This story was inspired by something I saw…something very sweet. Not slang sweet; sweet as in lovely.

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The phone rang.

It was around two-thirty or three o’ clock—the clock on the wall was slow, so I could never be exact.

I reached it on the third ring and answered. “Hello?”

“Hey!”

I recognized the voice to be Kara’s; we’d been friends since second grade. Now the two of us were sophomores in high school.

“Hi, girlie,” I answered casually.

“Meet me in our spot in the woods, ‘kay?” she said.

“Random,” I replied to her. ‘Our spot in the woods’ was this nifty little clearing in the forest the two of us hung out in. It’s actually pretty secluded. “Why?”

“I just wanna hang out, ya goof,” she said.

I smiled. “Alright, just let me grab a shower and I’ll be there by…” I looked at the clock. No help there. “Well, I’ll be there in a half hour, maybe less.”

“Alright. Later, cutie,” she said, and hung up.

I put the phone on its cradle and made a mental note to fix the clock.

My name’s Nik, with no letter C. I know—it’s weird, but it’s not my fault. I’ve been thinking of having it changed once I can…I probably won’t, though. I have short black hair. My bangs cover my right eye. My mom constantly bugs me about it, but you can only care so much about depth perception.

A minute after the phone call I was standing in the shower, letting the hot water soothe me. I was kind of sore from the day before—biking can be a bit painful if you fall. My cousins and I usually bike at this one place we call the Horseshoes…well, I fell. It happens.

I got out of the shower fifteen minutes later and tossed on some clothes; denim jeans and an orange T-shirt. It was around a ten-minute walk to the clearing. I grabbed a can of soda from the fridge and headed out the door.

My parents were still at my cousin’s—they lived a few blocks away. I skipped out early last night. I’m not really a social person…well, not with family.

I cracked open the can and took a sip as I stepped out into the sun. Summertime at its finest: eighty degrees of dry heat. Maybe I should have sprung for a Gatorade, I thought, as I watched heat waves shimmer on the black paved street.

I switched to the opposite sidewalk because there were a lot of trees on that side. That way I could walk in a decent amount of shade, but I guess it’d just be greedy to hope for a breeze.

I gulped some more soda and wondered why Kara wanted me to come to the clearing. I mean, we could hang out at one of our houses—there’s air conditioning there, much more desirable in the beginning of August.

A car horn honked. “Nik!”

I looked to my right. My bud Mike was riding shotgun with his older brother, and he had an arm stuck out of the window to wave at me. I gave him a small wave, which I didn’t think he saw.

I could see the entrance to the forest up ahead. There’s a bent dead end sign at its entrance. I live on a one way street, but it’s really long. Easily three blocks.

I reached the sign and gave it a little punch, the resounding ting of metal scaring some small birds into the sky. It’s just a habit.

I stepped into the forest and its wonderful blessing of shade. There’s a main path straight ahead that leads to another neighborhood, but I took the secret path that Kara and I had devised, turning into a thicket of trees on the left and following a little trail of yellow ribbons tied onto branches and plants. Soon I was walking along a narrow dirt path with trees on both sides. The clearing was up ahead; a little circle of treeless ground littered with leaves and spongy moss. Mint plants grow around here, so there’s always a pleasant aroma.

I didn’t see Kara in the clearing. I smiled while walking into it, thinking I had beaten her here. I heard a little rustle in the trees to the side, which was probably a squirrel. I was just about to step into the clearing itself when a shape flew from the trees and knocked me to the ground. My pop flew from my hand and knocked against a tree.

Whatever had jumped had me pinned to the ground, hands holding my arms down, knees taking care of my legs. I eyed my attacker.

It was Kara, wearing a green miniskirt, a white blouse, and a mischievous smile. Her long black hair was brushing my face.

“Hey!” I cried, seeing her face. “What’s your problem?”

“Ha!” she said, getting off me. “Beaten by a girl. How embarrassing for you.”

“Ha, ha,” I muttered weakly, sitting up and brushing myself off. “You owe me a drink.”

“Oh, you’re cheap.”

