World Leapers Book I: The Forest

The Shed

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Terran looked back and squinted through the torrential downpour.

Behind him, in the shelter of a small clump of tamarack trees, he could see his twin brother River crouching and nervously watching.

Terran slowly turned back around. The dark entrance of the old wooden shed was just one step away, rain drizzling from the doorframe.

He looked back at River one more time, then chewed his lower lip and turned to the black, shadowy hole that led into the shed.

Terran stepped forward into darkness. Somewhere behind him, he heard River scream.

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Today was supposed to be much, much different.

Just three hours earlier, Terran was curled up in bed, his foot draped lazily over the edge of the mattress. One bright blue eye was barely open, and his blond locks were tangled, twisted, and still reeking of chlorine from the previous day's trip to the swimming pool.

Still half-asleep, he watched his brother River hopping on one leg under the dim nightstand light. River was pulling on clean, white socks.

"Riv...izz...so...earllly..." Terran struggled to form words as his brain slowly came to life.

"Almost eight, brother! Extreme sports summer camp is at nine! Get dressed!"

Terran rolled over. The black-out curtains were still pulled tight over the window. For all he knew, it was four in the morning—it sure felt like it. Summoning every shred of his lazy morning strength, Terran extended a single index finger and tugged a corner of the curtains aside.

"It's dark," Terran grumbled, seeing a stormy sky above.

River stopped fumbling with his shoes and looked up. "Huh?"

Terran rolled over and yanked violently on the curtains with one arm, revealing grayish-black clouds, a torrential downpour, and a dark, dreary day.

River hadn't noticed the weather. He groaned, shoving aside his expectations of a summer day that was supposed to promise swimming, tennis, capture the flag, and everything else that was the magic of extreme sports camp. Now it was just extremely... wet. Camp was canceled. It was the 'rule of rain.'

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For a ten-year-old boy, the presence of a summer storm arouses energy, creativity, daring. As River pulled on his hiking boots and fleece hoodie, he spoke in hushed, choppy sentences:

"Terran, MUSH-rooms, hunting, c'mon!"

Terran sat up, rubbing his eyes. He knew where River was going. Many twins have a strange built-in neural connection that allows them to actually read each other's minds, and even develop secret, unknown languages that researchers call cryptophasia. Although the virtual wiring between River and Terran never really resulted in a new language, it did indeed allow them to anticipate each other's thoughts, feelings and intentions with uncanny lightning speed.

And so even in his half-asleep state, Terran instantly knew the plan. River wants to go hunting for morel mushrooms in the rain, he's whispering so Father and Mother don't hear, and he's going to be gone in five minutes whether or not I'm by his side.