Lost Girl's Path

She needs to find her way.

               A lost girl was walking through the woods on her way to a place she had never been when she realized that she was lost.  When she stopped to consider which way to go, a traveling man came up to her and introduced himself.  The girl told him that she was lost and did not know which way to go, so the man gladly decided to hand her a piece of the map he was carrying.

               “I’ve already been there, so I do not need it anymore,” he said, and went on his way.

               The girl followed the path the man had given her until she reached the end of the written path.  Just as she stopped to weigh her options, a skinnier man came up to her and introduced himself to her.  The girl told him that she was lost and did not know which way to go, and the man quickly gave her the next piece of the map as if instinctive.

               “Anything to help someone along,” he said before moving on.  However, the piece of map he had given her looked very different.  The trees were not marked the same, nor the paths.  It was harder to interpret, but she managed to find her way.

               She again followed the path she was given until she came again to the end of the map and could not make up her mind.  As she stood there pondering, a short, mean-looking man approached.  He looked scary, with heavy bags under his eyes and wispy hair that barely seemed to hold on.  The girl told him that she was lost and did not know which way to go, and the man tore a piece of his map off for her, but looked at it as if deciding whether she needed it or not.  The girl did not understand, and questioned him.

               The man looked at her, and then gave her the piece of map.  “I am not helping you,” he said, and continued on his way.  This confused the girl, but she decided to take his piece and add it to her map.  Again, the trees and roads and streams all looked different from the previous versions, but she was able to find the right way on it.

               She was again following the path she had been given when she came to the edge of the map, not knowing which way to go; however, this time, no one came to give her directions, no kind person handing her a map.  She was even more lost than before, and wished for another to give her help; there had always been someone to help her in the past.  She sat down on a stump next to the path and began to cry, wishing she knew which way to go.

               After she had finished crying, she stood up and looked at the path behind her and the path ahead.  Somehow, they did not seem as scary as they did at first.  The woods did not frighten her as much as they soothed her now.  Then finally, as she looked in the direction she had been going, she began to move.

               Her brisk pace quickly took her in the direction she chose, all the way hoping she had made the right choice at each fork in the road.  She still saw no one on her way, but that did not deter her anymore.

Finally, after a long time of walking through the dense and often times confusing forest, the woman came to the end of the path just outside the woods.  There she saw exactly what she had hoped she would from the very beginning, even if she had not known what it was.  She saw a field covered in beautiful flowers, and an image of herself, warmly calling her into the sky.

Author's Note

I put it under "children's" since none of the others really seemed to fit.
I hope everyone enjoys the attempt. :3