TWD- Through Her Eyes

Prologue.

Callie lived with her twin brother, Colter, and her father, Daryl, in a small, yet homey cabin. The front yard was a large field in which the two kids would run around endlessly while Daryl sat on the front porch and drank a beer. Raising two six-year-olds as a broke, single father was not an easy task, and it wasn't something he signed up for. But he loved them more than the moon and stars, nonetheless.

The backyard wasn't necessarily a backyard. It was a very large wooded area. If you walked far enough, there was even a decent-sized creek, one that Daryl would take them to sometimes. But that wasn't the case today.

"Colter, we aren't supposed to be this far away. Daddy said to never go past the big rocks," Callie said as she followed behind her twin brother who, by the way, was only five minutes older than her. That's what gave him the idea that he was the 'boss' of her.

"Daddy's sleeping. He won't know. It'll be fun to play hide and seek by the creek. There's more hiding spots," Colter argued, his little legs strutting quickly down the dirt path.

"Yeah, but," Callie grunted, climbing over a large fallen log before continuing to follow the boy, "Daddy said it's not safe. Ever."

Did Daryl know the kids were playing outside? Sure. But he'd be the most irresponsible father in the world if he let his six-year-old kids play outside unattended while he took a nap to recover from his hangover. The creek was less than half a mile away from the cabin, so not that far. But, far enough that if something bad happened, Daryl couldn't act immediately.

"Come on, Callie," Colter said in an exasperated tone. "Just...um, two rounds. So we can both hide and we can both seek. Then we can go back home," he said. Colter was always the more rebellious of the two. Callie could admit that she got herself into trouble more than a few times, but it was never on purpose. She was just clumsy and clueless about the things she did or said half the time. But this was different. The creek was off-limits if Daryl wasn't around. They both knew that.

"See?" Colter pointed to the small creek up ahead. It was spring, so the immense rainfall made the creek look more like a small pond. "Come on, you count first."

Callie huffed, stopping and crossing her arms as she pouted. First, Colter made her come to the lake, and now she had to be the seeker for the first round of hide and seek? This was the worst day of her life. "It's not fair, Colter," Callie tried to call out. But of course, Colter was already running away, down the shoreline of the creek. Callie huffed again as she walked and stood by a large tree. She covered her eyes with both hands and began to count.

"One...two...three...four...five..." She counted all the way to sixty. A whole minute. She'd be bragging if she went all the way to a hundred.

When she uncovered her eyes, it was quiet. Of course, that was the whole point of hide and seek. She began walking through the trees that surrounded the creek. "Ready or nooot, here I cooome," she dragged out, taking dramatic, long steps.

"Are you...behind here?" Callie said out loud as she quickly peeked behind a large treat. Nothing. She sighed. "Okay...maybe he's behind one of the big rocks," she said. But when she checked there, still nothing. Man, he was good at hiding.

But it wasn't until ten minutes later that she became a bit concerned. She still hadn't found her twin brother.

"Colter!" She called out. "I give up, you can come out now!" She called out as she walked along the shoreline of the creek. "Colter! Colter!" She shouted over and over, scanning the trees. Being short didn't help the matter. "Colter! Colt..." She trailed off as she noticed something floating in the water. At first, she thought it was a log, or maybe another boring big rock. But upon closer inspection, she saw a blue and white striped shirt and just a bit of blonde hair peeking up from the surface of the water. It was Colter.