The problem started with a squirrel.
Or, if you asked Noah, the problem started with Leo thinking he could “enhance” the scavenger
hunt by making his own clue— a riddle so cryptic it required “emotional intelligence” to solve.
Finn argued the real problem was Jamie, who had grabbed the clue and bolted before anyone
could double-check Leo’s handwriting, which was as legible as a doctor’s prescription written
during an earthquake.
But all of that became irrelevant when the squirrel took the clue.
One second, Jamie was triumphantly waving the small, folded scrap of paper above his head,
laughing like he’d won something. The next thing they knew was a blur of fur shot down from
the tree branches, snatching the paper right out of his hand, before scurrying off into the dense
summer foliage.
Silence.
Jamie’s arm remained frozen in the air, his mouth slightly open. Leo blinked. Noah pinched the
bridge of his nose. Finn let out a long, patient sigh.
“Did a—” Leo started.
“A squirrel,” Noah confirmed.
“Just—”
“Yep.”
The four of them stood there, watching as their entire afternoon’s work was carried away in the
tiny paws of a rodent with no regard for the integrity of camp traditions.
Jamie was the first to react. “I’m going after it.”
“Jamie, no—” Finn began, but it was too late.
Jamie had already taken off into the woods.
Leo clapped his hands together. “Well, boys. Looks like the scavenger hunt just got an
upgrade.”

Noah groaned. “I hate it here.”
And with that, the chase began.

————————————————

Jamie tore into the woods, his sneakers barely skimming the ground, eyes locked on the darting
blur of fur ahead of him. The squirrel zigzagged wildly, as if it knew it was being chased. Maybe
it did. Maybe it enjoyed this. Jamie was starting to think squirrels were secretly evil.
Behind him, the others followed—less enthusiastically.
“Jamie, slow down!” Finn called, pushing a branch out of his way. “You’re gonna run into—”
A thud cut him off, followed by Jamie’s yelp.
“—a tree,” Finn finished, arriving just in time to find Jamie sprawled on his back, blinking up at
the sky.
“That,” Jamie wheezed, “was not my fault.”
Noah, standing over him with his arms crossed, sighed. “Oh, totally. The tree leaped out at you.
I saw the whole thing.”
Leo bent over, hands on his knees, laughing. “This is incredible. We haven’t even been in the
woods for five minutes, and you’ve already concussed yourself. What an athlete.”
Jamie groaned, rolling onto his stomach. “Where’s the squirrel?”
“Still alive and thriving,” Noah deadpanned. “Unlike your dignity.”
Finn helped Jamie to his feet while Leo squinted up at the trees. “Alright, let’s think. Squirrels
have nests, right? So if I were an overachieving little thief with a taste for fine paper products,
where would I go?”
As if on cue, there was a rustling above them. The squirrel perched on a low branch, the
crumpled clue tucked under its tiny paws like a stolen treasure. It stared down at them, utterly
unimpressed.
“I’m starting to take this personally,” Jamie muttered.

Leo clapped his hands together. “Good news: we found it. Bad news: now we have to get it
back.”
Jamie cracked his knuckles. “I’ll climb.”
Finn grabbed the back of his shirt. “No you won’t.”
Jamie whined. “Why not?”
“Because last time you climbed a tree, we had to extract you from it.”
Leo grinned. “Finn has a point. The great Jamie-versus-tree incident of last summer was one for
the history books.”
Jamie folded his arms. “Okay, but do you have a better idea?”
They all turned to Noah. He was, by default, the one with actual common sense. He exhaled
through his nose, studying the squirrel like it had personally insulted him.
“I do,” Noah said at last. “But you’re not going to like it, Finn.”
Leo perked up. “Oh, now I’m interested.”
Noah ignored him and reached into his pocket, pulling out a half-eaten granola bar— the
granola bar that Finn purposefully entrusted to him while he searched for more clues. He
unwrapped it, took a slow, deliberate bite, and then—without hesitation—chucked the rest of it a
few feet away. Finn released a wounded noise as it fell to the forests’ floor, dirt caking the bar.
The squirrel hesitated. Then, with an almost insultingly casual movement, it dropped the clue
and scrambled toward the granola bar.
Leo clapped Noah on the back. “Cold. Calculated. Beautiful.”
Noah dusted off his hands. “That’s what happens when you think before running headfirst into a
tree.”
Finn retrieved the crumpled clue from the ground and smoothed it out. “Alright, let’s get this
back before anything else goes horribly wrong.”
“Too late,” Leo said.
They all turned to see what he meant—only to find the sky had darkened considerably. The
trees cast long shadows, and the wind had picked up, rustling the leaves in a way that suddenly
felt less like an adventure and more like the beginning of a slasher movie.

