I Know Where I Am

Written in response to: "Write a story in which someone gets lost in the woods."

Adventure Fantasy Kids

The teenager looked around. But before she could officially cry “I’m lost!”, a frog-like creature pointed in a particular direction.

“You won’t leave. Should you neglect to save the forest, all will become ash, even you. But don’t take my word for it.” The frog-like creature dashed off.

“Wait! How can I prevent such a horrible thing from happening? I don’t see why everything should be turned to ashes and die off because of me. Please! Tell me.”

But the frog-like creature was long gone. The teen was alone in a forest in which she would be responsible for the death of all plants, animals and herself. She searched for an exit, but there was none. I’m lost. She hugged herself, wishing for an exit. Then she saw a cottage. When she entered, a hunched woman in rags stirred soup on the stove, much like the witches in fairytales the teen had read long ago. She whirled around, slamming the door. “I’m not her chicken soup dinner!”

As she stormed off, the frog-like creature stopped her. It pointed. No matter how hard she tried getting away from it, it just kept getting in her way. So she returned to the cottage. Would this place get her out of here? Inside, the teenager looked around—a chipped wooden table small enough to be a writing desk seated six guests. Fishing nets mounted on a wall above the table looked like ones fishermen—who lived on fish and crabs and seagulls—used all day before spending nights playing poker and smoking cigars. The teen didn’t have even smell them, for she gagged—they smelled of dead fish and crab meat. Her stomach churned, and she retched right there in the doorway.

“Sorry, I can’t stand the smell of seafood.”

The woman set down her spoon, took a seat, the chair scraping against the knobbed wood. The teenager found a grey mop somewhere. As she cleaned her vomit, the woman muttered to herself.

“I don’t like this place.”

The teen looked at her, brows furrowed. Then she looked down—her sick was no more. As in the floor’s wood wasn’t stained. The mop wasn’t even dirty. The bucket had crystal-clear water in it, like it had been drawn from the springs of a heavenly place. The teen questioned the woman, and she nodded wisely.

“Once, mermaids dwelled peacefully until they got kicked out by an unseen witch who lives in a volcano. She desired more than her volcanic home. So, she attacked the mermaids, whom she saw as having invaded what she claimed was her crystal-clear ponds, crystal-clear rivers and crystal-clear waterfalls. Should the mermaids come back, the queen will destroy all forest life and start over—”

“But why would she need more?” The intrigued teen asked, leaving her mop by the door and joining the woman. She returned to the stove, heating up the soup. “She’s the queen.”

The woman offered her some. The teen politely declined. The woman insisted, so she nodded, soon grateful for such a delicious bowl. When she had bitten into a slice of garlic bread the woman had baked quickly from a heap of flour, oil, water, egg and yeast, the teen was suspicious. Was this woman really a witch? She saw the ingredients on the counter, but she was pretty quick making the batter and cooking processes. Was she really in fact an evil woman trying to poison this poor girl lost in the woods?

But the woman squashed the girl’s doubts, saying the witch wasn’t interested in murdering the teen; she wasn’t interested in enslaving her, either. As long as she, the teen, kept everything the way it should—not bringing back the mermaids—she didn’t have to worry about the witch’s wrath.

“She won’t destroy you if you leave this place alone. You’d only need fear her wrath should you return the mermaids to their proper residence—the waters. They were here long before the greedy witch. If you don’t listen, she’ll turn everything, including you, to soot. But if you restore peace to this world, the witch will turn to soot. Everyone will live in harmony with each other, and that frog that keeps disappearing will no longer have any desire to leave. He’s just scared you’ll lose. He doesn’t want to become a candlestick, birdbath or birdfeeder! Once they’re soot, they don’t come back. Neither do you.”

The teen gulped. “Is this world cursed?”

“No.” The woman waved her hand. “To stop her, you can first clean this place. Get rid of that stupid fish smell. Then—”

The teenager grabbed the mop, scrubbing all the nets. But they just remained disgusting. Frustrated, she asked the woman how she could repair a world full of mermaids and frog-like creatures if she couldn’t even clean a fishing net. The woman chuckled, putting a withered hand on her, small brown eyes looking into hard blue ones. “Use the water. Trust me.” The teenager said that she never knew truer friendship. She loved speaking, but never won a competition. She also struggled with getting past sports try-outs because she couldn’t concentrate very well. She didn’t have many close friends at all. She didn’t think they were even her friends.

“I am so sorry.” The woman patted her hand gently, the teenager smiling genuinely. She was starting to trust this woman, whoever she was. But she wished she came with someone her age. They would fight and defeat the witch, telling everyone at school. The woman said that the teen needed to turn the lake crystal clear in order to earn the mermaids’ trust. The teenager nodded, hurrying with the bucket, hoping she could do her job right.

