Chapter-5

Kate awoke early the next morning, though she had no reason to do so. She had felt an urgent desire to go to the forest which so allured her and had made up her mind to do so, that very day. She took a shower and got dressed. She went out in search of her mother and soon found her at the front door.

"Hey" she said.

"I wont be able to go today either" said her mother mournfully.

"Oh." Kate said. She could never understand her mother's distress when she couldn't go to work. She often wondered why her mother wouldn't rejoice staying at home, having nothing to do. After a short pause, she added-"I was thinking about walking around, you know to understand the place."

"Where to?"her mother asked, looking at her suspiciously.

"Well, I don't know. Somewhere" she replied.

"Don't go far. Walk around here. her mother said

"Sure" she said and walked hurriedly away before her mother could say anything more.

"Wait, I'll come with you" her mother called out.

"No need" she replied and walked away.

Kate felt a tingle of excitement as she walked towards the forest. She turned back to see if anyone was watching and she saw that she was well out of sight from her house. She quickly walked into the forest. Like last time she had no idea where she was headed. She tried to find the path she had followed last time, but in vain as everything looked so similar. She kept walking. The path had disappeared and yet she kept moving forward. 

A low branched scraped her hand and it started to bleed slightly.She was soon tired from all the walking and her hand was stinging, so she decided to sit down. She soon dozed off.

Kate awoke suddenly, when she felt  something fall on her. It was a snow flake. She looked up. It was starting to snow. She knew she had to get home. She looked, trying to make out in which direction she should move. She could make no sense. She got up and started going in the direction which she felt was the right one. She felt none of the elation that she had experienced while walking into the forest. She walked very fast and suddenly she stumbled against something and lost her balance. She felt her self sliding down and stopping abruptly. She found herself hanging precariously over a pit. The only thing that kept her from falling was her leg which was caught in a branch. She could do nothing but hope that her leg wouldn't slip through. Snow was falling rapidly now. She tried calling out, but in vain.

Kate didn't know how long she was there but suddenly she heard a sound, a familiar one, calling her name. It was her mother. Kate almost slipped through when she moved suddenly due to her excitement.

"I am here" she shouted but her voice was muffled by all the leaves and branches there.

She could still hear her mother calling out. Kate tried calling out again. It probably wasn't any better than the last but to her relief her mother's voice sounded closer than before. She saw a branch close by. She tried moving as little as possible as she tried to grasp it. She got it and threw it strongly in the direction from which the voice was coming. She could hear the voices getting closer.

"There, I think I see her" she heard an unfamiliar voice say.

Kate heard footsteps moving towards her. She could hear her mother speaking incessantly. 

"I hope she isn't hurt" her mother was saying. "I really told her not to come here. What if she is injured."

"I am fine." Kate called out. "Just a little stuck. You just need to pull my leg a little and then I can pro--woah"

She was pulled up abruptly and placed on the ground with little decorum. She felt a sudden pain in the leg ,which had saved her life, and  collapsed. The sudden pain caused a throbbing in her head which robbed her off her senses for a while.

She could hear her mother saying something but she could make no sense of it. She felt herself being lifted off the ground. She looked up and saw the glittering grey eyes and suddenly she couldn't see anything else and as those eyes looked away she could see nothing but darkness.