Home Again

Twisted Thicket

I was thinking about Poptropica membership when I limped down the stairs. Yes, we do have stairs, which is inconvenient for someone like me. But we'd had the house before the leg issue, so I can't say too much. I kept my arm balanced on the rail, and entered the living room. And I saw something horrible.

Mom was sitting on the floor, her face as pale as a ghost's. She looked really tired, like she'd been working all night. Around her shoulders was a towel, and a bowl of pumpkin soup was in her hands.

"Mom...?" I asked, my throat closing. Mom looked up at me; life returned to her eyes.

"Alice!" Mom exclaimed, leaping up and almost spilling her soup. "You're okay!"

"Um... of course I'm okay." I said, crinkling my nose.

"Where did you go?!" my mother shrieked, placing her tired hands on my shoulders and staring at me with her brown eyes- which are identical to mine.

"What do you mean?" I asked, feeling fear prickle my skin. "I've been here the entire time!"

"No you haven't!" Mom squeaked. "You... you left! During the night! I came into your room to get something, and you weren't there!" Her voice was changing pitch. She started fretting, like I do. "I was so worried! Why did you run away?! Where did you go!? I thought you could've been kidnapped, killed... the police are looking for you! I was terrified, Alice! What were you thinking?!" She inhaled roughly, like there were shards of glass in her throat. "I thought I lost you... just like Harold..."

"Mom..." I began. Suddenly I felt so stupid for not telling my mom earlier. I should've known she would react so dramatically- she's like that. Me too; I've inherited that trait from her. For a moment, even a smart-mouthed person like me didn't know what to say. Mom and I locked eyes for a moment, before Mom flopped back onto the couch, and let tears escape from her eyes. It wrenched my heart. Forget fighting villains and platform-jumping in Poptropica- seeing stuff like Mom crying is a real challenge.

I shook my head. "Mom... There's something I need to tell you. Something's happening to me." Mom sniffed again; I assumed she was listening. "It isn't... well... I don't know what word to use to describe it. But I will say it's challenging, and going to take a while to explain, so I think I might need to miss school." Mom sniffed again. I took a deep breath. "Have you ever heard of a game called Poptropica?"

"Creatures from the forest have forced me to stop development on my new construction project," a lumberjack- or should I say lumberjerk- complained. "Please, journey into the woods and stop the threat!"

"Yeah," I said, trying not to roll my eyes. "Come on, Fierce Fox." She shrugged and followed me, as I told the tale. "The developers are trying to build a new casino, but the forest creatures are stopping them. And the forest creatures are stopping them because if the development goes ahead, they'll die."

"Harsh," Fierce Fox commented. "What's our mission, then?"

"Vice-versa of what that loser said," I answered. "We help the forest."

Fierce Fox nodded. "Sounds interesting." We passed a fallen trunk, which has a strange, glowing blue mushroom in it. As if it was shy, it popped away when we were near, and re-appeared when we were gone. I shrugged. Then we entered the forest.

The forest is a dark, shadowy and misty place. Thick trees cover the sky, and at every turn there's trees and various other plants of many dark and twisted colours. Rare patches of sunlight creep through the tree craziness, and the floor is covered in soft vegetation. Magic fills the air, and made my skin tingle. I could've gazed at it for hours (there are some seriously beautiful things in Poptropica), but we needed to move on.