Apple picking with Ernie and June

Ernie is impatiently waiting. He stomps his foot on the wooden floor of the old house his grandparents live in. "I am waiting here..." says Ernie; he gets more and more angry by each passing second.

"I am here, Ernie. But I don't wanna go apple picking with you" says June. June remembers how Ernie made her carry all the apples back home the other day while he pranced around the farm playing hide and seek making her look for him with all the apples entrusted upon her. "I want to hide today" says June still not confident about her stand against Ernie.

"Okay, I will do the seeking today. Can e please go now. We need to get home before Dad, remember" reminds Ernie. June loves to follow her older brother alone but could not stop complaining how he never lets her win any game. "Who picks the most apple?" a game invented by their loving grandfather. He gives the kid some time and watch them run around the field collecting as many apple as their tiny hands could carry. Ernie never liked losing especially to his little sister, so he would do anything to come up victorious.

June knew Ernie was fast, but she had something up her sleeve today. She is not planning to lose to her brother again. "I will win today Ernie and then you will carry all the apples back home." June says with some confidence. This condition was not constructed by grandfather, it was all Ernie who wanted the little June to carry all the apples while he can run all the way to the farmhouse. June kept looking up at the sky while they walked around the farm looking for a good place to start the game.

Ernie found a tree which might have suffered through a lot of wind and its branches hangs low enough for the kids to pick them up. The time starts in their game and Ernie runs around like a mad child picking any apple he could find. June remains stationary, looking up at the sky. She has a nice smirk on her face. June jumps with excitement and picks up apple as they fall from the trees all around her.

The game ends with Ernie having way to less apples in comparison with his sister. He does not believe his own eyes and instantly blames June of cheating. June is too clever to be accused like this and wants Ernie to prove how she could have cheated. Ernie is surprised by June, she never had the courage to talk back at him and now she wants him to find evidence. This makes Ernie boil with anger and he pushes June. Little June falls down hard, she starts crying. "You are a bad brother. I... I... wish you disappear forever." The wind blows once again lifting dust all around June. She cannot see anything clearly.

The dust settles and Ernie is gone without a trace. June lifts herself up to look for Ernie but she could np longer find him. "Ernie... Ernie... I lost okay, please come out now. Ernie!!" June shouts out to her brother. It is getting cold now and the sun is starting to set but Ernie is nowhere around. June cries alone in the middle of the apple farm. "I want Ernie back?" she sobs. A mysterious figure emerges from the trees looking more like a shadow than a real person. June is not scared she talks with him, she wants it to find Ernie. "I took him far away, he is a bad oy and he makes you lose all the time. Now he will never hurt you again." says the devilish figure to the young child.

"No... I want my brother back, don't hurt him okay", pleads June with the mysterious figure. The figure tries to reason with June, it says in its rough voice how June is better off without Ernie, how her life is more fun and how she will get a powerful friend to play with. "I don't want you, I want Ernie" cries June. The figure disappears and there is no sign of Ernie.

Ernie and June's parents came home to find the old farmhouse empty and its about time for sunset. Their mother asks her father in law about the kids. He informs her that they might still be busy collecting apples and could arrive any minute now. Minutes pass and no sign of the kids. The entire family goes into the woods in search of the kids. Mother finds June sitting by an empty apple tree. june is still crying. "Hey, baby don't cry mom is here now. Where is your brother? Did you guys fight?" inquires the mother.

June cannot stop crying but manages to tell her mother using broken syllables how a shadow took Ernie away. The mother hugs June tight and tells her husband to keep looking. Hours passed, and Ernie remains lost. The mother is losing her cool asking June again and again about Ernie with their discussion always ending with a shadow monster. The father remains calm but June has nothing more to add. It is but they don't believe here.

June takes a torch from the cupboard and wanders off into the farm at night looking for the shadow. "Mr. Shadow!!!" June asks for him in the same place where she lost Ernie. June lights the torch and the shadow appears in the light. "I cannot give Ernie back. Sorry" informs the shadow. "Okay, Mr. Shadow... but... can you please bring him back and take me. My parents don't love me and I want to leave with you." says June. The shadow, is lost of words. "We can play all day Mr. Shadow but can you just let Ernie go first." adds June. She is ready to go along with the shadow monster to save her brother. The shadow decides to let Ernie go. He brings Ernie using the same wind that took him away.

"Where am I? June... is that you. I am so happy to see you sis" rejoice Ernie finding himself back from the dark cave into some place with light. June takes Ernie's hands and tuns off the light on her torch. "Run Ernie" commands June and they set off towards the old farmhouse with all their might. The wind starts to go from a breeze to a gale in seconds yet the kids ran. "Close your eyes June. If we cannot see, it cannot harm us" says Ernie. "But we will fall and the shadow will take us both away from mom and dad" reminds June. Ernie takes charge and ensures June he will take her home safe. Together they ran home into the arms of their parents away from the crazy winds.

"Ernie! June!" shouts the mother. She is excited and relieved at the same time. the kids are back. The elders asks Ernie what happened and he explains everything like a fairytale. He tells of a giant shadow monster who took him away into a dark cave, a courageous young woman finds the monster and tricks it to get him back. He explains how they fought the monsters to get home. All this made the parents more angry and scary. They scolds both kids for planning this joke and grounds them. Grandfather takes the kids side and pleads for them.

The parents agree not to ground them but they should not talk to anymore shadow monsters. Ernie and June were happy but sad that their parents did not believe them. Next day, it was time for apple picking. The kids were not scared but rather courageous enough to face and fight the monster. The grandfather also follows them from today as another warrior against their mysterious shadow monster. The monster never appears again and the siblings starts to play fair with each other without fighting.

THE END