We stood staring at the beautiful, majestic waterfall towering above us. It was huge, with crystal-clear water cascading into the river below. Water droplets glistened like diamonds in the late afternoon sun, casting a rainbow across the river.
Behind the veil of glistening water, we could see boys playing on the riverbanks. The water looked cool and refreshing after our long walk to reach the waterfall. I wanted to swim but I didn’t have my togs so I just took off my shoes, rolled up my jeans and waded in the shallow water. Coming to Paradise Valley, I thought, wasn’t so bad after all.
The adults took a couple of photos then decided to head back to our picnic spot. My cousin Thashni and I immediately raced ahead, retracing the steps we remembered taking en route to the waterfall. Out of breath, we then stopped to wait for the adults to catch up, but they didn’t appear.
"They’re slower than we thought!" Thashni remarked. We decided to keep going and heard some rustling in the bushes as we continued along the track.
"Are you guys lost?" the boys we’d seen earlier asked.
"No!" we replied definitively. We were confident seven-year-old girls and we didn’t need help from boys because we were perfectly capable of finding our way back to the picnic area by ourselves.
"Fine," the boys replied and continued walking. Thashni and I carried on jogging slowly.
When none of our parents caught up with us, Thashni and I turned back and started to jog in the direction of the waterfall. By now we were becoming a little concerned. Where were they? I just wanted to find Mum and Dad and go home. Thashni seemed to be thinking the same thing because instead of jogging we started to run.
When we arrived, breathless, at the waterfall, there were no parents to be seen. My heart was beginning to beat rapidly; it was dawning on me that we were truly lost. It was getting darker and that wasn’t helping much!
We turned around and ran again. Thashni complained of sore feet and
I had a stitch in my side. Both of us could feel the tears welling. At every corner and bend we imagined a monster or vicious animal waiting to eat us up. Then, as we were about to turn another bend, I saw something move and jumped back with a start.
"Thash!"
I whispered to her,
"don’t go there!" This anxiety was all we could take; the tears we’d been holding back for so long came tumbling out now in a rush.
After we had calmed down and gathered enough courage to see if the
"monster" we’d heard was still around, Thash and I tiptoed to the corner of a bush to take a peek. Before either of us could catch a glimpse, I accidentally tripped over Thashni’s foot and stumbled right into the path of the monster: a bored-looking deer. Seeing us, the buck sniffed and ran away.
A wave of relief washed over me. Thank goodness! Thashni and I were not going to be eaten – not today anyway! Now we just had to work out a way of getting back to the picnic area and finding our families.
Just as we were about to give up, bracing ourselves to live forever in a forest – and imagining ourselves building a little cottage with a thatched roof and vegetable garden – we spotted a clearing ahead.
Thash and I ran as fast as we could, praying that the clearing would lead us back to the picnic area. Thankfully, it did. We were back in the place where our family outing had started.
We rushed over to our parents to tell them that we were still alive, and that we had survived. When we reached our family’s party, we saw everyone packing away fold-up chairs and food hampers. Various relatives looked up, smiled and continued packing.
Thash and I exchanged confused looks. Why didn’t they run up to us, hug us and tell us that they had been worried sick?
"Did you miss us?"
I asked my mum and dad. Our parents looked confused.
"Why should we have missed you?" asked my mum.
"Didn’t you know that we were missing? We were lost!" said Thashni incredulously.
Our parents laughed and shook their heads.
"We didn’t even know that you were gone!"
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