The picture above or wherever is Bailee Madison, who played Young Snow White in Once Upon A Time and was the inspiration for the main character, December. Enjoy!

This Wasn't Normal

"We should head up into the woods, play some hide-and-seek," Andrew said, a wide grin plastered onto his chubby, pale face. His blue eyes flickered with mischief as he looked around at the other kids sitting in the circle.

December didn't understand completely why Charlotte had decided to invite her over to her house. They were friends, but only just. Entering the third grade as a new girl was difficult enough, and going to a new school in the middle of it all was even worse. On top of that, December wasn't the best at making friends.

It could've been her ghostly pale skin, or the fact that her lips were always red as blood, or maybe it was her ability to hide behind her long, tangled black hair, but the kids tended to avoid her at all costs. They called her "vampire," and always made vampire fangs with their fingers when she entered the classroom, and only a few dared to even approach her. So the fact that Charlotte, the "queen" of the third grade, invited her to her birthday party, made December feel appreciated, but also suspicious of why they suddenly wanted her around.

Laura, a petite girl with bright red hair and brown eyes, rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "Right, that's not going to happen. That's such a kid's game." A couple of the girls around her nodded in agreement.

However, it seemed the majority agreed with Andrew. "Yeah, we should play hide-and-seek! The woods back there are huge, it'll be great," a different girl, with curly brown hair and blue eyes, named McKenzie smiled and high-fived Andrew.

Charlotte nodded. "I can take us out there. You guys coming?" She turned towards the group of defiant girls, raising her thin eyebrows at them expectantly, her grey eyes seeming to seep into their souls.

Laura's smug expression quickly turned to a look of confusion. "Wait - you want to play?" At the nod of Charlotte's head, the redhead quickly became much more interested in the previously 'childish' game. "Well, then yeah, we're coming!"

December stayed quiet, not moving from her position on the floor. After everyone had stood up and were ready to head outside, Charlotte turned back, her auburn hair whipping around her face. "You playing?" she snapped, holding out a hand to help December stand up.

"Uh-um, yeah, sure," December stammered, grabbing Charlotte's hand, who yanked her up off the floor.

As Charlotte led the group outside, Andrew poked December in the arm, whispering to her, "You're seeking first, vampire." McKenzie laughed, as did a boy who walked next to Andrew, a pudgy little kid who only stood up to December's shoulders, named Garrett.

The land became to slope upwards as they entered the woods, and the walk to the clearing in the middle that Charlotte had described became more of a hike.

The entire way up there, Andrew, McKenzie, and Garrett continuously made fun of December, from her odd name to the way her nose poked up at the end just the slightest bit. They commented on her casual choice of clothes, and shoved her down into the mud, running up ahead to walk with Charlotte. By the time December had gotten back up onto her feet, she was covered in mud and dirt and was far behind the people in front of her, who hadn't helped her at all, they just kept on walking, following Charlotte towards the clearing.

December trudged up, keeping her distance from the rest of the group, trying to wipe off the mud and grime from her clothes and hair. A couple of girls above glanced back and laughed when they noticed December's mud-covered t-shirt and jeans.

They finally reached the clearing, where the group of kids made a cluster around Charlotte, who stood on top of a large rock. "Who's seeking!" she yelled out, her high voice echoing out across the open field.

McKenzie, Andrew, and Garrett all pointed back at December, who stood in the very back, separated from all the rest, still trying to wipe the mud off her clothes. The large crowd divided itself, everyone turning to look at the poor girl who had been volunteered.

"December, get up here, to the rock. You're seeking," Charlotte ordered, hopping down. Once December had gotten up there, Charlotte gestured for her to climb up onto the big rock. "Stand up there, close your eyes, and count to 100. Then come and find us." The orders were simple, but December was terrified. What if they did something, like jump out of their hiding places to scare her, or push her into a creek or river somewhere?

December pushed the thoughts of terror out of her mind and went to start climbing to the top of the rock, when a hand yanked her tangled, muddy hair back. "Don't think about cheating," McKenzie sneered. "We'll know." She let go, shoving December's head forward, and tromped away, allowing December to climb up to the top, where she covered her eyes and began counting.

"1...2..."

She spoke slowly, allowing them to run off and find their hiding places. She could hear the rustling of feet until she got to 50, then the sound of the glade turned to an eerie silence, broken only by the sound of December's voice, sounding so unnatural in this place. However, December kept counting.

"99...100! Ready or not, here I come!" she yelled out, her own voice echoing out throughout the meadow. Her voice sounded shaky, matching her feeling inside. She was completely alone.

She made her way down from the rock and picked a direction to walk, to see if someone was out there that way. There were so many kids there at Charlotte's party, someone ought to have gone this way.

Picking her way through the dirt and brush, she began hiking through the forest, checking up in trees and behind large rocks, pushing back long strings of ivy to inspect if someone was back there. She scoured the area for what felt like hours, but she couldn't find anyone.

Maybe I'm just really bad at this, December thought to herself, looking down into a large ditch, and finding that, again, no one was there.

She kept her confidence, however, and continued to search the area, but as time passed, December began to wonder what happened to them all.

"Guys?" she cried out, certain that she was just terrible at hide-and-seek, and that they'd all group back up in the clearing once they knew she couldn't find them. "Guys, I give up! You all win! Go back to the field!"

She yelled this out a few times, each time she had gone off farther into the woods so that they might all hear her, before finally deciding to head back to the glade to meet up with the others.

December got lost a few times, and her left tennis shoe got sucked into the mud and was ripped from her foot at one point, but after some struggle, she finally found her way back to the clearing.

And found that no one was there.

"Guys?!" December yelled, panic beginning to set in. Where was everyone? "Charlotte!" she screamed. "McKenzie! Laura! Andrew! Jessica!" She yelled out names of her classmates that had attended the party, and waited for a few minutes to hear a reply, or footsteps, or something. But all she heard was her own voice, echoing throughout the meadow, as if were taunting her.

December began to freak out. She needed to get out of those woods. But after those kids had shoved her into the mud, she had lost all sense of where she was, since she was so focused on clearing herself off as much as she could. She had no idea how to get out of there.

She decided to pick a direction that seemed right and ran off into the forest. She scanned the trees and the hills for something that seemed familiar, a path that led down out of the woods, someone who had possibly come to find her, an adult or a car or something that might help her.

Nothing but trees and mud and grass and bushes. No people, no path, no car.

December continued to wander, trying to find a hint of something familiar. Eventually, she came upon an area that looked so odd and unfamiliar, that not even the way she came from looked right. If the way she was looking was the way she had come from. All she could see were trees. Trees everywhere.

She couldn't handle this. She was lost, in a giant forest, and nobody knew where she was. December broke down, collapsing onto the ground, sobs wracking through her tiny frame as she shook violently from fear and desperation, realizing she was alone.

She was all alone. That wasn't a feeling that December was unfamiliar with, but the fact that she may never find her way back was terrifying, and that was something that wasn't common for the usually tough girl. She curled up onto the forest floor and let her cries carry out throughout the wood, hugging herself to keep herself warm as the sun began to creep down towards the horizon. Even the sun seemed to be trying to stay as far away from the young girl as possible.

The silent sound of trees rustling was the last thing December heard before the sun disappeared completely, surrounding her in absolute darkness.

I just want to say, this was really emotionally difficult to write. My heart continued to hurt for this young girl, and just...holy crap.

Where do I get these ideas? They're so sad, sheesh.

Well, anyways, vote if you enjoyed this nice short story, and I'll see you guys later!

~Jessica