Realistic or Modern North West High School

[Catori]

Outside the window, a cool, unsettling wind upturned the leaves on the trees. Clouds settled in, giving the sky a gray appearance. Fatiguing lights shadowed the wrinkles on Mr. Royski's face, and the clock hands clicked by so slowly-- At least he hadn't decided to cover the clock completely, like the math teacher had done to prevent chronic clock-watching. In a History class on a Thursday, nothing could be more exciting. The only interesting conversations this town's residents had were those of the town's past. The legends that witches used to inhabit the lands, or that their spirits still haunted the town. A dead body washed up on the coast every few years, but it had almost become a tradition-- something that was bound to happen, to no surprise. The only visitors the town received were those passing through on long road trips. They'd stop at Ocean Shores, the town's beach, which gained the most attention, and they'd stay a night in the small motel. Ingleside was made up of trees, wilderness, a few old houses, and more trees. Learning about the American Civil War at two pm didn't add to the excitement factor. The front door to the classroom swung open, and Mr. Royski stopped his dry discussion to look at the intruder. "Well, well. I see our new classmate has decided to join us halfway through?"

 

[Flecker]

The people in the class will likely hear the noise of his shoes stomping on the floors as he rushed towards the class. Mateo's pretty sure his schedule said "Mr. Burr" this morning, yet somehow it magically changed to Royski? He twists the doorknob as gentle as he can and push it open all sneaky like. "Oh um I was.. going to the bathroom?"

Mr. Royski gave him a glare. "Oh did you take your backpack to the bathroom?"

Mateo can only scratch his head looking all innocent. Mr. Royski however was different today, he merely sighed and gestured towards an empty seat. "Sit down and pay attention, you're lucky I'm in a good mood." lowering his head, he scurried towards the seat. A chair just next to Cassandra. "Hi.." He said to her.

 

[fancries1]

The recent commotion in the classroom proved the only thing that managed to get Isabelle's attention. She'd been following her usual classroom routine - that is, doodling in her notebook at the back of the classroom and trying her hardest not to pass out from boredom - when the latecomer arrived and took Mr. Royski's attention away from the Civil War. She snickered at the boy's terrible explanation for being late, and muttered "amateur" under her breath as she sat down not too far away from her.

Since her arrival to what she now considered the most boring town on earth, distractions from the monotonous High School routine were the few things that got her through the day. She'd heard of the town's mysteries and old legends. So far, she'd gotten nothing more than mountains of homework and a couple of beach parties (if she was lucky, not many invitations for new students). It was only a shame that distractions like the boy's were so short-lived. With a heavy sigh, Isabella shrugged and started making a paper airplane as the lesson continued. Anything to pass the time.

 

[Catori]

Five minutes until final bell. Cassandra wrote her notes with a variety of colorful pens, coding each section in rainbow order. With each line she finished, she clicked the pen and set it down to grab the next. Although Mr. Royski would likely continue talking until the final bell rang, she saw it that the faster he spoke about the material, the sooner it would be over. Even though hearing him made her brain feel like it was rotting, she still sat through it-- like a good student. When she observed the others sitting around her, though, they couldn't seem any less caring towards the subject. Cassandra didn't necessarily care about this particular war, but she wanted to fit in. Was she doing a bad job? Probably.

When she heard the squeaking of the door opening-- Seriously, the doors at this school needed some oil-- Cassandra slammed the tip of her pen into the paper. How dare he interrupt the middle of class like that. Mr. Royski even stopped in the middle of a sentence. Cassandra pushed her glasses back to the bridge of her nose as she saw the boy coming towards her, a distraction so she wouldn't have to pay him any attention. Gosh, she thought to herself, returning her gaze to a particular letter j she'd forgotten to put a dot above. It would have been less rude if he'd just not shown up to class at all. Like handing someone a ten cent tip because that's all the change you had on you-- better to just not do it. Finally, the bell rang. Students rose left and right, swarming towards the door, ignoring any semblance of order. Cassandra turned to the boy at the last second. "Next time, it would be better if you didn't even both. You're still going to be marked as absent."

 

[Flecker]

That girl always has the sharp tongue, but her points are always right. He shakes his head. "Cut me some slack Cass, I was in the library the whole time!" Indeed, his body does carry the scent of crisp books and old wood. Though whether or not he actually studied there or just spent his time sleeping, that's anyone's guess. As he opened his rucksack he felt a prod at the back of his head. Turning around he saw a paper airplane on the floor. It has to be Isabella. "This yours?" He asked the girl.

