Goosebumps tickled my arms. I felt cold all of the sudden. I couldn’t explain it, but I still wasn’t willing to give up an adventure. Aunt Desiree came up with a great plan to keep us from getting lost, too. She took the ribbons from Celeste and Tiffany’s hair and shredded them to tie around the branches to help us find our way back.
We followed the path down a hill, which began to wind downward.
There was a huge clearing. I’d never seen so many flowers in my life. Anyhow, I had just found my pot of gold. There was a huge, oak tree, with a small stream guarding it. We ushered my aunt toward it for a closer look. Huge juicy blueberries circled the tree.
“MMM…blueberries” Danny said rubbing his belly.
“My favorite!” Tiffany piped in licking her chops.
“Everything’s your favorite when it comes to food, Tiffany,” I said rolling my eyes in annoyance.
“That was rude Jordan,” Celeste nagged.
“Ok, all of you cut it out or we’re leaving right now.” My aunt gave us the look.
We were suddenly filled with an ocean of love for each other.
“Ok, stay right here. I’ll see how deep the water is and if it is shallow enough to cross over.”
The water was only ankle deep. Yes! My aunt was waving for us to come on over and inspect the tree. It must be hundreds of years old like a small Greek statue. Those goose bumps were back. So was that strange cold feeling.
It was really weird. All of those nature sounds you usually hear disappeared. No wind. No birds. No more bugs. Just silence. Even my family was being quiet. I took a closer look at the old tree. The front the trunk had been stripped of its bark and polished. There was a long inscription written in some strange language. I started to touch it, but thought better of it.
“Look, Aunt TT” Danny whispered pointing at the oddly chiseled words.
Why was he whispering? It’s almost like he knew he was supposed to.
“It’s some Native America language.” My aunt replied while studying the craftsmanship of the handwriting. “It’s getting late. Just pick some those blue huckleberries and let’s go.” She said it to us, but she never took her eyes off those words. She just stared at them, like she was in some sort of a trance.
“Aunt TT?” I asked nervously.
“Yes, Jordan?” She turned and replied and I suddenly forgot what I was going to ask. There was something in her eyes that was different. It was creepy, not Aunt TT.
“I forgot.” I replied quickly, a little too quickly. I was scared and I didn’t know why. Suddenly, I was unconsciously loading my pockets with those juicy fat blueberries or huckleberries as my aunt referred to them. It was colder than before, and I don’t mean the weather.
“Ready?” My aunt said softly.
“Ready!” We said together.
Tiffany and Danny were already scarfing blueberries. They sounded like tigers that had just made their first kill. Celeste had forgotten about the berries in her pockets and continued picking wildflowers. The sun was setting and I was ready to go back and make camp.
“Tiffany and Danny stop gorging yourselves before dinner. If you eat them all we won’t have any to make blueberry s’mores.”
Now that sounds like my Aunt Desiree. I was beginning to get worried and think she’d lost her soul or something to that old oak tree. I can’t explain it, but I am glad we left when we did. I’m not usually afraid of the dark or being outside at night. But somehow, I knew tonight would be different.
My aunt had sent me to the van to get some extra batteries for a lamp. So, Danny wouldn’t be scared tonight. Danny wasn’t the only one. On my way to the van I bumped into some friends from school.
I bragged about my aunt, the camping trip and of course the creepy but cool old oak tree and those juicy blueberries. I pulled some out of my pockets to offer them and they back away and almost fell down to get away from the berries in my outstretched hand. The look on their faces was beyond being frightened.
They looked at those berries like they were going to leap out of my hands and attack them. “Hey, what’s wrong with you guys? They’re just blueberries.”
“You visited the great oak beyond the woods?” they gasped in strained breaths.
“Yeah, so?” I was showing off now. “What’s so scary about blueberries?”
“The oak is cursed and so are the berries.” Kevin whispered.
“Oh, come on. You guys are putting’ me on.” I laughed. Their faces were priceless. This had to be some joke they were playing on me. When, I fell for it and cried like a baby; they’d tell everyone at school.
“No, he’s serious Jordan. That place is really, really bad.” Lei shook his head in disbelief towards my ignorance of the old fable.
“Especially for grownups,” said Kevin.
“Ok, say I believe you. Why is it bad for grownups and not for kids?”
“It was a bunch of kids that created the curse.”
“Like a bazillion years ago.” Kevin nodded with Lei.
“Ok, what’s the curse?” I crossed my arms and dared them to think of something good.
They looked over their shoulders to see if anyone was watching or listening and then looked back at me.
“Beware of the berries beneath the tree. A nasty curse will follow thee. A human you will be no more, two days beyond the day before.” They chanted together.
I was really cold and now my entire body was covered in goose bumps.
“Ok, Kevin, Lei, that was a good one.” I had to save some of my dignity. I faked a smile and shrugged my shoulders and waited for them to continue their spooky tale.
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