Here's the first chapter.
The Forest of Fern
By Raindrop14
Chapter one: The incident
Fern and Elliot walked to the pool almost every day so they knew their way around town. The town was small so it wasn’t hard to not know your way around. They walked for about five minutes when they reached a building that said “Whirlpool”. The building was small but it was only a building paying and showering. They walked across the grass to the front door and went in. Elliot talked to the guy at the desk and then handed him two one dollar bills.
Fern went into the woman’s side and Elliot went into the men’s side. They both came out through the different entrances and walked over to each other. The pool was not large but not small. There was the ten-foot area at the far end of the pool, then the five-foot, then the four and three and then the one and two. There was cement surrounding the pool and grass surrounding the cement.
Fern and Elliot went over to a grassy area on the right and put their clothes on some towels that were laid out. There were about three lifeguards in chairs around the pool. Fern put on her goggles and jumped in the ten-foot area. Elliot followed and they stayed afloat for a while.
“You want to have a contest?” Fern asked with a smile and one eyebrow raised.
“What kind?” Elliot replied in the same manner.
“Whoever can touch the bottom and come back up the fastest wins.”
“Alright.”
“Ready? Set, go!”
They both dived into the water swimming as fast as they could to get to the bottom. Fern was a natural at swimming so she had a better chance but Elliot always liked a good challenge. Fern ended up being the winner but Elliot had fun all the same. When they were done they swam around some more when they saw Tekara arriving.
“Hey! Tekara!” Fern called out waving a hand.
“Hey guys!” Tekara replied waving her right hand.
Tekara had black hair that was pulled into French braids, light skin and a thing body. She wore a long green shirt that matches her bright green eyes, tight black
pants, with leather black boots. She put her clothes beside Fern’s and jumped into the pool with them. She had a purple one-piece swimsuit on that matched the shade of Fern’s.
“We just had a contest.” Elliot said.
“And I won.” Fern said teasing.
“I see. Well, can you beat me?” Takara said with a smile.
“Absolutely. All you have to do is beat me to touching the bottom.”
“Ready? Set, go!” Elliot said slapping the water.
Takara and Fern raced to the bottom. It was very close, so close that none of them could tell who won.
“I guess it’s a tie.” Elliot said when they got back up.
“Oh well. At least none of us lost.” Fern said with a smile.
“Except me.” Elliot said with a fake frown.
“Oh you.” Fern said pushing him in the water.
They all laughed at that and had to sit at the edge of the pool out of the water to not drown laughing.
“So,” Fern said after they stopped laughing. “Why are you here?”
“I’m here to swim. What else?” Takara said.
“I don’t know, maybe you were stalking us.” Elliot said moving his fingers in a walking motion.
“Yeah right.” She said with a laugh.
They got back in the pool and swam for a while. After some time they got out of the pool and sat at the edge kicking their feet.
“You were here for such a short time though?” Fern said getting up and walking to their things.
“I know.” Takara replied walking with her.
“Oh well, good bye Takara.”
Fern gave Takara a hug and Takara left. Elliot and Fern swam for a little while longer. Fern was just floating there and relaxing when she heard something. It sounded like a voice calling for help. It was saying, “Help me! I need help someone!”
She quickly got out of the pool and looked around. She could see some kids playing in the three-foot area and some other kids swimming in the five-foot area. She couldn’t see anyone calling for help. Just then she heard the voice again.
“Help me, please help me!”
She looked around again and still could see nothing.
Who is that? She thought as she scratched her head.
“My name is Maye and I need your help, fast!”
“She again looked around in surprise but to no avail.
“What are you looking for?” She heard Elliot say from behind her.
“What? Oh nothing.”
“There has to be something, otherwise you wouldn’t be looking around.”
“Did you hear a voice calling for help a little while ago?”
She looked at him with confused eyes.
“No. Why?”
“Because I heard it. She said her name was Maye. She was calling for help.”
“I see…..”
“I was looking for her here. I couldn’t find her.”