 

[fancries1]

By the time the class ended, Isabelle was surrounded by multiple paper airplanes, skewed around her desk and the floor. Some clearly containing important notes from the class, which would probably come back to bite her during exams, but she couldn't bring herself to care. After all, what was the worst that could happen if she failed? Not be accepted to a good college? As she gathered her airplanes, the boy who'd been late caught her attention.

"Do you see anyone else with papers?" she asked in return, throwing in a smile to make sure her words wouldn't be perceived as aggressive. "Yeah, it's mine. You can keep it if you want though, a little compensation for getting under that asshole's skin. That, and being the only semi-interesting thing that happened all day."

 

[Flecker]

"Oh.. thanks?" Mateo unfolds the paper airplane and just finds it blank. "Dang yknow for a sec there I thought you wrote me like a fan letter or something." As he chuckled, Mr. Royski's voice loudly summoned him. "Mateo come here for a sec!" Crossing the stream of students heading for the exit, he finally reached the teacher's desk. "Er is there anything wrong Mr. Royski? If you want me to I swear I was in the library the whole time and if you saw drool well.. er, I fell asleep after hours of research!"

Mr. Royski's not impressed, his expression is that of a detective hearing the outlandish reasoning of a cornered criminal. "Look, I'm gonna let it slide cause your record is already bad even without me messing with it, just take this." A handout is passed to Mateo. "You're in charge for your group's project, pass them on to Isabella and Cassandra." The paper reads, "Field Assignment: Exploring Your Local History" Mateo is flustered. "Um Mr. Royski, is this thing just for us? Is it because our grades?" Mr. Royski puts on his jacket and is ready to leave. "If it's because your grades then Cassandra wouldn't be on it, the other group's leaders were not late Mat, get it done before next week."

Seeing him off, Mateo returns to his desk. He turns around, waving the handout at Isabelle. "Hey your name's here, we should talk about it." Mateo pits the paper down on Cassandra's desk. "You're in it too."

 

[fancries1]

Having no reason to stick around while Mr. Royski spoke to Mateo (likely to lecture him about the importance of punctuality or other trivial problems teachers seemed so interested in), the girl quickly finished shoving her belongings back in her bag and prepared to leave for the day. Isabelle was halfway through the door when Mateo told her about the name on the paper. She hunched her shoulders and let out a dramatically loud groan as she shuffled her way to Cassandra's desk.

"How's the old man planning of bopping us this time?" Isabelle grabbed the paper from the desk and read it out loud, her furrowed brow softening when she realised what the assignment was about. "That's it? Well, maybe passing this class won't be so hard after all. All we have to do is copy a couple of articles, make them pretty and completely free of traces of plagiarism, et voila! We're free from work for the weekend."

 

[Catori]

Cassandra left the classroom last every day. She found enjoyment in watching the others file towards the door, stealing fragments of conversations and noting each of her classmate's small quirks. When Mateo mentioned her name, Cassie still sat in her seat, organizing a couple notebooks into her backpack. When she stood, her skirt flounced to her knees, and her cream colored sweater hung on her body, as if dragging her down. Oh great, just when she thought Mr. Royski had forgotten to give her the assignment. Sure, Cassandra wanted to follow the rules, but it wasn't her fault if she never received the homework.

What special forces combined to put the new kid in charge? Mateo... More like a cow that goes moo.

"If we each do a page, I'll just edit it all together. Sound good?" Cassandra hoped she could mediate the group in the direction of doing the work alone. When she got their pages, it'd be at her liberty to make sure everything was in top shape. Good grammar, no nonsense about all the witches and spirits-- Cassie didn't believe in any of it.

 

[Flecker]

Mateo crosses his arms as he leaned back against his chair "Man it's a chore!" He yawned, clearly not interested with the prospect of the assignment. "Dude, what if we actually do something fun with it? Like actually going to the field?" He stood from his seat and jumped on one of the desks pointing at the dense trees just beyond the window. "Dude we should go to Evergreen Forest! I heard there's an actual frickin' witch that still lives there!" He turns around, facing them once more with a gleeful expression. "I bet she'll tell us everything cool about Ingleside!"

