On a sometimes sunny, sometimes cloudy, sometimes windy day, Kevin decided to take a walk into the forest. His mother and father warned him many times not to stray too far away from home and to never, ever go into the forest alone. They told him he was too small to be alone in the forest and he could get lost and never be heard from again.
Kevin mentioned to his friends, Shaun and Michael, that he was planning to go exploring. "Oh no!", they cried. "You should never ever go into the forest alone! You could get lost and never be heard from again!"
"Where did you hear such a silly thing?! I never met anyone who got lost and was never heard from again. The whole idea is foolish!"
As Kevin entered the forest on this sometimes warm, sometimes cool, sometimes so-so day, he noticed the different trees with different colored leaves. He noticed that his feet made funny crunchy sounds as he walked. He noticed how the small animals squealed and ran when they saw or heard him coming. He noticed how the forest smelled kind of damp and musty. He noticed how the sometimes sun would shine through the sometimes holes in the tree tops. It made rays of light that would land on the ground, sometimes making rings where there were flowers. He noticed how the squirrels were gathering fallen acorns. He also noticed it was getting mostly dark and mostly cold and mostly scary now because he was lost! "Everything's starting to look the same," he thought.
From deep in the woods, he could hear an owl calling, "Who, who."
Kevin wanted to say, "Me, me and I'm lost!", but he knew it wouldn't do any good. "I should have listened to my mother. I should have listened to my father. I should have listened to my friends. Now I'm lost in the forest and it's getting dark. I'm never ever going to be heard from again!"
After walking a little farther, Kevin found an old apple tree where some apples had fallen to the ground. It looked to be a good place to sit and rest. He was picking one of the apples, when he remembered about making apple puppets in Mrs. Fanning's Kindergarten class. He took some old twigs and made some arms. The leaves from the tree made neat hair. Kevin used some broken acorns for the eyes and nose and he scratched the skin of the apple to make a mouth. "Gee, this came out pretty good", he thought. "Too bad Mr. Apple couldn't help me get back home."
"Why don't you ask me?" a tiny voice said.
"What was that? Who said that?!" Kevin was afraid. He didn't see anyone.
"Down here, silly. In your hand. You made me from scrap pieces of the forest, so the least you can do is talk to me. I might help."
"Can you help me get back home, Mr. Apple?!"
"Of course I can. Don't be ridiculous! That's what I do best, since I come from a long line of magic apples."
"What should I do, Mr. Apple? It's somewhat cold and somewhat dark and I'm somewhat scared!"
"What's one of the things you see every night outside your window before you go to bed?", asked the apple.
"I see the moon looking like a yellow light bulb beaming through my window."
"Look for it now through the sometimes holes in the tree tops and and walk away from it as though you're walking to your window and you'll get home."
"Thank you, thank you Mr. Apple! I'll never forget you for this!"
"Well, I certainly hope not!" the apple replied sharply. "Now, before you leave, take some small apples in case you get hungry and put me down beside the apple tree. I'm sure someone else will stumble by and need my help."
Kevin started to walk with the moon following him through the sometimes holes in the tree tops. It felt like he had walked for a very long time and he was getting tired. As he came to the top of a small hill, he saw his house that sat at the edge of the forest. He knew he would be home soon, but he just had to sit and rest before continuing. Things began to get cloudy in his head and he heard himself saying over and over, "I'll never forget you for this. I'll never forget you for this."
When he opened his eyes, he was in his always warm bed, in his always cozy room. He looked around in a daze and then bolted out of bed. He saw his apple puppet he had made in Mrs. Fanning's class sitting on his bureau. He heard his mom call out. "Hurry Kevin! Get up! You're going to be late for your trip into the forest with your father."
As he rushed to get dressed, Kevin found two small apples and scraps from the forest in his pockets. He wondered where they came from. "Coming Mom!", he shouted. "I don't want to be late, because I would never, ever go into the forest alone!"