Sophie and Mark and their cousin, Peter, had been visiting their grandparents' house one cool autumn day.  The humble house was a plain, white, traditional farmhouse next to the woods.  It had black shutters and a black roof.  A sweet aroma of chocolate chip cookies constantly filled the air of the kitchen.  Now, the cookies were kept in a decorative porcelain jar on the top shelf of the whitewashed cabinets.  Mark and Peter could reach them since they were tall teenagers. They were milling around the center island, shoving fistfuls of the delicious desserts into their mouths.

     In the midst of their joy, however, the two boys had forgotten about their younger, smaller, blue eyed relative.  The two had not even asked her if she wanted a cookie before Peter put the jar back.  Luckily for Sophie, Peter had finally spotted the petite brunette lingering in the wooden doorway separating the living room and the lively rustic kitchen.  He brought the cookies back down.  Mark reached for the cookies in the container before Peter sat it down.  Sophie's big brother happily handed her one when he got ahold of a few.

     Instead of eating it, Sophie threw it in the trash when they weren't looking.  She didn't want his germs.  According to her, he never washed his hands.  It was a lie, of course.  Sophie had never liked her brother, even though he had never given her a reason not to trust him.  Their parents blamed it on a sibling rivalry. 

    "You're already finished, Sophie?"  Peter was surprised.  Mark and Sophie usually only saw their ginger-haired cousin on holidays, so they didn't know each other as well as most cousins would.  "Would you like another?"

    "No."  Sophie shook her head, making her short, curly, brown hair bounce.  "I don't like them.  Snickerdoodles are a bajillion times better!  How can you stand to eat these things?!"

    "Oh."  The freckled boy looked disappointed.  He loved chocolate chip cookies.  "I thought they were pretty good."

    Sophie was about to respond harshly when Mark interrupted.  "Cheer up, cuz!  We have Plan Delta, remember?"

    "Plan Delta?  Oh, yeah!  Now I remember!"  The thirteen-year-old's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree.  "Can we go now?"

    "Absolutely!  Just wait until we get to the-"  Sophie's blue eyed brother stopped, remembering she was in the room.  "Well, you know.  It'll be awesome."

    "Know what?"  Sophie put her hands on her hips, trying to look intimidating.  As soon as she found out where they were going, she was going to tattle.  She hoped they would be in a bunch of trouble, especially Mark.

    "Race you to the treeline?"  Mark ignored Sophie.  In her mind, she had spoken as loud as their mother.  Unfortunately for her, it was not true.

    "GO!"  Peter shouted and sprinted out the screen door, which would have slammed if Mark hadn't been a fast runner.

    "Cheater!"  The fifteen-year-old accused before shushing him.  "Are you trying to wake up Grandma and Grandpa?  We've got to be quiet, you daft dimbo!"

    "Hey! They can't hear!  We'll be fine!"  Peter laughed loudly in response, reaching the edge of the woods.  By then, they were out of the earshot of Sophie, who was in the midst of making a decision.  Should she follow them or stay with Grandma and Grandpa?

    Sophie tiptoed into the living room.  Her grandparents were sound asleep on the patterned chairs.  She took her chance and ran out the door towards the brunet and the redhead, hiding behind cars and tractors and a red tool shed.  If Sophie was great at anything, it was sneaking around.

    When she reached the thick treeline, she could hear the boys speaking again.  They were arguing about whether or not Peter cheated.  Sophie hid behind a thick oak, suddenly realizing she had broken a rule.  She wasn't supposed to be in the woods!  Of course, neither were they.  Mark did something wrong!  He was in so much trouble when she told Grandma!  Victory was all hers!

    She was ripped from her thoughts of glory when she realized they were getting further and further away.  Sophie raced after them, her tiny feet barely making a sound on the fallen pine needles and leaves.  She didn't care where she was headed and barely looked at the ground ahead.  Her eyes were on the prize.  She kept running and running and running.  At least, she did until her foot got caught in a tree root peeking out from under the ground.

    Sophie tumbled to the forest floor, her ankle throbbing in pain. Orange and red and yellow leaves flew up where she fell.  Despite gaining numerous scratches and wanting to cry, she did not scream.  No, if she screamed, they would catch her red handed.  It would all be over.  They would bring her back to Grandma and Grandpa's and then they'd all be in trouble.

    "Did you hear that, Peter?"  Mark asked their cousin and Sophie froze, flattening herself on the ground.

     "Probably just a squirrel." Peter rolled his brown eyes and waved it off.

Sophie noticed he wasn't concerned.  Animals were all over the place in the woods.  Birds sang in the treetops, frogs croaked next to a tiny pond, and chipmunks chattered in the thriving ecosystem. Sophie could almost believe they'd crossed into a national park.  She hoped there weren't any wolves.

    By this point, the boys had stopped in front of the biggest oak tree Sophie had ever seen.  There was a rope ladder hanging down from one of the thickest boughs. If she looked up, she would see a treehouse hidden perfectly in the limbs. As they climbed up, she could hear their constant bantering.

    "What are we doing again?"  Peter had asked.

    "How many times do I have to repeat this?"  Mark growled frustratedly.  "We head up to the treehouse and have a match.  Whoever's the strongest wins."

    "What's the prize?"

    "We'll decide when we get up there."  The conversation ended as they reached the treehouse.

In the silence, Sophie realized the woods were creepy.  She heard a crow caw.  Hadn't Grandpa said crows were an omen of death?  She shivered and tried to stand up and brush the dirt off of her jeans and shirt, only to find she couldn't stand.  Her foot was bent the wrong way.  Sophie's foot was broken.

She panicked, her breathing heavy as rays of sunlight danced through the trees.  It would've been pretty if she wasn't scared out of her mind.  The brook gurgled.  Was that a troll coming to eat her?  She noticed a layer of fog.  Or was that a dragon's breath?  The monstrous cherry tree beside her creaked and she whimpered. 

Sophie was only ten.  She was too young to die!  Mark and Peter would save her, she reassured herself.  They wouldn't leave her behind.  She didn't care if she got into trouble anymore.  She wanted to go home!

Then she heard the boys yell at each other.  They must've started their competition.  She couldn't make out what they were saying, but it was probably a bunch of meaningless taunts.  At long last, silence fell again.  The match was over!  She was saved!  They would be there any second! 

At least, she thought they'd be there any second.  Sophie waited patiently, even humming to assuage her fears.  Finally, she saw Mark heading down the ladder.  He must've won.

She called out to him. "Mark!  Can you help me up?  Did you win?"

"Of course I did!" As he walked closer to her, she noticed something was wrong.  His smile was a sneer.  Was that blood on his shirt?  Why hadn't Peter climbed down yet?

    "It was survival of the fittest.  I guess I won out of the entire family. Have fun in the woods, sis." And he left her there.  Permanently.