 

[Kitsune2202]

Tabitha had slept trough class as usual, and was one of the last to file out due to being so groggy. She missed most of the commotion, but that didn't ever really phase her since this was one of the towns she came too when she didn't feel like being mixed up in a bunch of drama...well most of the time. The supernatural did tend to flare up here too from time to time and she's been here for it by chance a few times. But like everything in her eternal life it was simply her luck. She was walking towards a vending machine when she overheard Mateo's comment about the witch in the forest, and couldn't help herself, "I wouldn't bother, That rumors so old she'd long gone." She hummed. "But that doesn't mean you can't Goldilocks around if you find her place." She was fairly sure the witch they were referring to died a few decades ago, a real fire cracker that one was. However if she's wrong it pose some good entertainment to see them try and sneak around and not get bar-ba-que'd. She smirked shooting them a wink before continuing to get her a snack.

 

[fancries1]

"Ooh, yes, let's go find the wicked witch of the woods. Maybe if we're lucky her house will be made of candy!" Replied Isabelle in a sarcastic and high-pitched voice. Truth be told, she wasn't exactly eager to wander off into the woods with a couple of people she barely knew. Both because she knew the journey would likely be useless, as she hadn't been able to find any trace of the supernatural since her arrival to the town, and because she didn't want to walk through the woods during daytime with her very sensitive skin condition. "Honestly, it's better to do what she said. We can all just go home, do our parts, and save us some ridicule from being that group that went off searching for a madwoman for a grade. Believe it or not, I have better things to do."

"Don't kid yourself, what better things to do?" she thought, "you spend your time hunting house cats and have no one else to hang out with. It's this, or nothing". Not to mention, the only reason she'd come to the town in the first place was its rumours of magic. She hadn't found anything on her own, but Mateo and the girl who's name she didn't know clearly knew more about the town than she'd initially thought. It was unlikely they would find anything, but was there any real harm in trying?

"But if you're really into the idea, I guess we can go," she commented, as unenthusiastically as she could to maintain her disinterested demeanour. "I can't go until nighttime though. I've got some work to do before then."

 

[Flecker]

"Wow man, I mean come ooooon, what else can you do in this town?" He's only been there for a year and his impression of the town is anything but fun. Sure they could go to the lake and go fishing maybe, and the occasional beach party can be fun, but without any of that? Pretty much a bore. If they didn't do this then he's just going to spend the rest of day with even more sleeping. Mateo turned towards Tabitha. "Oh really? I mean.. \The\ Goldilocks!?" Is she in here though? "Nah that's.. no, she's not on this side of the wor-- I- I mean she's fictional dude!" Indeed, he witnessed the story unfold with his own eyes perhaps hundreds of years ago. He shrugged. "But hey who knows, you don't like you're doing anything, you should come." The more the merrier right? The way she words it, it seems Tabitha is more aware of these supernatural things. It'd be best if she can point the group to the hotspot.

"Wooooo!" He exclaimed as he raised both of his fists in the air. "I mean I always want to go into the forest, but yknow I never had a good reason to go in there in the first place. This'll be fun!" Though that cheer of joy momentarily disappears as she mentioned her work. "Aw we can't go now? What kind of work are you doing? Can't you skip?"

 

[Catori]

"When you two get half eaten by a bear, I won't be there to rescue you, you know?" Cassie raised her voice at the end of the sentence, like a half threat. Did she worry if Mateo and Isabelle showed up tomorrow? No-- Well, maybe. They did still account for part of the assignment's grade, and Cassie knew she wouldn't be able to type an entire essay by herself in one night. "Tabitha's right, everyone knows that the old 'witch' who lived back there died years ago. And she wasn't even a witch, just an old lady. Maybe you two are the ones who need to do some reading on our local history."

Cassie squeezed her fists at her side, feeling the beginnings of sticky sweat on her palms. It was one thing to hear ghost stories and huddle in fear under her covers, but to actually go out and experience it? Cassie knew she wouldn't be sleeping for days. The lights in her bedroom wouldn't turn off, and she would look underneath the bed every night. In any instance where Cassie were alone, her Teddy wouldn't leave her embrace, as childish as it may sound. "Listen, Isabelle, he's trying to make it sound enticing, but it's a waste of your time to find some old witch in the forest. It's cold and rainy back there. You can't even see where you're going."