The teenager ran along the pathway and down a dirt road to the lake and its waterfall. She filled the bucket with water and poured, but it didn’t turn crystal clear. She put her hand in the water, but nothing felt out of the ordinary. She looked around for the frog creature. It wasn’t anywhere. She balled her fists. “You know, I didn’t ask for this! I could be at home, playing videogames rather than save a world I’ll never return to.”

The teenager studied the bucket. “Is there some kind of wood this needs to be made of?” Refilling it, she poured it back into the lake and waited. Nothing. Suddenly, ashes started falling from the sky. The teenager panicked.

“I’m done for. It’s too late.”

Meteorites followed the ashes. Huge blasts killed the teenager, the bucket singed—

She jerked upright in bed.

“All a dream?” The teen looked around. The large wooden cabinet in front of her bed and set of beanie babies perched on top of her bookshelf all sat there. Something whined. Inviting her dog up onto her bed, the teen wondered whether that dream really meant anything. Then she shrugged. “Sometimes, things aren’t meant to be.” She snuggled down again, her dog sighing and then breathing slowly.

But something glowed bright red below her bed. Whipping off the comforter, the teenager scrambled over. It was an ember. Her dog went for it. “Don’t touch it, boy!” She grabbed her barking dog, shushing him and looked around for its origin. Seeing something glowing in the distance, she held her small dog closer to her chest, creeping towards it. The dog stopped whining immediately when the teenager, hugging him to herself, saw a queen robed in soot black.

“You’re seriously going to turn everything to ashes if the mermaids returned?”

The queen didn’t answer. Her crown and throne were made of soot. The teenager asked whether she was just dreaming about the meteor shower. “Um, Your Majesty. The mermaids don’t deserve your wrath—”

“You return them to those waters, and you’re dead.”

The teenager went up to her. “Please! All those innocent lives turned to soot—”

“Keep those mermaids where they are.”

The teenager demanded this world be spared. Suddenly, a hand smacked her over the head. Laughing icily, the woman sat on her throne, the heat in the volcano increasing to almost unbearable levels. The teenager studied the woman. If her throne, robe and crown were all soot…?

“You’re wrong, you know.”

The woman didn’t answer. The teenager raced out of there. Everything was woods again, no ashes, no meteor shower and no fiery debris. Her bedroom was just an illusion. She looked down—her dog wasn’t with her anymore. What kind of world was this? The teenager returned to the woman’s cottage, saying she had encountered the witch.

“Good!”

The teenager told the frog-like creature she was determined to return the mermaids, regardless the cost. It wished her good luck and then disappeared. The teenager hugged herself, wishing she were still holding her dog. At least she wouldn’t be so lonely. The teenager splashed into the lake, turning it crystal clear and headed for the waterfall’s cave. Encountering the mermaids, she told them they were free. But she was refuted.

“She’ll destroy us.”

“And you.”

“She wants it for herself. She’ll make us chairs, tables or candlesticks!”

Everyone to soot. The teenager shook her head. A terrifying reality to be an object forever. That crown, robe and throne were all once—

“Us! A few rebellious mermen dared challenge the queen. She proved them wrong.” One of the mermaids said. She swam up to the teen. “Please! Don’t make us go back. We’ll become soot.”

“Coward!” shouted one.

“I’ll return you to the lake. Don’t be afraid! We’ll never defeat her if we don’t do anything about it.”

“Please—let us be!”

“No! I’m saving you.”

The teenager grabbed one of the mermaids, but she slipped. Soaking wet, she tried again, but the mermaids didn’t want any help. They said they convinced themselves they were fine. But the teenager knew better. “Let’s go!” She fished for the tail, but the more she tried grabbing it, the more the mermaids forced her to look for it. After an hour, the teenager panted, wiping her forehead. “Fine! If you guys don’t want to live in harmony, I’ll leave.”

“Why should we listen to you? Who are you to convince us?”

The teenager knew she wasn’t anybody special. She was just an intruder. The teenager spoke to them, and some believed. Others hissed at her, the teenager taking these ones who wanted to face the queen’s wrath back to the lake.

“No matter what, stay here. She’ll listen.” The teenager said.

They bobbed their heads.

The teenager continued her speeches, convincing more and more mermaids to return to the lake. The teenager squealed with excitement. When she went back to the old woman’s house, she went on and on about her ability to help the mermaids reclaim their rightful home. What stories she would have when going home! Whenever she went home.

But no one was home.

“She was taken! She’s soot.”

The teenager bolted past her fake bedroom, yelling at the queen to return that precious soul to the forest. She didn’t do anything wrong! The queen didn’t move. She ran around to face the woman, but she jerked away. The teenager commanded that she return her friend to the forest. The queen still refused. The teenager looked around her, heart beating. Was any of this real? Was her dog who ran away into her bedroom real? What was real, and what was fake?