I stood. “And you’re not, ambushing me like that.”

“Like this?” she leapt at me again. I tried to get out of the way, but she was too fast, the sneaky little psycho. She had me pinned again.

“The same trick twice?” I asked.

“You know you like it.”

I looked into her eyes. Kara has the coolest eyes of anyone I’ve met—one blue, one hazel. Mine are just plain old green.

Her hand brushed my cheek. “What’s this?” she cooed, as her finger swept across a hairline scab from the day before.

“Just a cut,” I said. Her hands were very soft.

“You know, you should’ve shaved after that shower.” Her fingertips brushed across the three-day old stubble under my chin. It wasn’t really that prickly—what did she know?

“Yeah, well…uh…” I couldn’t really think of a response, and her hand was tickling my throat. I realized awkwardly that this was causing a stirring in my loins.

“Hmph,” she murmured.

“So, are we just going to lie here, or are you going to get off me?”

She lay her head down on my chest. “What, you’re not having fun?”

“I think there’s a beetle in my ear,” I lied. Her using me as a bedroll wasn’t really helping my predicament.

She rolled off of me, lying on her back on my right side. The two of us stared up at the foliage, with specks of sunlight shining through to create thin beams from the sky.

I crossed my legs while on my back, one knee blocking my frontal view, my foot dangling in the air. I could see Kara peripherally, her chest rising up and down slowly as she breathed. I quickly averted my gaze…what was I thinking, checking her out?

“I’ve been thinking,” she said.

“I thought I smelled something burning.”

“Hey!” she reached over and hit me in the arm.

“Sorry, sorry,” I said. “Okay, so you were thinking.”

“Mm,” she said. “I’ve been thinking about running away.”

I let out a long breath. Kara had said this once before, in seventh grade, but never acted on it.

“It’s different this time!” she insisted.

“How?”

“Well…I found something yesterday.”

“Tell me more.”

She sat up and looked at me. “Keep it a secret?”

“Sure.”

“I’m serious,” she said sternly.

“So am I.”

She just gave me that look that only girls can give. I winced. “Alright, I promise, I swear, lest I stop breathing air.”

“Good. Get up.” She got on her feet and waited for me to do the same. I followed after her with deliberate slowness.

“Come on!” she groaned. “What, are you trying to look up my skirt?”

“You’re not close enough,” I said, at last standing.

“Perv,” she said jokingly, and started walking to the end of the clearing, with me behind her. She bent over and grabbed something from the ground. It was her backpack.

“A cool folder?” I asked.

“Give me a break,” she said, unzipping it and reaching in. After a few seconds of feeling around inside of it, she pulled out an oversized golden key. It had an ovular head and two notches at the end—like a kid’s idea of a key, and it was at least a foot and a half long.

“Wait; let me guess. A giant, wind-up toy soldier!” I reached over to snag it from her.

“No, don’t!” she cried, and I heard the panic in her voice. I stopped in mid-grab and pulled my hand back.

“You can’t jerk it around like that!” she spat. “Bad things happen…very bad things.”

I took another glance at the key. It looked like an ordinary key…except for the fact that it was about two hundred times the size of an ordinary key. “Sorry,” I said quickly. “So, what is this thing, then?”

Kara brightened and held it up. “I haven’t really thought of a name for it yet. But it can…well…”

“Well…?” I said. “You know, you have a bad habit of trailing off.”

She smirked. “Fine, I’ll just show you, since you’re so impatient.” She held the key in one hand—it must be lighter than it looks, I thought—and pointed it straight in front of her. Her hand was wrapped around the edge. She smiled at me, then let go of the key.

My first instinct was to dive for it. I mean, since when did gravity stop working? But as she took her hand off, the key remained stationary in the air, as through it were stuck into some kind of invisible lock.

“What the hell?” I took a quick step back.

Kara laughed. “Don’t be scared of this, Nik. Be scared of what happens next.” She put her hand back on the key and turned it.

As the world ripped open in front of me, I fainted dead away.

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This turned into a lot more than I thought it would be. Hopefully chapter two will be up soon, but until then, tell me what you thought!