 

[fancries1]

"No." Isabelle said firmly, glaring at Mateo. "I can't. Unless you'll be willing to find me another job after I get fired for skipping."
She rolled her eyes when Cassie began convincing her not to go. She was right that the search would probably be fruitless, but it wasn't like there were any more fun ideas for history essays. "Well, it's a good thing we've got flashlights isn't it? Besides, aren't you tired of doing the same old research and writing formula for essays? Even if we don't find the old hag, at least we'll have a story to tell!" The mention of bears did unsettle her a bit, despite her not showing so. She could defend herself against a bear, but not without exposing herself or at the very least rising some serious questions. "Look, we'll be fine. It's three - well, four, if vending machine girl wants to come - completely capable teenagers against a couple of rabbits and maybe a bear. We can all take things to defend ourselves if it came to it. Seeing as most of the group, leader included, wants to go. If you don't come I suppose we'll have no other choice than erase your name from the paper and complain to Mr. Royski that you refused to work. You wouldn't want your grades damaged for this, would you?"

Interactons: Mateo Flecker , Cassie Catori
Mentions: Tabitha Kitsune2202

 

[Kitsune2202]

Tabitha's brow raised at his comment about Goldilocks, "I didn't mean Goldilocks was literally there, I meant you could snoop around the witches house if you find it even if she's not home like in the tale." Regardless she put her money in the machine and got her chips before joining the group. She wasn't sure why they were even doing this until one of the girls mentioned an essay. Did they get homework she didn't hear about? That was totally possible considering she slept through class. Maybe the teacher would cut her some slack for not doing whatever she was probably assigned if she helped them out. "I don't mind waiting till nightfall, it'll set the mood a bit more." She giggled munching on her chips. She didn't quite see the rush other than boredom. "I'm sure if you're that bored something can be done in the mean time to kill time without being a total drag." She hummed. She'd only recently come back to this town two years ago. She never liked trying to start over someplace any younger then passing for fifteen. The lace was remarkably duller than usual, but maybe it was just the calm before the storm. She wasn't so sure what the other girl was so scared of. It's not like bear attacks were that common lately. "What time should we meet up then?" She chimed.

 

[Flecker]

"Alright, alright! Looks like everyone is on board! I mean it's waaay better than just sitting in the library writing about clam chowders!" If he had another serving of clam chowder he'd go crazy, but hey what would be cheaper in this town? I mean it is the town's specialty, which is odd because Mateo remembered that clam chowders used to the be in the east not the west, wack, everywhere there would be decors about clams, fish and seafood. Ingleside would be the best place ever if you're like pescatarian or something. Mateo is a meat eater though, like real meat, beef, chicken and pork only. "Well I have track after school and then I need to get some new hair gel." He said as he style his hair with his hand. "Sooo I think around 10 would be good? I'll bring in some snack with me." He paused for a sec as he remembered how thin his wallet is. "Yknow what actually can you guys bring a snack each? I'm a little.. short on cash eheheh. You'd be done with your work then right Isabelle?"

He reads the handout again to see if there's a thing or two he missed before looking at Tabitha. "Hey uhh if you're not sure what group you're with, you can join us if you want, I think the other groups also have 4 people in it."

Interactions: fancries1 Kitsune2202

 

[Catori]

Of course Cassie wouldn't sacrifice her A because she was scared of a few trees. All the rumors about witches in the forest were definitely false. Definitely. She nodded towards Isabelle, though still biting her bottom lip. "I'm not sure what weapons you have in mind, but I doubt a crowbar is going to do much damage against one of those bears-- Welcome to our group, Tabitha." Cassie paused to stop herself from whipping her head to see Mateo.

"10 at night?" Cassandra crossed her arms. She didn't want to be the only one in her group to chicken out and not go... But her bedtime was promptly 9:30 every night. "Mateo, you're dumb at choosing times. I hope your hair gel makes your hair fall off. 8 sounds better, if Isabelle will be ready by that time." She took the handout from him and folded it in half, lining up the edges perfectly. There wasn't any official entrance to the forest. All the trees jumbled together into a giant maze, and the leaves prevented any traces of sunlight. Not that there would be much sunlight when the party set out. "We'll meet on Russel-- that road that kind of goes out of town, but nobody ever goes on it. We can park on the side, if you two don't mind your cars there for a while." She looked at both Tabitha and Isabelle. "Would you like to walk there, or will I be picking you up, Mateo?" Cassie already knew he didn't have a car.