“Okay. Maybe you’re in the sun too long.”
He put his arm around her and moved toward the towels.
“I’m not crazy if that’s what you think.” She said moving his arm off and smiling at him with one eyebrow raised.
“I’m not thinking that. I just think you need a little rest.”
“Well I don’t think that so I’m not going to rest.”
“It’s probably those books you keep reading.” He said with a smile.
“It is not the books!” She said shoving him in a friendly way.
He walked over to the towels and sat down. Fern did the same and thought for a while about the voice.
“Help me please! It’s urgent!”
She jumped up and looked around. Still nothing.
“What is that voice?” She said sitting back down.
“I can’t hear it but it’s probably your imagination.”
“Yeah.”
She sighed and put her clothes on.
“What are you doing?” Elliot asked.
“I’m leaving. This place gives me the creeps since I’m going mad.”
“I’ll come with you.”
They got their clothes on and walked toward the exit. Fern was walking close to the edge of the pool and Elliot was on the other side of her. Just then Fern tripped and fell into the water hitting her head on the side of the pool. Elliot dived in after her. He safely pulled her up when a lifeguard took hold of her and pulled her out of the water. The lifeguard laid her on the cement and looked at her head. He got the water out of her mouth and bandaged the wound on her head. Elliot was sitting by her the whole time looking at the lifeguard and her anxiously.
“She’ll be fine now.” The lifeguard said looking up at him with a smile. “Just wait till she wakes up and then you can take her home.”
The lifeguard walked away and Elliot laid her down on her towel. He sat there looking at her until she woke up. When she did wake up he helped her up and they left the pool.
“What happened?” She asked holding her hand to her head.
“You fell into the pool and your head hit the side. Only barely though, so you’ll be fine.” He replied helping her to her house.
When they arrived at her house she went inside. Her parents enveloped her in hugs before she could take her first step through the door.
“Ow!” Fern said wincing at the pain of her head.
“Sorry.” Said her mother letting her go.
Her mother was tall but not as tall as her father. She had short brown hair that went to her shoulders. She wore blue jeans, a red shirt, white socks and sneakers. She had light skin like Fern and a thin body. Her brown eyes were looking down at her with sadness.
Her father had dark skin and a not so muscular body but not weak either. He had black hair and green eyes and wore grey jeans, a white shirt, white socks and sneakers. He looked at Elliot in surprise.
“Elliot, what are you doing here?” He asked.
“I was just taking Fern home.”
“Oh that’s right. You took her swimming. Well, thank you.”
“I’ll be fine now Elliot.” Fern said. “You can go home.”
Elliot left the house and closed the door behind him. Fern’s parents took her to the couch in their living room.
Their living room was a medium sized room. There was a window on the wall to the right when you entered, a couch below the window, a fireplace across from the
couch, a doorway next to the fireplace, an television in the corner on the same wall as the fireplace, a bookshelf on the wall to the left of the entrance at the front door, some paintings of mountains on the walls, a small table in the corner across from the television, a lamp on the table and a coffee table in front of the couch. The floor was a white rug floor and the walls were painted white.
They sat on the cough and were silent. Fern was leaning on the couch and holding an icepack that her father had given her on her head. Then she said, “Before I fell I heard something.”
“What?” Her mother asked.
“I heard someone talking. They said that their name was Maye and that they needed urgent help.”
“Honey, I think you’re spending too much time reading those books.” Her father said with a smile.
“No, I swear I heard it.”
She looked at each of her parents and then looked down. Her parents exchanged glances and then her mother said, “Honey, you need to go and rest now. Do you want us to wake you up for dinner?”
“Yes.”
Fern got up and went to her room which was in the same hallway that the front door was in. She undressed and got her pajamas on.
Why won’t anyone believe me? She thought as she climbed into her bed. She lay there on her back for a while. Slowly her eyes began to close and she fell asleep.
As she began to lose consciousness those words she heard earlier ran through her head.
Hope you liked it.
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