“Everyone say cheese, Michelle, stop pulling that face.”
So Michelle was forced to pretend to be a normal person for a full two seconds. After the picture was taken, the girls rushed forward to view the picture, and would all go through the timless ritual of picking out flaws with their own faces, and telling everyone else they looked like supermodels.
“I look like I have a double chin!”
“No, I look fat, you look amazing.”
“Rebecca man, why do you always take such bad pictures of me?”
“Someone has to document the first time you see a tree! Not my fault you have a double chin sugar.”
“That is it, we are not friends.” Maxine turned her back playfully on the girls. “Come on; let’s see what we can find. You never know, there might be some real gems around here.” Walking in front of her two friends, Maxine set off to explore the surroundings. It had been Michelle’s idea to have a ramble in the woods, an idea she didn’t expect to be taken seriously. To her amazement, and quite frankly her horror, Maxine had accepted the idea with a slightly indecent amount of enthusiasm. Within half an hour of the idea being playfully brought up over lunch, she had bought her hiking boots from the local Army & Navy store. Slightly strange for a girl who used to think sheep could moo, but there they were, in the woods, with hiking boots on.
Rebecca put away her camera, and started after the pair. Keeping the map in her back pocket, she made a mental note of any unusual sights, ones that could help them if they got lost. She wasn’t too concerned though, as the trees weren’t too thick, and the main road was directly adjacent to their chosen path.
“Do we have to stay so close to the road?” Moaned Maxine, “How can we connect with nature when there’s a constant stream of cars going past?” Without waiting for a response, Maxine changed path completely, heading deeper into the trees. Rebecca and Michelle hesitated.
“Err, are you sure we should do this? I mean, our routes are already mapped out, and I just don’t think it’s wise…” Rebecca had spent a long time mapping out a safe route. To ignore it seemed almost sacrilegious. Surely they should follow a safe route?
But off Maxine went, and as usual, her friends followed. They would soon wish they hadn’t. But for now, they set off, ignoring their reservations and enjoying the views around them. It truly was spectacular to the city girls, to see so much green in one place. They felt like explorers, finding new and exciting territories. So spectacular was their sight, it was a long while before anyone stopped and asked the inevitable question.
“Not to dampen the mood or anything,” said Michelle slowly, “but does anyone have any clue where the hell we are?” She looked around, trying to make out any of the land marks she had found on the map. Of course she couldn’t, because Maxine, in her infinite wisdom had taken them intentionally away from any recognizable places. Bloody typical. Michelle broke out into a slow, sarcastic round of applause.
“Well done Maxine,” She drawled, “You’ve gone and got us lost. Never mind the fact none of us knows what we’re doing. Just as long as you get a closer look at a tree.”
“Michelle,” Rebecca stepped forward, placing a restraining hand on her friends arm. “Michelle you’re not being fair.”
“My fault? This is my fault?” Maxine looked incredulous, “This whole thing was your idea!”
“Yeah, you know what else was my idea? MAPS!”
“Will you both stop shouting? This is getting us nowhere!”
“You’re shouting too, bloody hypocrite!”
They stood there for what seemed like an eternity, passing the buck back and forth, rather than trying to figure out a route home. It was an unwritten rule that whoever’s fault it was they were lost, had the responsibility to get them home. Everyone was desperate to avoid that seemingly impossible task.
Rebecca sat on a nearby stump, and placed her head in hands. It wouldn’t be so hard to get back, she thought, if one of them just stopped shouting for thirty seconds. All she needed to do was remember what direction they had set off in, and then trace their steps back. They had planned to set off north, but then Maxine had decided on north-west. No, it was south. What direction was it? If there was just one second of silence maybe she could remember.
“Will you two shut. The. Hell. Up.”
She hadn’t shouted. Girls like Rebecca don’t shout. Her words had the same effect as if she’d screamed them. Immediately there was silence. Anyone but Maxine would have stayed quiet.
“Who the fuck are you talking to me like that?” She asked with unwise amounts of belligerence.
Rebecca slammed the map book shut, getting up from her stump.
“Fine. Screw you all, I’m taking myself home. “
Michelle started forward after her. “You can’t leave,” She wined, “You have the maps!”
“Oh so now everyone suddenly loves maps.”
“We’re gonna have to live in the woods.”
“Give us the bloody maps!”
The next moments would seal the fate of all three girls. In a fit of frustration, Rebecca pulled the map out of her pocket. Her friends watched in horror as she tore it once, twice, three times and sent the confetti floating off with the wind. It seemed to take the pieces an age to disappear into the trees.
And so, with no maps, no sense of what direction to turn in, they sat there, in the woods, hoping that someone would find them.
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