Into Darkness by Liz Braswell

Author:Liz Braswell [Braswell, Liz]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Disney Book Group
Published: 2021-05-04T00:00:00+00:00

He opened his eyes and stretched, feeling a little luxurious, a little lazy and slow.

He rolled himself over for one last cuddle next to his Boy’s sleeping form—

—but there was nothing there, just a pile of leaves.

Foon leaped up immediately, readying his trident.

He was in… the woods!

The dark, cold, damp woods.

All by himself.

“Hello? Comrades?” Foon called out.

There was no response.

Where was everyone? Where was his Boy?

Foon saw with his hunter’s eyes the tracks through the woods left by large feet. Human feet. He immediately followed them backward, running and leaping over twigs and duff. After only a few Grownedup paces, he came out onto the main path that cut through camp.

Strange… It was like someone had entered the woods carrying the Stuffy and purposefully left him there….

Quickly orienting himself, Foon ran to the cabin where he and his Boy had been staying.

“DangerMaus!” he cried, slamming on the door with his soft paw. There was no way he could open it from the outside by himself. “DangerMaus, let me in! Help me!”

He heard the near-silent patter of tiny, sustainably imagined feet approaching the door.

“On three! You push, I pull!” Foon ordered. Working together—with a bit of shouting—they managed to get the door open a crack. The bigger Stuffy stuck a hind paw in to keep it from closing, then squished himself down as thinly as possible and thrust himself through.

“Foon, is the camping trip over so soon?” DangerMaus asked curiously. “You need not worry about the cabin—I have been guarding it, awaiting your return!”

“Camping trip? Over?” Foon asked in confusion. He looked around the cabin.

It was empty.

The children had all left on the special camping trip the Boy had been talking about for weeks.

Without him.

Foon’s horns drooped.

Clark had been so excited. His Mother had bought him a compass so he wouldn’t get lost. His Father had reminisced about his days camping with other boys in a troop like a Stuffy fellowship. His Sister had talked about pooping in the woods. And Clark had repeated it all to Foon, going over every detail and how much fun it would be to have his friends all to himself and far away from theligthtsofcivilization.

Foon had been excited, too. He couldn’t wait to join Clark on this adventure.

But…

He had been left behind somehow…. Tossed, unwanted, into the woods. Like garbage.

He felt funny.

Something, like a scratchy piece of thread but made of feelings, poked its way stabbingly through his belly. Or maybe his heart. His body felt heavy and lopsided and painful.

“But… what happened?” Foon asked helplessly. “I was supposed to go with him.”

“I don’t know,” DangerMaus said. “Did you fall out of his bag somehow?”

Wouldn’t his Boy have noticed? Wouldn’t he have felt it happen, or come back, running, to grab him?

“I… I have to go talk to the Great Bear,” Foon said.

“Of course! I shall continue to keep guard until your return!”

DangerMaus saluted him as best he could without any real paws; he stood up straight and cocked his whiskers back. But Foon was already gone.

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