Part 4

Once upon a time a man went walking with his dog Max, he entered the forest and never returned. Mark was a twelve year old, a medium sized boy with short black hair, and brown eyes. He liked the outdoors, to fish, hunt, and explore. When he was just a baby his father had gone for a walk with their dog Max and never returned. But Max did. Marks mother and relatives searched for ages , but they never found his father.

It was an early summer morning, Mark was looking at the familiar sights. To the north was the forest, a towering menace, rising from the forest were great mountains of extraordinary heights, and beyond those mountains he did not know, tales were told of great wilderness full of monsters from children's story's and old wives tails. Today his mother had given him permission to go on a camping trip for a week, Mark immediately began packing. He was now ready to go, his mother warned him to stay away from the forest, he gladly agreed. As he walked down the path he began playing with Max, Max was a mongrel of unknown breed, in other words a mutt. Mark and Max had always been friends, ever since Marks father had disappeared they had been inseparable, they did everything together. Late in the morning they arrived at the river, he and Max played in the shallows till Mark got hungry. While he ate Max trotted of in search of something to eat. While he waited Mark watched the river roll by, the trees were full of leaves, the sun was beating down on Mark, so he moved to the shade of a cottonwood, and slowly fell asleep. When he woke Max was waiting for him, so he put the rest of his food back in his pack and began following the rivers northward course.

As Mark and Max followed the river , Mark espied a fallen tree that made a bridge between the shore and an island in the river. He climbed onto the log and began walking towards the island. Suddenly! He slipped and fell into the roaring current below, as hard as he tried he could do nothing but come up for breath, the rivers hold was to strong. In his panic Mark had failed to notice were he was going, Mark wondered how much longer he could come up for breath before he drowned, then he felt something pull him out of the water. It was Max! Then Mark realized with a rush of panic, he was in the middle of the forest. Then Mark heard a bellowing roar and a piercing cry of an eagle. Then he saw what he would not easily forget.