What I heard that afternoon completely took me by surprise. It sounded like a gunshot, though at the time, I couldn't be sure. Everyone with me looked in the direction the sound had come from.
There was a long silence, no-one daring to speak, then a rustle in the bushes and the sound of footsteps thumping the ground so quickly that it was not long before they died away. The people with me still stood in silence. The only thing that seemed oblivious to the sudden disturbance of the afternoon was the shining sun, still gleaming golden in the blue sky. Something skidded nearby, bringing everybody back to their senses. They blinked and looked around. A wolf, the obvious cause of the skidding noise looked at us. It sniffed the air and pounced onto a nearby bridge. Then it ran into the bushes.
Everyone with me stood around, unsure of what to make of the recent sequence of events. The strange silence was extremely unnerving. I decided to speak up. A leaf blowing away distracted me for a millisecond and I looked up to see Susan opening her mouth to speak.
"Daddy, what was that?" she asked.
We all turned to look at her,
"I don't know...," he said. "None of us do."
Everyone, all six people other than me started talking to each other about what had just happened.
The leaf that I'd been looking at began swirling up and up.
"Silence," I commanded before I could think about what I was saying. Immediately the people were quiet. The water suddenly felt colder, and clouds covered the sun.
"Come on let's get changed," I said. To my surprise, everyone listened. We had been swimming and were all freezing.
When we'd got changed, we stepped into the forest and began walking in the direction of the Range Rover 2000. I could sense the tension in the air. Everyone could.
Thinking back on it, I sometimes think it is funny, how everyone can get flustered by a sound that can just be a party popper. But immediately I always think no. There was more to it than that. Then a weird sequence of sounds. A certain tension hung in the air and a shiver ran down my spine. The forest air smelt damp and rotten. It didn't feel like a party day anymore, where we would get home and play blind man's buff.
The drive home was long, but no-one said a word.
When we got to our destination we were greeted by my mom and a big potful of soup.
"How was it?" she asked.
"Great," I said.
