We were in a thick forest with absolutely no idea how we found ourselves there. Suddenly, I felt a sharp thing poke me behind my neck. I was so scared that I wanted to scream my friend’s name but my voice wouldn’t come out. Only a silent crackle came out of my mouth. I could almost feel the hairs on my arm stand up straight. I was so terrified.

It was a lovely Monday morning, and I wanted to surprise my friend Mia because it was her birthday. I’ll bring novels, crisps, and soda and we’ll have a lovely time – I had thought.

And so I got exactly that! I found Mia sitting under her favourite tree outside her bedroom window. So I tip-toed toward her and yelled, “Boo!” and she quickly stood up in fright and I began to laugh hysterically like I always did when I scared her.

“Why did you do that Tiffany? You almost gave me a heart attack,” she said, trying to hold her breath. And I just stood there laughing.

“I’m sorry, I’m just glad you didn’t die of a heart attack on your birthday,” I teased.

“Oh Tiffany, you remembered! Are those for us?” she said, pointing to the sodas in my hand.

“Yes they are. C’mon don’t just stand there! Where are we going to enjoy these?” I replied.

And we walked to her room. It was pink – as usual. I sat on her chair while we shared the food amongst ourselves. Mia was unusual. In Grade 10, she’d always walk around school campus and if asked why she was walking around idly she’d reply, “I’m trying to calculate the length of the school premises.” I don’t know how she did it but her measurements were always accurate.

If she wasn’t walking around the school campus, she’d be in the biology lab learning how to dissect frogs and what not. I mean, who loves dissecting dead amphibians? So disgusting, just the sight of them makes me want to vomit! Mia was also able to calculate difficult math questions without a calculator. From trigonometric ratios to radians, it was all in her head. We became friends because Miss Frenchie – our former class teacher, made us sit next to each other. I honestly thought Mia was as nutty as a fruitcake but she also had her good side and after a few months of sitting next to her we became good friends.

So as we sat sharing the food amongst ourselves and reading from the novel, Mia suggested that we had manicures. When she walked to her drawer to get the nail polish, something fell out of it. It looked like a small remote. She didn’t notice it so I stood up and picked it up. It had red button with the words “DO NOT PRESS” printed on it.

“Mia what is this?” I asked.

“I don’t know, I think we should check it out,” she replied, curiously raising her eye brow as she spoke.

“Well it says, do not press,” I said. And then I pressed it soon after. Nothing happened, we waited. Then a sharp buzzing sound was heard followed by a strong smelling gas. And we both passed out. I don’t know how long we passed out but when I opened my eyes we were in some thick forest. Mia and I both looked around not knowing where we were. We stood up and just followed our guts. I had read a post on Facebook that said that if you were trapped somewhere strange just listen to your gut. And that’s what we both did. We walked a short distance and saw an odd-looking town.

Tell us: What do you think just happened between the two best friends?