A flashlight was flicked on in the middle of the dark. The beam of the flashlight shone through, illuminating the forest surrounding it. The trees and bushes appeared in the dim light, allowing the holder to see through the night.

Footsteps heard from a few miles away at a high speed and grew louder and louder as seconds passed; it's coming this way.

The sound of the footsteps suddenly stopped. The flashlight was frantically moved around, pointing at different directions to find something -- anything. Suddenly there was a movement behind the bushes, creating a noise. Averting the flashlight towards the directions of the bushes, she squinted her eyes, trying to get a glimpse on what was behind it.

Is it a bear? A ghost? Bigfoot? An axe murderer?

Before she could even make a step forward, a figure suddenly jumped from behind the bushes and launched itself on her with a loud roar.

The night was once again engulfed in darkness, as the only source of light there was fell on the ground with a thump, followed by a loud screaming of a little girl.

The girl rolled to her sides with her limbs jerking in all directions, trying to loosen the grip of the figure who was now on top of her, burying her in a suffocating bear hug.

"Gotcha," the figure said, finally letting go of his grip. "See Harp, told you I'll find you." He leaned in and offered her a hand and stood up, towering over her.

At the sight of the familiar ashy blond mop in front of her, her body visibly relaxed. The girl took his hand and stood up after him, her head barely taller than the boy.

"I could've died from heart attack, doofus." She said with a huff, adjusting her flashlight as they started to walk.

"Please," the boy rolled his eyes, "you can't get a heart attack. You're just a kid, Squirt." He reached his arm out and ruffled her head, turning the neatly braided brown locks of hers into a disheveled mess, knowing that the gesture will annoy his little sister. He would know, after all he was an expert at the task.

The girl swatted his hand away and patted her mane down to tame it. "Not the hair, River. And I'm not a kid, I'm already six now!" She put her right thumb up, symbolising a six, her face offended.

Harper was convinced that once you have reached the age of six years old, you're considered as one of the big girls. But that was also what she thought last year when she turned five. Now though she knew that she was wrong -- five years olds are kids -- and she was glad that she was no longer one, and will now be able to fit in with the other big girls in the class.

Not only was she now a part of the big girls, but being six years old also means that she was finally allowed to have her own bike. "You can have a bike when you're River's age, Love," their mother had said. Since then, Harper had been counting the days to her birthday.

So yes, being six was an important matter. And now that she was finally six, she was not going to let River ruin it for her.

"I'm still older than you, though."

It took everything in Harper's willpower to not punch her brother right there and then for saying that overused line. It wasn't as if she needed another reminder that she will never be older than he is, no matter how many birthdays she will have in the future. Or that she can't have the bigger room because River was older and thus needed a larger space for himself. As if.

But Harper was against animal abuse. So instead, she opted for a low huff.

Seeing her silence, River continued, talking animatedly, bragging about how easy it was for him to find her and much better he was at hide and seek than her, and how much fun he was going to have when he explain the previous occurrence to their family back at the tent later once they've returned.

But soon he realised that their family was going to be entertained by not only one, but two, interesting occurrences, as he stepped on a mud hole and slipped onto the ground, effectively shutting him up and enticing a burst of laughter from the six years old behind him.

With a grunt, River quickly stood to his feet and picked up his fallen flashlight, which was covered with mud. Turning around, he averted his gaze to his sister to send her a glare, but was instead greeted with a look of absolute mortification at him -- or more accurately, his pants.

"POOPY PANTS!"

Even with only the moon lighting the night, the crimson red painting his cheeks was evident, and only became clearer as Harper's laughter roared through the silent night.

Somehow, the mysteries held within the depth of the forests didn't seem so scary anymore as her joyous laughter filled the air.

"What's wrong, poopy pants? Your tummy couldn't hold a bag of flaming hot Cheetos?"

He narrowed his eyes as he watched her clutching her arms around her stomach, laughing at his situation and her witty respond. It was quite funny, River admitted, but not when it was directed at him.

River then said something that suddenly made her laughing stopped, her eyes widened and her mouth gaped open.

"No," she whispered, shaking her head, "there are no bears."

He grinned smugly. "Oh but there are, and if you don't stay quiet, they will find us." This only caused the girl to look even more terrified.

"They?"

"Yes Harper, they. Now if you don't stay quiet, they-"

His words were stopped by the sound of branches snapping from somewhere near them. Both children looked at each other with horror, filled with fear of having to face the most dreaded creature known to mankind; bears.

The boy mouthed a word; run. But before the two could do anything, the feared figure appeared behind them, causing their bodies to stiffen. Slowly, they turned their heads around, and they screamed with all the air in their lungs.

--

dedicated to laraib_khan496 for always being patient with me.