Jamie swallowed. “Uh. How long have we been out here?”
Noah checked his watch. Then checked again. “Longer than we should’ve.”
For the first time all afternoon, they fell quiet.
“Well,” Leo said at last, slinging an arm around Jamie’s shoulders. “If we die out here, at least
we die as legends.”
Finn groaned. “We’re not going to die.”
Jamie pointed at the trees. “Unless the squirrels have a vengeance pact.”
Leo gasped. “You’re right. What if this was just phase one? What if that squirrel was a
distraction?”
Noah muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like I hate all of you.
Finn pinched the bridge of his nose. “Okay. We need to head back before—”
A twig snapped behind them.
They all froze.
Jamie grabbed Leo’s arm. “Tell me that was you.”
Leo grinned, but it was slightly less confident than usual. “I wish that was me.”
Noah exhaled. “No one panic.”
Jamie immediately panicked. “WHAT IF IT’S BIGFOOT?”
Leo perked up. “What if it is Bigfoot?”
Finn groaned. “It is not Bigfoot.”
Another twig snapped.
Silence.
Then—
“I swear,” Noah muttered, “if it’s another squirrel, I'm fighting it myself.”

————————————————

Something moved in the underbrush.
Jamie clutched Leo’s arm like a lifeline. Finn instinctively stepped in front of them. Noah,
exhausted beyond his years, simply sighed.
The brushes rustled again. And then—
“There you are!”
The four boys screamed.
Out stepped a very unimpressed counselor, hands on his hips, flashlight beaming directly into
their panicked faces.
“Why,” the counselor—Eric, as his name tag so helpfully reminded them—began, “are you still
out here?”
Leo, to his credit, recovered first. He dusted off his shorts and smoothed back his
already-messy hair. “Great question, Eric.You see, there was a squirrel, and it—”
Noah elbowed him. “Not the time.”
Eric looked so done. “You do realize the scavenger hunt ended over an hour ago?”
Jamie choked. “An hour?!”
Finn groaned, rubbing his temples. “We’re dead. We’re so dead.”
“Oh, you aren’t dead,” Eric said, voice way too chipper for someone who had probably just hiked
all over camp looking for them. “But I am taking you straight to the head counselor. And after
that? Have fun explaining this to the whole camp.”
Jamie visibly withered. “I’d rather fight Bigfoot.”
Leo gave a solemn nod. “Me too, buddy.”
Eric herded them back toward the trail, muttering about kids with “no sense of self-preservation.”
As they walked, the full weight of their misadventure settled in.
“So,” Finn said after a while, “what did the clue even say?”

They all turned to Noah, who had somehow ended up carrying the much-abused scrap of paper.
He unfolded it carefully, scanning the smudged, nearly unreadable writing. His eyes narrowed.
Then he stopped walking.
“Leo.”
Leo grinned, hands shoved in his pockets. “Yup?”
“This says nothing.”
Leo tilted his head. “Well, define—”
“This,” Noah interrupted, shaking the paper, “is absolute nonsense. Half of it is illegible.”
Jamie peered over his shoulder. “‘Follow the path where shadows grow...seek the place where
secrets—’” He squinted. “‘Gerflunk?’”
Leo huffed. “That says glimmer.”
Noah pointed. “And this?”
“Okay, that part is more of a...creative suggestion.”
Finn groaned. “Leo.”
“What? It’s supposed to be mysterious!”
Noah dropped his face into his hands. “So you’re telling me we risked our lives—”
“Bit dramatic, but sure,” Leo nodded.
“—for a clue we couldn’t even read?!”
Leo clapped a hand on his shoulder. “But think of the memories, Noah.”
Noah looked one second away from throwing him back into the woods.
By the time they reached camp, the sun had fully set, and lanterns flickered outside the mess
hall. A few kids still milled around, but most were inside, already eating.
Eric pointed. “Go inside. Eat. And then, maybe don’t get lost in the woods again?”

Jamie saluted. “No promises.”
As soon as Eric left, the four of them collapsed onto a bench, completely spent.
“Well,” Leo said cheerfully. “I’d call this a success.”
Finn snorted. “In what world?”
Jamie grinned. “In the world where we almost got eaten by squirrels and still made it back alive.”
Noah groaned but couldn’t fight the small smile creeping onto his face.
Leo leaned back, stretching. “So. Same time tomorrow?”
Jamie whooped. Finn groaned.
Noah, already regretting everything, simply muttered, “I hate you all.”
And yet—he wouldn’t trade them for anything. Just like they’d never trade the lifetime of
memories they made each summer with each other.

​

Fin