Arlo climbed up to the top of the ridge and looked out. “Where am I?” he asked himself, looking in every direction. The lump in his throat returned. “Where’s home?” he whispered, breathing heavily. He was trying not to panic. But he couldn’t see Clawtooth Mountain anywhere. Stretched before him were miles and miles of trees, shrubs, boulders, and hills. The vastness of it all made him feel like a tiny speck. Nothing looked familiar. Even the river looked different. And it appeared to go on forever.

The river!

“As long as you can find the river, you can find your way home,” Arlo said to himself, remembering Poppa’s words. He slowly trekked down toward the river.

There was no simple, clear path to walk. Arlo had to traipse around fallen trees with sharp, jagged branches. He walked cautiously, listening to the strange sounds of the wilderness. It took all his courage to focus on slowly putting one foot in front of the other.

After walking for a bit, Arlo noticed smashed berries scattered around and gasped in excitement. He looked up, and there, on a nearby hillside, he noticed a tree covered with berries.

Arlo was starving. He’;d never been so hungry, or so happy to see a berry tree. He saw an angled boulder and balanced himself on top, leaning out to try and get one of the juicy berries. The boulder tilted, but he managed to catch himself, straddling the tree. Craning his neck out as far as he could, he reached, leaned, and stretched every part of his body. He even stuck his tongue out toward the branch, but he was unable to get to it. He took a deep breath and blew, causing the branch to swing toward him and…Sweet joy! He managed to bite a juicy berry right before…BAM. He lost his balance and fell, landing on his leg!

Frustrated, he tried to pick himself up but couldn’t. His foot was buried under a pile of rocks wedged up against the boulder! He tried and tried, but he just couldn’t break free. He was completely stuck.

Eventually, darkness fell over the wilderness. And like most things, it became even scarier without the light of day. Arlo didn’t want to give up. He’d worked hard to pull himself free, leaving tracks in the ground as proof. But he was starting to lose hope. The nighttime sounded much louder than the daytime, with many different animals and insects screeching and chirping. Frightened, tired, hungry, and unable to move, Arlo had no choice but to cover his head and try to block it all out. He curled up and closed his eyes.