LOSST

EXCERPT FROM CHAPTER 1

I stopped running and collapsed over a huge moss-covered
boulder.
“Katie!”
I looked ahead and saw that I was falling behind.
“Please wait … you are going too fast!”
She couldn’t hear me, and besides, I told her to run
as fast as she could, and that’s what she was doing.
I watched in agony as she kept going, oblivious to
my situation. My lungs were on fire, and I could barely
breathe. The whole world was spinning around me. I
took a moment to calm myself and regain my bearings.
I would have to kick it into high gear if I wanted to catch
up with her.
“Katie!” I screamed in a last desperate attempt.
Birds flew frantically from their roosts; Katie’s name
echoed through the woods, then faded into the wind.
I was exhausted, wanting to lie down and die, but that
was not an option; somehow, I would have to keep
moving. I could not leave my little Katie out there …
lost in the woods … alone.