by Denise Paduano

Created on: August 30, 2009

Sara lifted her head to the breeze, trying to identify the scent floating through the air. It Kept eluding her. She glanced back over her shoulder, and paused briefly. She could see her friends in the distance. Playing volleyball in the grass, the sound of their laughter dancing in the early summer air. Sara smiled to herself and continued walking. A slow steady pace through the rolling hills of her family's vacation home in the Catskill Mountains.

A doe grazed peacefully with her fawn in the meadow ahead. Sara smiled and stopped to admire the beauty of the creatures before her. The doe caught Sara's scent, raised her majestic head and fixed her huge eyes on Sara. She uttered a small cry and bolted into the adjoining brush with her baby. Sara continued walking and after a time could no longer see or hear her friends.

Even though Sara had not been to the house in several years she did spent most of her childhood here and was not the least bit concerned about finding her way back. She took a few more steps and stopped. Directly in front of her was a small stream about six feet wide. "Hmm, I don't remember that being there".She said aloud. Sara walked to the water's edge and bent down to gaze into the crystal clear liquid. Crayfish, frogs and all kinds of small fish seemed to be co-existing peacefully in this little world.

Sara stood up and looked from left to right trying to determine where the stream was coming from and where it was going. She could not see much in either direction as the woods at both ends were thick and overgrown. Then Sara spotted a small wooden bridge several yards away. She walked to the bridge and touch its wooden rail. Sara frowned. "It looks pretty new". On the other side of the stream was a small grassy area that met with a blanket of thick brush. . Sara squinted but could not see beyond the heavily wooded area. She was curious so she walked onto the small wooden bridge and across it's planked surface.

Once on the other side of the stream Sara walked forward through the small meadow and stopped at the edge of the forest. She stood back and looked left, then right trying to find a path or opening in the wooded area. It was more lush then she had originally thought and she could not see more then a few feet beyond the tree line. Sara spotted what appeared to be a small separation in between two bushes. She moved through them, and the branches snapped against her body and snagged her hair but she continued on. Suddenly Sara found

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