A Desperate Cry
1315 Words
Levi had finished all her books. No TV. No distractions. Just… nothing. She couldn’t take it anymore. She checked the time on her phone—only to realize it was already 1 in the afternoon.
She sighed and tossed the phone onto the bed.
“Useless thing. Walang signal, no purpose,” she muttered. So she didn’t bother bringing it. What was the point? It was just extra weight.
Then she decided to go outside.
The sun was high, horses nickered in the distance, and the smell of hay brushed her nose. At least there were no clowns today.
Her feet carried her farther than she realized. Mountains glowed gold under the sun, wide fields stretched endlessly, horses roaming freely. She finally stopped, taking in the layout: the front fields for farming, the back portion a sprawling ranch.
Levi raised an eyebrow.
“Part farm, part fancy horse playground… boredom disguised as beauty.”
But curiosity tugged at her. The woods whispered promises of something—anything—other than staring at walls. She followed the sound of rustling leaves, pushing through branches, her hands brushing rough bark as she ventured deeper. The earthy scent of pine filled her lungs.
Minutes passed—she guessed—before the trees opened into a hidden clearing. And there it was: a waterfall pouring into a crystal pool, sunlight glittering like diamonds on the surface.
Levi crouched down, dipping her fingers into the cool water.
“Well… I didn’t sign up for nature class today, but I’ll take it.”
The pool shimmered, quiet and untouched. She scanned the area. No people. No noise. No rules.
“Nobody even comes here,” she murmured. “Figures. If I disappear, they’d probably blame the rooster.”
With a shrug, she slipped into the water. The cold shock faded into calm, the waterfall’s steady hum washing away every annoyance she’d been carrying.
Floating on her back, she whispered to herself,
“Maybe no one’s gonna come here anyway…”
After what felt like hours, she pulled herself out of the water. She fumbled with her clothes, hands trembling from the chill, dropping a button twice before gripping it firmly.
She stepped toward the trees, confident, maybe even energized.
“I came from this way… pretty sure,” she said, marching forward.
Trees. More trees. A fallen log she didn’t recognize. A curve in the path she swore hadn’t been there.
Still—she kept going.
“Nope. This is fine. I’m fine. It’s just a forest,” she told herself, voice slightly louder than normal.
She turned another corner. More unfamiliar trees.
“Okay… maybe it's right over—there!”
She hurried, pushing through branches, wincing as twigs scratched her arms. Her pace quickened into a jog. Then a run.
“I got this. I can get out. I just need to—”
Her foot caught on a root.
“S–shit!”
She stumbled, crashing onto the grass, rolling down a slight slope before landing on her side. Dirt smeared her palms, her knee stung, but she pushed herself up, breath shaky.
“Okay… okay… I’m okay. I can still find the way.”
She stood, brushed herself off, and kept walking—faster this time.
But the sky began to change.
Blue faded into gray.
Gray deepened into an unsettling purple.
The light dimmed, shadows stretching longer, darker, swallowing the gaps between trees.
Levi slowed.
Then stopped.
Her heart squeezed.
Her breath hitched.
The forest… looked different. Colder. Bigger. Meaner.
A tremor ran through her fingers.
“No… not now… Please don’t get dark yet,” she whispered.
She turned, choosing another direction. Then another. Every path swallowed her. Every direction looked identical.
“Someone? Hello? ANYONE?” she shouted, her voice cracking.
Silence answered.
Hope slipped through her fingers like water.
Her knees finally buckled, and she dropped hard onto the damp earth. Tears welled, then spilled, hot and fast, streaking down her dirt‑stained cheeks.
“I don’t know where to go…” she choked out, hugging herself as the dark tightened around her.
A twig snapped somewhere.
She flinched.
Another sound—wind whistling like whispers she couldn’t understand.
Her voice broke, desperate, trembling, raw.
“K–Khaleb…?”
She swallowed, sobbing harder.
“KHALEB! PLEASE—HELP ME!”
The forest echoed her cry…
but returned nothing.
•••••
Dusk was settling when Khaleb finally made it home. He showered quickly, a strange heaviness sitting in his chest, then went straight to Levi’s room. He knocked three times—nothing.
A frown creased his brow. He checked the kitchen, the living room—everything untouched, undisturbed. She should have been inside.
He knocked again, harder, louder. Still silence.
A cold prickle crept down his spine. Something wasn’t right. With a shaky breath, he pushed the door open.
His heart dropped. The room was empty. No Levi.
Only her phone lay abandoned on the bed.
“Sh*t…” he muttered under his breath, fear twisting sharply in his gut. Levi would never leave her phone behind.
He bolted to his room, grabbed his walkie-talkie, and called his friends. His voice wasn’t steady anymore.
“Knox—Hunter—Levi’s missing. Her phone’s here. I’m heading out now.”
The silence on the other end lasted half a second too long.
Then Knox’s grave voice crackled through, “We’re on our way. We split up—cover more ground.”
Hunter’s usual joking tone was gone. “Khaleb, don’t waste time. Go.”
Khaleb was already moving, boots slamming against the floor, breath tight in his chest.
There was only one place she’d run off to.
The forest.
Dense. Dark. Dangerous at night.
And this time, he was almost certain—
Levi wasn’t just exploring.
She was lost.
And time was running out.
The moment Khaleb stepped outside, the cold evening wind hit him like a warning. The sky had darkened faster than usual, clouds swallowing the last traces of light. Perfect. Just perfect. The worst night for anyone—especially Levi—to be wandering around.
He jogged toward the forest’s edge, breath sharp, heart pounding hard enough to drown out the crickets. Every step felt heavier, like the ground itself was telling him he was already too late.
“Levi!” he shouted, the name echoing into the thick cluster of trees.
No answer.
Only the rustle of branches and the distant croak of frogs.
He swallowed hard. Levi may have been stubborn and reckless, but she wasn’t stupid. She wouldn’t go this deep at dusk—
Unless something pushed her farther.
Khaleb flicked on his flashlight and stepped past the treeline. The darkness swallowed him immediately. Shadows twisted between trunks. The wind hissed through the leaves like whispers—mocking, warning, unsettling.
“Levi!” He yelled again, louder this time, voice cracking with something he refused to call fear.
A twig snapped to his left. He spun, breath hitching—but it was just a rabbit darting away. His nerves were stretched thin, every sound digging into him.
Static buzzed on his walkie-talkie.
Hunter’s voice came through, low and tense, “No signs on the west side. You?”
Khaleb exhaled shakily. “Nothing here. I’m heading deeper.”
Knox spoke next, voice grim, “Stay on the trail. Last storm uprooted trees—you get turned around in there, we’ll have two idiots to rescue.”
Khaleb tried to steady himself, but the fear pressed harder with every minute Levi stayed missing.
“Levi—if you can hear me—just shout. Anything.”
Silence.
His pulse hammered.
He moved faster.
Because the forest felt wrong tonight.
Too quiet.
Too cold.
Too still.
And somewhere out there, Levi was alone.
And scared.
And he had to find her. Before the dark did.
- Writer