 

[Flecker]

"What? But 10 is like, yknow the witching hour and stuff right?" He paused almost immediately, as if a sudden thought just crossed his mind. "Wait a minute, you're not scared are you?" Although he doesn't need confirmation, her body language is already pretty clear, not to mention her being defensive. "Oh my god, you are aren't you??" Cackling away after this realization he shrugs. "Eh I mean at 8 it's already gonna be pretty dark there, so I think we'll already have the proper mood. But yeah that is if Isabelle's done working." Mateo's eyes shifted from Isabelle to Cassandra. "Wait we're going there by car? We're not walking?" His face does twist when she mentioned cars, mostly because he doesn't own one, but then he smiled again. "Oh um y-yeah, I'll go with you, my car is still in the shop soo.. yeah." He crosses his arms as he sat on one the desk. "As for the bear, I'm pretty sure I can get a bear spray or something."

 

[fancries1]

Timeskip - Forest - 8 pm
​

Her fangs sank into the still-kicking rabbit's neck, one hand gripping the back of it's head for better access and the other with a firm hold on it's legs as she dried the animal from it's blood. Isabelle sat on top of a tree observing the road they'd agreed to meet up in. While the group wasn't set on arriving till 8, Isabelle had decided to arrive an hour earlier to do some hunting before their little "adventure". Yes, she considered herself more than capable of controlling her more... animalistic urges around others. But one could never be too careful. That, and the fact that the small, remote ton setting left her without much human victims - unless she was willing to risk an investigation. Going that long without a proper meal would drive anyone insane.

She'd also taken this time to do some scouting around the woods. It didn't seem like there were any hiking trails, and the wide array of warning and danger signs told her the woods were deserted from human contact, and with good reason. The rugged and mossy terrain, combined with the pitch-black darkness and unbearable cold made for a dangerous environment for any hunters and explorers, much less for old women. This either meant that either the woman they were searching for was long gone, or the hag had more experience and power that they'd expected. The first option was much more probable, but her curiosity was great enough to make her stick around.

It didn't take long for the first car to park on the deserted road. The thick trees provided visual cover as she jumped down from the tree, threw some dirt on top of the dead rabbit, and wiped her bloody mouth with her sleeve before making her way to the group. As she got closer to the car, she turned on her small flashlight, and gave them a small wave. "So," she leaned her free arm against the driver's side window, "what's a person like you doing in a forest like this?"

 

[Flecker]

The car ride was.. well it's not the scene that he had hoped for. Being in a car with Cassandra, he expected a lot of chance to get to know her closer, but the entire time he finds that she's a very tough wall to crack. One can see when the car finally arrives to the scene, Mateo's face lit up as if life just returned to him. Aside from the sight of the forest brimming with mystery and its inexplicable supernatural aura, he's feeling good finally he can be out of the car. Noticing the light near the driver's side window, he then gave Isabelle a wave. "Glad you can make it man! I was like 'Dude is anyone else gonna be there? ' and Cass was like 'We should really turn around, this is a bad idea!" the entire time dude, see Cass? We have a lot of people here!" Well three is a lot compared to 2 right?

He seems eager after stepping out of the car, though despite the spring in his step, his skin is paler than normal. It's as if he got carsick from the entire ride. Mateo rubs his hand together as he shivered. "It's cold out here! Wonder what it's gonna be like midnight." He extends his arms upwards, stretching it till a loud crack is heard and sighed. "Oh yeah about the bear spray.. um I couldn't find bear spray, so I asked for anything to help against bears and the only thing that is cheap enough for me is.." Opening Cassandra's trunks he revealed an old bow, made out some kind of cheap brittle wood and it still has a price tag on it, $5, and a quiver with a single arrow in it. "I took some.. archery lessons soo yknow I think we're good."

 

[Catori]

Cassandra held her breath when Isabelle got closer, as if she could catch a faint drift of that iron scent. Cassie could feel the cool air settling in in her car, giving her invisible shivers. With Mateo in the passenger's seat, the entire ride had turned awkward. With the three of them, she figured they could start their search and hope not to be swallowed by the clusters of evergreens. "This is supposed to be a school project, not a party, Isabelle." Cassandra tapped on the window button on her car door to move the glass, inching it upwards, and hopefully gesturing for Isabelle to against it.

