rock. While laying down, Mike looked up at the blue sky and wished he could find a way home. Mike came up with a plan to find his way home. He decided to try to find the mushrooms he found when he first got lost. If he found these mushrooms, it would be a sign that he was close to home. The mushrooms grew in fives and were small, two to three inches tall, bumpy, and brown with big dark brown spots. He would not mix up the mushrooms because they were very recognizable to him and other people who spotted them.

Mike got up and walked forward to find a tiny house made of red brick. Mike went towards the house and knocked on the front door. Mike knew someone was home because he saw that a light was turned on in the house. Mike waited outside for a little bit and the door slowly opened. A short old man with medium size glasses looked at Mike and asked, “Are you lost?”

“Yes, I am trying to find my parents.”

“Come inside, I have a map. Maybe it can help you find where you live.”

Mike entered the clean house and the old man opened a closet and got the map. The map was old and dusty with faded writing. Mike tried to find where he lived, but found it difficult because the map was too hard to read. Mike gave up and was upset that he couldn’t find where he lived.

Mike decided to leave the old man’s house and began to walk through the forest. Mike walked for so long and noticed that the sun had begun to set. The forest got dark at night and Mike began to get scared. Mike found a dark, silent cave and slept there.

Mike woke up in the morning and walked out of the cave. When walking out of the cave, Mike found the mushrooms he had been looking for. Because he found the mushrooms, he remembered that he walked past the mushrooms that tasted like the way his mom cooked mushrooms. Mike retraced his steps, remembering more and more. Then suddenly, Mike bumped into Bob! Bob was so happy to see Mike.

“I’ve been looking for you! But when trying to find you, I got lost as well!” said Bob.

“I have been trying to find a way home, but I have had no luck! Let’s team up to find a way home,” responded Mike.

“How about we go to the big rock over there. We can get some high ground to see if we can spot the town,” Bob suggested.

“Okay, let’s go!” Mike said with hope.

They began to walk towards the rock, and when they got there, they noticed that although the rock was big, it was still easy to climb. Once they reached the top of the rock, they saw their town! They began to climb down and luckily, the climb down was easy like the climb up. They began to walk right and suddenly they saw the guy who kidnapped Mike! They started running away. Then Mike found poison ivy, used two sticks to get the poison ivy, and threw it at the kidnapper. The kidnapper ran away.

Mike and Bob found the big rock again, and they climbed up and went back home. But when they got home, all of the people in the town were gone and the town was silent. Where were the people in the town? Mike and Bob searched every house and every room, but they couldn’t find even a whisper. They were about to leave, but then Bob found a person hiding under a car. It was an old man who looked very scared. He said that there was a bear that chased the people to a different town but the old man did not know where the new town was.

“But I know which direction they went,” he said. “My name is Bill.”

Then, Mike and Bob and Bill went in the direction that Bill said. They followed a road that went to a mountain. The mountain was big and green. It took a long time, and then they saw a town, but the town wasn’t like their town. They saw smaller buildings and lots of people, but they didn’t know anyone there. Their town hadn’t moved to this town.

Then, Mike, Bob, and Bill asked where their town was, but none of the people knew.

“I know where your town is! I saw your townspeople going on a stone path that’s near here!” said a little boy.

Mike, Bill, and Bob went to the stone path and they walked for a minute and saw people building houses. They felt excited. Mike saw his mom and dad on the street in front of the home that was being built.

His mom said, “I’m so happy to see you!”

The bear never went to that town because he never knew where it was.

The End