Beatrix’s Mini Spirit Adventure Part 1
“The further we explore this place, the more I am noticing the lack of any trail or signs of human life,” Percival complained, wobbling unsteadily on a large tree root. He was following directly after Beatrix, who was following directly after Devon, who was leading the trio into what appeared to be an endless swampland.
“I told you, this is a shortcut. I heard about it from a friend of a friend, okay?” Devon replied, confidently hopping from root to root.
“I thought this was a haunted swamp,” Beatrix said, holding her arms out to carefully balance as she walked along. “Maybe that’s what you remember hearing.”
“Maybe,” Devon said thoughtfully.
“I vote we never listen to Devon again after this,” she suggested.
“I second that,” Percival said. “Let’s get back on a route home that has solid ground under us, instead of possibly crocodile infested waters.”
“Fine, fine, you sissies. This is the last time I let you in on a secret shortcut,” Devon replied indignantly. He hopped nimbly from a large tree root to a smaller one and promptly slipped and fell into the water. When he got back to standing, completely disgusted by the muddy and weed filled swamp, they got their first example of the depth of the water.
“Chest deep for you, waist deep for me and Bea,” Percival commented, showing a rarity, his amused smile that would have been charming if it weren’t for the fact that he only seemed amused when other people got hurt. Nonetheless, he knelt down on the tree root to lean over and help Devon out of the water.
“Ha ha,” Devon replied sarcastically, scrambling back onto the root in a desperate attempt to regain some form of security. “As gross as it is,” he said, sitting down and inspecting his bare feet for leeches, “I’m pretty sure there’s a bunch of fish in that water. We should have brought fishing poles.”
“Yeah, we’ll try and remember that for the next time you get us hopelessly lost,” Percival commented, his expression returning to a constant face of discontent.
Beatrix took a seat next to the two boys, realizing that they had wordlessly decided on taking a break. The enormous trees they had been walking on had apparently grown around the swamp, adapting to its changes. The trio’s dangling legs just barely grazed the water below the tree roots as they sat.
“I honestly don’t think we’re lost,” Devon said, finally finding his feet satisfactory. He glanced around at the treetops, as if searching for a landmark that didn’t exist. “I think we only have to walk about a mile more before I have us out of here for good.”
“Well, your judgment has been completely flawless so far,” Beatrix said, rolling her eyes.
“Why don’t you make yourself useful and catch us some fish for lunch?” Devon suggested.
As if on cue, Beatrix shrieked and fell halfway into the water. Percival, whose reaction time was much better when the person falling was sitting right next to him, managed to grab her arm quickly to prevent her from completely toppling into the swamp.
“I wasn’t serious, Bea,” Devon said as Percival attempted to pull her back onto the root.
“I think something pulled me!” Beatrix replied, gripping Percival’s arm with all her strength. Soon after, she screamed again but was silenced as both she and Percival fell under the water.
Percival surfaced moments later, his dusty colored hair obscuring his face. He searched the water by him in a panic, even diving back under a few times. Devon watched him worriedly for a few minutes before jumping in as well.
“Where’d she go?” he asked, wandering in circles through the muck.
“I don’t know!” Percival replied hysterically. “I let go of her when we hit the water. She was right here! Right here!”
They continued to search the water frantically for their lost friend, who seemed to have simply disappeared into the shallow water. They even attempted calling out her name, which was an absurd way to try and locate someone who could have been buried in mud.
Eventually, search was deemed obsolete when it became too dark to see into the water at all and a thick fog had settled on the area. Silently, they made their way home, which was notably easier when Percival led the way instead of Devon.
“We’ll go back tomorrow and look, right?” Devon asked weakly, from both shock and exhaustion. Percival stopped on the front porch when the old dog greeted him with a wagging tail. “After all, maybe she got pulled by a current and just got a little lost. She could be fine.”
“It’s a swamp, dumbass,” Percival replied quietly as he scratched the dog behind the ears. “It doesn’t have currents.”
“Well, maybe an animal got her and pulled her to its lair. She could be injured. We should go back and try to look for her again,” Devon suggested.
“If an animal got her, she’s dead,” Percival said. “If she sunk into the mud, she’s dead. Even if by some freak event, there’s a current in that swamp, she got pulled away then she’s still dead. Basically, she’s dead. I couldn’t hold on to her for five seconds, and now she’s dead. Just like that.” He snapped his fingers and turned towards the front door again.
“I shouldn’t have brought us into the swamp,” Devon said, his voice cracking. “This is all my fault.”
“At least you would have been decent enough to hold on to someone if they fell,” Percival replied.
“What are you going to do? What are we going to do?” Devon asked, following Percival into the house and looking at him for guidance.
“You can do whatever you want,” Percival answered him. “I’m personally going to get in bed, not be able to fall asleep, then get up tomorrow morning as soon as it’s light, and go search that swamp.”
“But you said she’s dead,” Devon said.
“What the hell else are we going to do?” Percival snapped. “Even if she’s dead, we still have to look for her. Besides, I’ll kill myself if I just have to sit here thinking about it.” With that, he strode off to his room, slamming his door with enough force that it seemed to rattle the whole house.
Marigold, the orange cat that only really seemed to like Beatrix, approached Devon and meowed at him demandingly, staring up at him with angry green eyes. For the rest of the night, he couldn’t really shake the furious expression it seemed to give him.