Each Friday, I will blindly pick a picture card from the board game Mysterium, and set a timer for fifteen minutes. When the timer goes off, the story is done.
"I'm not going to do it. You do it," said a girl with a dark red ponytail.
The moon shone overhead providing the only light for the three siblings to see.
Katie, Kelvin, and Kassidy were carefully hidden behind a row of shrubs in the middle of the forest on a dark summer night.
"Why did we come here if no one wants to do it?" asked Kelvin who was obviously irritated that he had been woken up to come out to the forest for a pointless mission.
"Look, I wasn't the one that said we should come here. It was all Kassidy's idea," said Katie, the oldest of the three.
Kassidy glared at her brother and sister. She then looked back at the long path cut into the shrubbery leading up to a little hut situated in the forest clearing up ahead.
Everyone had heard stories of the woman that lived in the middle of the forest all alone, but not many people believed it. It had just been a spooky tale that had been passed around school cafeterias and baseball fields in the summer.
The story went that an old witch lived in the middle of the forest all alone. She was mean and didn't like anyone coming onto her property. However, the witch was very forgetful. She would often drop some of her items in the hedges leading up to her hut. If a person could get one of these magical items, it would grant them one of their wishes. Plus, it would make them the coolest person in the whole school.
"Fine. I'll be the one to go then since it was my idea," said Kassidy pulling the ballcap over her head and making it fit better around her ponytail.
Kalvin and Katie looked at their sister then each other.
"Do you really think this is a good idea," asked Kelvin? "I mean, it's still trespassing, which is illegal."
Kassidy looked at her brother. Her brother was usually very brave, but now he was nervous about her picking up some witch's junk she had forgotten about in her landscaping.
"I'll be fine," said Kassidy. "Besides, I don't believe any of this. I'm just doing it for the cred."
"So what are you going for," asked Katie?
Kassidy looked out over the hedges.
"Well, the key would be the easiest because it's the closest. The gold hammer looks cool, but I'm going for the dartboard. I think it would look awesome on my wall and it's the closest to the hut. No one would be able to top that," she said.
Kassidy took a deep breath. "Wish me luck," she said.
Her siblings nodded at her and watched as their sister gingerly stepped out into the hedges.
They were short and if she stood up she would be towering over them. That is why she made the decision to crouch. Not that it would give her much visual protection from the witch, but it made her feel better.
Dead leaves and twigs snapped under her feet as she inched toward the dartboard just outside of the cabin.
Kassidy had made it halfway and was right next to the gold hammer. She thought about just grabbing it and leaving, but her stubborn streak pushed her forward.
Luckily it was a cloudy night and the moon was slipping in and out of darkness providing her with some coverage from the witch's eyes.
Kassidy made it to the dartboard and let out a big sigh. She looked at the wormholed piece of wood that looks like it had been outside for years. She gingerly picked it up and turned it over in her hands to see if any crawly stowaways would be trying to escape with her.
Satisfied with her trophy, Kassidy turned around to smile at her siblings. That is when she heard it.
"What are you doing with my things," said a gravelly voice behind her.