The Imitator

The day slowly retreated as sixty-four feet marched through the woods of Redkeep. Thirty-two teenagers, who had just spent their last day in secondary education were walking into the middle of the woods to camp, get drunk, and have a good time. The group was spread out, faster walkers (and navigators) up front, slower walkers at the back. Each equipped with a rucsac, which clearly exhibited the owner's experience in the great outdoors: some wore hiking bags with roll mats and sleeping bags strapped to the back, others wore the bag which had previously held only maths equipment, textbooks and other stationary. The group were heading for a clearing in the center of the forest, an area of flat green space, commonly known as 'The Well Field', a space free of trees, big enough to be a small field, with a stone well that stood at one end, which originally served as the water source to the woodland settlement which was built in medieval times. The settlement was now ruins due to a fire which spread throughout the village, killing most of it's residents. Nobody really knows what caused the fire, but many myths were passed down generations, the most frequently told involved a creature that looked vaguely like the village priest, who breathed fire onto the church, and then ran around each house, doing the same to those.

As the group grew nearer to the clearing, a boy near the back of the group tripped over what he assumed was a tree root. The boy's name was Edward. Edward turned around to glare at the root, only to discover it's true identity, it was in fact a rollmat which had obviously fallen off of someone's bag. He stopped to bend down and picked the mat up by the drawstring at the top of the thin bag it was kept in. There was a keyring attached to it. The keyring was a piece of transparent plastic, which housed a piece of paper with a name scrawled on it: Emma Hayes. He put the mat under his arm and shouted over the buzz of talking that moved through the woods.

'Emma Hayes, you have dropped your rollmat.'

The buzz ceased and Edward could hear his own voice echoing through the woods, loud enough for anyone to hear. The resulting silence was broken by a wave of deep teenage voices hollering 'Emmaaaah' laughing and cheering.

"Oh no, thanks, Eddie." Said a quieter voice, jogging towards Edward.

A short girl with bright green eyes made her way over to where Edward was standing, it was indeed Emma. An embarrassed smile stretched across her face.

'I didn't notice, and neither did anyone else, obviously.'

'Next time, tighten the straps, I don't want to trip over again.' Edward said sarcastically, smiling back.

Another five minutes passed until the group had reached the Well Field. They all dumped their bags around the small stone structure and sat down on the grass that was kept well trimmed by deer. The sun had almost disappeared behind the pines that surrounded them, prompting some of the natural leaders to suggest that tents should be put up and a fire started in the next half hour, so it didn't have to be done by a group of thirty-two cold zombies who smelled of cheap alcohol, tobacco and cannabis. Tents were taken through a small layer of trees that separated the Well Field from a second, much smaller, field that would be ideal for the canvas village to be set up in. Some people had brought group tents to put up, some two man tents, but Edward, knowing he didn't particularly want to be in a tent with anyone who would possibly vomit all over themselves (or him), had brought his own little tent that he used for camps with his Explorer Scout troop.

After putting up his tent and setting up his bed, darkness had completely engulfed the forest, the fire was large enough to cast light onto each face that sat on logs around it, some already looking weary. Someone had brought a speaker, which was blaring music loud enough to attract anyone (or anything) in a half-mile radius that wanted to join the party. The speaker played songs, old and new, each causing at least one cheer, as well as one groan, but the constant atmosphere was one of jubilation and collective glee.