The teenager went over to the fire. She touched it, crying out in pain. Was this woman just trying her patience? The teenager started getting scared. Would she ever return to reality? Then it dawned on her. The forest kept her here; she wasn’t escaping. Or did the witch keep her here? The teenager had returned some mermaids, having grown excited, but she was still in a living nightmare. No matter what she did, she couldn’t escape until she gave the world to the queen. Self-sacrifice seemed like an option, some mermaids had suggested, but the teen just told them she’d never even think of becoming soot for someone so destructive. She also asked how she could get out of this forest—

“You’ll always get lost in the forest! No one’s been here except you. You’re lost because you haven’t saved us yet. Please!”

The teenager wanted all this forest talk to be an illusion, a dream or a daydream. She didn’t care if she woke up during a test in school, Ricky and Jamie, the school bullies, pegging her with spitballs. She returned to the forest, but any way she went, she couldn’t find an exit. She tried for hours, but the frog-like creature blinked at her.

“I just want to go home!” Whether it was the forest that depressed her or it was just sheer loneliness, the teen didn’t know. She missed her dog. When the teenager returned to the lake, the mermaids swimming together, never apart, she spoke convincingly to the other mermaids, who soon agreed with her. Once all the mermaids came out of hiding, the teenager faced the queen once again. She told her that all the mermaids were going to live happily ever after. And this queen wasn’t going to touch them.

The queen stayed silent. The teenager thought of that woman in the cottage; she started speaking, the queen her audience. She felt better, her little speech causing the queen to…do nothing but backhand her. The teenager staggered but collected herself. Since she was still alive, maybe the queen would die if she extinguished the lava. If the volcano didn’t work, then the queen would be powerless. If the queen were powerless, the teenager might be able to go home. She attempted, but the water didn’t put out the fire or the volcano. Instead, it just turned to vapor and then fire, crackling at her. Laughing at her.

The teenager returned to the forest. Soon, she felt sleepy, going to sleep. When she woke up, she was still in the forest. She wandered around. She came across some lilies. She came across some tree frogs. Some of the things she met were helpful. She got tired of trying to convince other doubtful creatures to believe; shouldn’t they rejoice at knowing a savior had come to rescue them from the clutches of an evil queen who was bent on destroying them? Shouldn’t they be elated that the teenager was bent on saving them from an eternal existence in which they’d be soot objects? They wouldn’t have it any other way. It was like they wanted to die. The teenager didn’t give up. She convinced the whole forest to follow her lead, and then a thought came to her. What if she helped the mermaids get back at the queen? Then a horrific thought struck her. That woman probably was turned to soot for helping her! No, she was wrong. She didn’t know what she was talking about. The queen possessed everything, even the teenager, but she hadn’t saved the forest yet. The woman was hiding in her cottage, playing hide-and-go-seek, like she was five, and the teenager was a parent coming home from work, expected to look for her under a blanket or a table or in the doghouse. Returning to the queen, the teen discovered that the woman wasn’t part of the woman’s soot objects.

She lay down and closed her eyes. Waking up again and again in the forest, the teenager realized that if she got here, she could leave. Jumping up, she located the place she had entered. No exit. She ran to the mermaids. All of them had returned to the lake. But no disaster. Weird.

The teenager thought. What had that woman said? Restore this place, and you’ll be free.

The teenager grabbed the bucket, throwing crystal-clear water onto everything. Making everything new again by gardening, farming, feeding and other necessities, the teenager saw flowers blooming, bees buzzing, dragonflies zooming about, the cottage looking beautiful with its grey stone and dark wood build. Excited, she squealed, facing the queen once more. “I brought life to this place, and now it’s restored!” She then demanded the old woman back in her cottage. The queen didn’t say anything. The teenager ran to the cottage. After embracing, the two made a pot of soup, enjoying every delicious drop.

Going to bed that night in the cottage, the teenager whispered goodnight to her dog and parents. Then she thought. If the queen had objects in her volcano, she had turned people who had failed to save this forest into a chair, rug or hearth. All made of soot. So her throne, crown and robes had once been people. She despaired. That mermaid didn’t know what she was saying. But the teenager left that thought to sleep with a smile on her face, waking up to the knowledge she was exiting this forest forever. She was going home! Before leaving (after breakfast of eggs and ham), she decided to give the volcano one last peek. Was the witch soot?

She returned, but the volcano was a heap of coal. She searched for the queen, but she had become a heap of soot. She wondered why those souls didn’t come back. When the old woman passed away, the teenager, having returned a year later with some college friends, mourned her death but was grateful she had befriended her. They ate some berries the frog-like creature gifted them. All morphing into deer, they joined the others, the teen eventually becoming queen of the forest, eventually catching the eye of a buck, them running off together in gratitude.

When the teenager came upon the volcanic ruins as a person, she felt she needed to be here. Someone was after her and this new world. And they didn’t like the idea that this teenager was queen of the forest.

But the teenager was ready for anything. Even this princess.

Posted Sep 20, 2025
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