Hours passed with the team taking turns on guard duty, until the sun rose and everyone began waking up slowly. Joseph carried the bag and said in a loud voice:
"Come on, we have to get out of this forest right now,"
and began advancing forward while everyone followed him.
Nicholas headed toward Ethan, the fatigue clear on his face:
"Boy, do you have a water bottle?"
He replied to him using the signal for (no).
Nicholas took a deep breath and said in a voice loud enough for the others to hear:
"Do you have a water bottle?"
Joseph replied to him: "No, all the water we had yesterday ran out."
Some signs of annoyance appeared on Nicholas's features, but he remained silent and continued advancing.
After an hour of wandering, Joseph suddenly stopped in his place and turned toward the team.
He looked toward them with a small smile on his face as if he had found a solution to get out of the forest.
Jesse looked toward him in surprise and said to him:
"What? Did any ideas come to your mind?"
Joseph replied to him in a somewhat happy tone:
"Yes, I found one."
He raised his finger toward one of the trees and continued talking:
"We'll climb on top of the trees so we can see the area from above and know our direction."
Jesse replied to him questioningly:
"Alright, what's the difference? All you'll see is just trees."
Joseph said:
"Well, that's what's expected, but I know something that can guide us toward the way back."
Expressions of surprise appeared on Jesse's face and he said to him:
"And what is it?"
Joseph replied to him:
"Beside the village there's a mountain a few kilometers away from us, and it's supposed to be visible from this distance, so all I have to do is know the location of the mountain and we head in its direction."
Jesse placed his hand on his chin while staring toward the ground and remained silent for several seconds, until he looked toward him with a small smile:
"Good idea, let's do it."
Joseph headed toward one of the trees and stood in front of it, took a deep breath then began climbing it slowly clinging to the branches.
Joseph continued climbing until he reached a point high enough to see the area clearly.
The place was full of trees everywhere just as Jesse had expected.
Joseph took a deep breath and began looking right and left searching for the mountain.
It didn't take long until he spotted the mountain from afar, so the smile grew on his face and he began descending quickly from the tree until he reached the ground.
He grabbed his bag quickly, put it on his back, and began heading toward the direction of the mountain with fast steps.
Nicholas and Jenny were surprised by what he did, but they followed him anyway.
After several hours of walking, everyone spotted a simple light at the end of the forest.
And the more they advanced forward, the larger the light became, and the happiness increased with every step they took.
They finally reached the end of the forest to find themselves in the same place they had entered from at the beginning.
Nicholas fell to the ground with the happiness clear on his face:
"Finally… finally we got out of that place!" (breathes deeply).
While Jesse headed toward his car and started it, so feelings of reassurance and happiness dominated his heart when he heard the sound of the engine, and he shouted saying:
"Come on quickly, get in!"
Everyone got into the car and Jesse sped off moving away from that cursed forest.
Everyone's laughter rose as they moved away from the forest.
Nicholas wrapped his arm around the tired Ethan's neck and said in a voice full of relief:
"Finally we'll return to the village man, I missed my bed."
Joseph replied to him with a big smile:
"On the occasion of us getting out alive, you're all invited to eat mushroom soup on me!"
Expressions of happiness rose on Ethan's face after hearing that, while Jenny kept breathing slowly feeling safe finally after all that exhaustion.
The team finally arrived at the village wall and got out of the car quickly.
Joseph headed toward the door and knocked on it forcefully, so he heard someone's voice from behind the door asking him about his identity, and he replied to him with his full name and the mission he was assigned.
Silence filled the place for several seconds, then the door began opening slowly.
Everyone headed quickly inside the village with happiness dominating their faces, while the villagers kept looking toward them in surprise.
Joseph went toward the gatekeeper and gave him the same card he had given him the previous time, so the gatekeeper looked at it and quietly asked him to head toward Mira.
Joseph replied to him with agreement and went quickly toward the center of the village (the huge cabin they had gone to last time).
He arrived at the door and opened it forcefully, the fatigue clear on his features.
He found Mira drinking a cup of tea, she looked toward him in surprise saying in a worried tone: "If anything bad happened tell me now…"
Joseph sat on one of the chairs while breathing with difficulty, took some time to rest, and after a few seconds passed he looked toward her and began telling her everything that happened.
After he finished talking, he placed the bag full of herbs on the table and continued saying with a light smile:
"Don't worry everything is fine."
Mira kept looking toward him with worry for some time, then a small smile appeared on her face and she said in a somewhat joyful voice:
"The important thing is that you're alive."
(In the cabin where Nicholas and the others live)
Nicholas went toward the water jar and began drinking from it heavily until he refreshed, then headed quickly toward his bed to get some rest after all that exhaustion.
Jesse did the same thing and headed to his bed.
Ethan drank some water, then kept looking toward the room for some time, until he turned toward the door and left the cabin to find the place crowded like the previous time.
Men walking while laughing, and women smiling while looking toward their children playing around.
The smile appeared on Ethan's features and he began heading toward a place amid the sounds of noise.
He continued advancing until he stopped in front of the white flower field that was in front of the village center.
His eyes widened, and a feeling of comfort and reassurance began seeping into him the moment he saw those flowers.
He placed his knees on the ground while taking something out of his clothes, it turned out to be the same white flower that Joseph had given him.
He looked at it examining it to find it in good condition, took a deep breath and put it back in its place, then continued contemplating the flowers in admiration.
After several minutes of watching the flowers, suddenly he felt a strange hand on his shoulder.
He turned quickly with expressions of shock and surprise on his face, to find an old man with a long white beard and a bald head, wearing a white shirt decorated with black shapes resembling spirals, with black pants that had some tears.
The old man looked toward Ethan and smiled a kind smile:
"Hello little boy, what are you doing here?"
Ethan directed his gaze toward the flower field for some time, then returned looking at the old man with eyes full of optimism and happiness.
Expressions of surprise appeared on the old man's face for a moment, then he too looked toward the field, and after some time passed he said with a light smile:
"It seems you love looking at these beautiful flowers like me."
The old man advanced more toward the flowers and picked a flower from them, then continued saying:
"I come every day at this time to this place and stay contemplating the beauty of these captivating flowers, because they make me feel comfort and reassurance, away from the annoyance and problems. Do you agree with me?"
Ethan raised his arm signaling agreement to him, with a smile of happiness filling his face.
The old man directed his gaze toward the field, and felt a strange mix of comfort and reassurance seeping into his heart.
The two remained there for several hours, and everyone who passed by them looked at them with some surprise.
The old man looked toward Ethan and said to him in a kind tone:
"I think we've stayed here for a long time, haven't we?"
Ethan looked toward him in surprise while the old man continued his words:
"What do you think about coming with me? I'll show you some things that might interest you."
Ethan looked toward him with curiosity and replied to him with agreement.
The old man began moving slowly toward the center of the village, while Ethan followed behind him.
He continued advancing toward the center then took a side path wrapping around the cabin.
Expressions of surprise began appearing on Ethan's features.
The two arrived at the back side of the cabin to be met by a black wooden door, fixed to the ground and locked with an iron chain with a lock on its handle.
The old man headed toward the door and bent slowly, and put his hand in his pocket to take out a small metal key.
He put the key in the lock and opened it, then lifted the door slowly.
Ethan directed his gaze toward what was inside the door, to find a long staircase leading downward.
The old man looked toward him with a simple smile and said to him:
"Come on."
The old man entered first, while Ethan kept looking toward him with surprise and curiosity.
(The End)