Gingerbread House

Chapter Two: Exploring

"Mommy, can I explore the forest?" The young child held puppy dog eyes, knowing that only his mother couldn't refuse them. He only uses them when he really wants to do something, so no harm done.

"Awe, of course, my little angel. Just bring some food and supplies in case of anything." The artistic mother warned knowing that his son was going as far as he could in the dense forest before having to turn back. Paperjam wasn't a stupid kid, he knew better than to go too far somewhere unknown.

"Thank you, Mommy!" The young child rushed to his room and dug in his closet for his old hiking bag.

Humming a small tune, he pulled it out and emptied it of its contents. It had a small medical kit(which he was going to keep), art books, clothes, pieces of cloth and coloring pencils.

"I was wondering where those went." Paper muttered as he picked up the art supplies and books.

Placing them in their respective areas, he went back to finding out what he needed. Pulling two pairs of shirts and three pairs of pants, he stuffed them into his bag along with the med kit. He also grabbed two pairs of sleep wear, just in case he wanted to spend the night out under the stars.

"Now... Where's my book?" He whispered, looking under everything.

He quickly found the leather bound book that had a raised picture of a leafless tree in front of stone house. The book was given to him a few years ago and nearly had all the pages were filled with writing and pictures.

Jumping up, the young kid went to a hidden drawer in his desk and grabbed some extra papers since there was a clip to remove or add pages. He took some papers from the top and placed them in a large binder in the same hidden place.

After placing the new papers in and finding his special pencil, the young boy changed his clothes for hiking ones. His hiking clothes consisted of black cargo pants with a red, plaid shirt with his usual scarf and his dark blue jacket. Grabbing his bag, he jumped down the stairs, laughing a small bit.

"Don't forget to put some food and water in there." Ink called out from his small studio.

"Okay, Mommy!" Paper quickly went into the kitchen and found two water bottles and some flavored water along with peroxide(even though the last one was suppose to be in the bathroom).

Pulling out the med kit, the kid put both a bottle of water and peroxide in it. He didn't want to waste anything.

Looking around some more, he settled on bringing some granola bars, a small bar of chocolate and a mini bag of marshmallows. He did bring more water though as to try and balance out the unhealthy snacks.

Slipping on his boots, he walked outside. The air was cleaner than inside the house, even though none of his parents smoked. Besides, he hated being trapped in doors anyway.

Paperjam quickly walked into the forest. For the couple of months that he had been there, he had been going further and further in. Though, he was never too far away from home. Now, he was practically ready to figure out who lives in the woods! Many people talk about a witch living in there, so it was just begging for him to go there!

The deeper the little child went, the more it started to feel like something was off... Slowly he started running, something definitely felt wrong... Like someone was watching him...

Jumping over a dead tree, the child squeaked as he started rolling down a hill. He giggled a bit as he slid to a stop.

"That was fun..." He whispered as he dusted himself off.

He tried to get up, but instantly fell back down. He looked down at his ankle, hissing in pain.

Pulling up his pant's legs, he bit his lip at the awful sight of blood. It felt and looked like a rock had lodged itself in between the bones in his ankle.

Pulling out his medical kit, he found the bandages, gauze, water, tweezers, and the peroxide. Taking the tweezers and bottle of water, the child poured a bit on the wounded ankle and carefully pulled out the stupid rock.

Tears slipped out a small bit at this, but Paperjam just quickly poured peroxide on it so it wouldn't get infected and wrapped it in both gauze and the bandages. After packing everything up, the young child looked around for something he could use to help him walk.

"Perfect!" He called out as he grabbed a strong, sturdy, fallen branch.

He used it to help him get off the ground and then started walking with his suddenly heavy bag. The child knew that he'd have to go home so that the wound wouldn't get any worse, but... he didn't know which way was the way to the town...

Huffing softly, the kid chose a random direction and limped that way. Yet... One thing made him stop...

A growl from an angry wolf...

Glancing to the side, the kid bit his lip. The giant, white wolf was glaring right at him! It was watching his every move!

"N-Nice, wolfie... Nice wolfie..." Paper whispered, backing up slowing.

The white wolf barked harshly, baring its teeth at the pour kid! Not wanting to see what would happen if he stayed, the kid booked it as fast as he was able to!

The wolf howled, chasing after the kid, who mostly limped away. The giant beast ran in front of the kid, who instantly turned another way and started not caring about his leg!

He ran as fast and as far as he could go. It sadly ended when he fell down another small hill and was trapped by a wall of thorns.

Tears quickly fell from his eyes in both pain and fear. He whimpered and whined as he backed away, both the bag and staff discarded somewhere in the mess of Fall leaves.

"S-someone... H-Help..." He whispered, preparing himself to die... He thought he was going to die...

The white beast lunged at the defenseless prey, only to literally be stopped. The person who had stopped the terrifying beast, was a white skeleton wearing a blue-green plaid shirt with pale orange pants. They also had these glasses with the words YO_LO on them.

"Bad dog." They hissed, throwing the mutt backwards.

The once angry looking animal whimpered lowly, backing away from the child's savior. Once it was out of view, did the monster turn to the crying child.

"Hey, hey kid... Are you alright?" The white skeleton whispered, gently wiping away the falling tears.

"N-No..." Paper whimpered trying to keep the tears from falling. "I-I don't t-think so..."

The stranger nodded, looking sad.

"Why don't we collect your stuff and head to my home? It's not that far..."

The young thing nodded, wiping away his tears. He looked around for his bag and staff, both being near a tree a few feet away.

Hesitantly he raised to his feet, walking only a couple of steps, before falling to the ground.

"Oh dear! Are you okay? Did that wolf hurt you?" The stranger questioned quickly, just like Ink would if Jam even got a scratch.

"N-No... A-A rock had l-lodged itself b-between my ankle b-bones..." Jam pointed to his stuff, the stranger silently understanding.

"Of course, kid." He quickly went to the items giving the staff to the kid.

Slowly, the inky skeleton stood up, gripping the staff in a firm grip. Shakily, he reached out for his bag, which was given without much fuss. Though the stranger was gazing at him like there was something wrong with him...

"Do you want me to carry it? It'll be easier that way."

"N-No thank you!" PJ told him, giving the white monster a shaky smile. "I can carry it!"

"O-Okay... If you say so..." The stranger wasn't very convinced... He could see the child limping heavily and carrying his bag... It didn't seem like a good idea. Though he ignored it for now, besides it would help him in the long run.