I did this story/essay when I was twelve, so excuse me if it isn't the best I've ever done.

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This story happened when I was ten years old. My friends, Bree, Avery, Ben, Isaac, Sarah, my older brother Zay and I all went on a hike. Our guide was Isaac and Sarah’s great-aunt Martha. When we first started, we all picked out our own staffs (walking sticks) to help us along the way. I picked one about 5.1 because I was only about 5 feet back then. (Uh huh, you heard me right.)

Anyway, we hiked for about a half an hour when we got to a brook. At first, we didn’t think that it was safe, but Martha said that any water that comes from the mountains is pure and fresh. We were very tired and thirsty and enjoyed the rich taste of the water. But after we drank, the brook became our enemy!

To cross, we had to walk on stepping-stones and to make sure we didn’t fall in; we had to use our staffs to balance the right side of us and our arm for the left side of us. It took me a while to handle it, but at the end, we all got across.

After we crossed the brook, we saw strange signs saying:

TRESPASSING!
PRIVATE PROPERTY!!

The oldest, being a stubborn fifteen year old, urged us to keep following the guide, we kids had to keep following. As we walked Sarah suddenly exclaimed:

“Hey Martha! Why don’t we all go to the Big Rock?”

Now, we had never heard of a ‘Big Rock’, so we were excited when Martha said we could keep going. But, Avery and Isaac were very stubborn and kept saying, “Why can’t we go back, Martha?” or “Can’t we go back?” Finally, Bree and I got tired and decided that we should all have a vote. Whoever wanted to go back would raise their hand and whoever wanted to keep going would raise their hand. Just saying, Avery and Isaac lost very badly. Then they both said:

“Well then, we’re just going to stand right here till you come back.”

I shrugged, and added, “Okay, but make sure the WOLVES don’t get you!” With that, Bree, Sarah, Ben and I sped up to catch up with Isaiah and Martha. When I mentioned wolves, those boys scrambled to catch up with us as fast as they could because we had just read an animal book that said that wolves lived in the Pennsylvania mountains. For the rest of the trip, they were quieter than a hummingbird.

Finally, after many signs that said: NO TRESPASSING, TURN BACK! and Martha assuring us that the mountains were not private property, and no-one and do anything to us, we made it to the Big Rock. It was huge and it had a short ledge where Zay, Bree, Sarah and I pretended that we were watching a movie in the theaters.

As we watched the valley, hawks and eagles soared in the air. They came so close that I was afraid they would steal my shoe! We stayed there for about twenty minutes then Martha said we better start getting back. Now, I don’t know why but Ben and Isaac said that they had to use the bathroom. So, as Martha took them into the woods, the rest of us were getting bored.

Then Zay (at the rebellious age 15) said:

“Listen, I think I know the way back and since being second to oldest," (since Old Martha was around the age of 60), "I think we should go on without them. Huh, guys?” Bree, Avery and Sarah agreed but I was a little timid, being afraid of the Huntsman. To give you feedback, every Pastors’ Retreat, we have something weird happen to us. The year before, we saw the Ghost Driver, and this year, we saw the Huntsman. (And the next year, we had the Abominable Snake! Kinda reminds you of Scooby-Doo, dontcha think?)

One time when we were bored at the cabins, we decided to spy on a man who lived in a cabin about fifty yards from our own. He was cutting wood and we were hiding behind several trees when he suddenly yelled:

“WHO GOES THERE?!”

That made us run faster than a herd of buffalo. So when we saw these signs, we were scared that he would throw his axe at us and chop one of our heads off! (kinda like Sleepy Hollow, isn’t it?) That’s why I was afraid that he would track us down and make sure we never saw our parents again. But, the rest of them wanted to go back, and I had to go.

As we were walking, Bree suddenly ran towards me and whispered:
“Joziah!”

“What?”

“I think a saw a small Amish boy behind that tree.”

I looked around worriedly. “Are you sure?”

“Yep.”

I gave a strong gulped and kept walking. We kept walking till we realized that we were never getting back without Martha’s help. So we started heading back to Martha when all of a sudden:

BANG! BANG! BANG!

I turned my head and saw horses running towards us. For a second I thought we went back in-time! But as I squinted, I saw two Amish men and a boy in a wagon, charging right at us!

I looked back at the gang but when I looked, Zay (like the chicken that he was!) was already three yards away and Bree was right after him. Sarah was speeding in-front of Avery, who lost his shoe and was running with one sock on in the mud! I pumped my legs and ran for my life, afraid that the Huntsman had sent them to get us off of his property!

But as I looked in-front of me, past the rest of us frightful creatures, I saw the purple coat that Martha wore. We all screamed, “Martha! Martha, save us!” Martha just smiled and waved at the men who suddenly turned their wagon and went the other direction. It seems when you become Amish, you stay Amish. I guess that because Martha was once Amish.

Anyway, to sum everything else, we learned our lesson and went back to the cabins, only to realize that there was a short cut that we could have used the whole time! Instead of hiking 5 miles to the Big Rock, we could have only walked one!
Though this story was very funny, I learned a good lesson:

NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER WALK AWAY FROM YOUR HIKING GUIDE!!!!!!