When Cassie stepped onto the damp gravel making up the secluded road, she dug her feet in a bit. Eerily quiet, save for the sound of water dripping from one leaf to another, or a squirrel scurrying amongst the brush. "That looks like a toy. For a kid," She laughed at the bow, not having noticed Mateo stick it back there when she picked him up. Cassandra didn't mention anything else, but tugged the back door of her car open and dug under the front seat, pulling out her weapon and concealing it by sticking it into her jeans and tucking it under her shirt. At least she felt more protected than by a dollar store toy bow and arrow.

 

[fancries1]

"Who says it can't be both? Didn't we come here to make things more interesting?" Isabelle replied with a smile, shining her flashlight at Cassandra for a brief second before crouching down to take her weapon from her bag. It was nothing special, just an old pry bar she'd found in her basement. Definitely not enough to bring down a full grown bear or any other threat they could find in the forest. But it was better than nothing; although, perhaps, nothing was still better than Mateo's pitiful weapon. She couldn't help the laughter than came out of her mouth as soon as she saw what could only be described as a toy. "I'm sorry," she said through giggles, "I'm sorry it's just...oh man, we're so dead."

Standing up again, Isabelle placed her bag back over her shoulders and pointed her pry bar towards the part of the woods where she'd come from. "I couldn't find any man-made paths, but there was a stop where the shrubs parted a bit. My best guess is we try there first, see if they parted because someone made them." She took one last look at the group, and raised an eyebrow. "Hey, weren't there four of us?"

 

[Flecker]

Mateo's lips curled, he looked at the crowbar and the gun Cassandra brought. "Where did you guys get yours? And you! What's that in your pocket? A gun?" Well, that bow was, even if he tried to see it from different angles, it's very pathetic. He would be surprised if it can launch any arrows. Mateo slaps his forehead till it left a mark. "Should've gone with the pocket knife.. oh well." He'd bet it'll be easier to throw that knife around than use this bow. Lugging the quiver over his shoulder. He took a step closer to the forest, setting his eyes on the entrance. "Hmm, dark, moist, cold, looks like my kind of party.. Seems we're in for a ride boys."

Mateo stretches the string of his bow, seeing if it's at least flexible enough for shooting and then casts a look at Isabelle. "Oh yeah Tabitha's not here.." He swivels his head around, scratching his head. "I mean I guess Tabitha could catch up with us? We're not going in too deep anyway." Mateo glanced at the forest's entrance once more, but this time his ever existing smile seems to fade. His face was pure shock, like he just saw a ghost. "Th-that, that!" He pointed at the shrubs Isabelle mentioned. "Eyes! Red, like blood red eyes!" He dashed immediately to the woods, one thing to note is how fast he ran, his speed is almost supernatural. If the two managed to follow him, he'd pause in a clearing where the moonlight shined upon him, there was no other noise other than the flowing river and the wind rustling the grasses. Though his bow might seem like a toy, he grasped it tight and reached for an arrow. "Where did it go?" He whispered under his breath.

 

[Catori]

Are you kidding me. Cassie thought as she watched Mateo prance away. Her body shook a little when he got closer to the trees, and when he final broke the barrier between the forest and the road. She stepped closer to Isabelle like that would help her-- Isabelle's weapon looked like it would only be useful in close range. And Cassie didn't even know how to use the gun she'd stuffed between her clothing. Her only rule: don't shoot her group members. Anything else is game?

"Mateo!" He'd be the first to die. Apparently Cassie would be second. She ran to catch up to Mateo and crossed her arms, huffing softly. "I'm going to call you Laundry Mat because you called me Cass and I don't like that so now you're Laundry Mat. I don't like Cass because it rhymes with ass, and that's rude."

She turned to make sure Isabelle had followed, and took note that the small entrance they'd snuck through already seemed to blend in with the rest of their surroundings. And now Cassie shivered harder. Perhaps it was a combination of the moist air hitting her skin or the absence of light. More likely it was the prospect of monsters. "I think your eyes are tricking you. It was probably a chipmunk. You don't think we should wait? She'd probably get lost.. I'm not saying she has bad direction, but anyone could get lost back here--"