Early one morning, Logan, a boy in Fellbach, Germany near the Black Forest, woke up to loud noises. He went downstairs, feeling annoyed, to see what the ruckus was. When he got to the living room, he saw his brother Carson’s friends Jonathan and Alex on the couch talking and laughing. It was like a tornado of loud talking, laughing, and yelling. He was so annoyed that he couldn’t hold it any more and yelled at them, “Shut it!!!” At that moment his dad came into the room.

Do you guys want to go for a hike in the Black Forest?

“Do you guys want to go for a hike in the Black Forest?” said their dad. 

“You know we do!!!!!!!!!!!!!” said Carson, Jonathan, and Alex. 

“Okay, you need to leave by 8:30. Do you think you can be ready in 20 minutes?” said their dad. 

All four boys said, “OH YEAH!!!! That’ll be AWESOME!!!!!”

WHAT?!?!?!

“Oh, Logan,” said his dad. “I’m sorry. I want you to stay home. I can’t go today and I want to be with you on your first trip into the Black Forest. okay?”

"Yes," said Logan in a disappointed voice.

Thirty-five minutes later, Carson, Jonathan, and Alex went into the forest. But, Logan followed. how could Logan not follow?! Besides, he was already nine years old and loved a good adventure. He knew he could handle the tiny Black Forest!!! So he followed the boys into the woods. 

At first, Logan couldn’t tell why they called it the Black Forest. As he got farther in, there was less and less light to guide his path and he could see how the forest earned its name. The deeper he went, the more he wondered if he was going the right way. Logan’s brother and his friends were nowhere in sight and he could barely see the bright sun outside the forest. He was getting more and more worried that he was lost in the forest.

CARSON!

When he couldn’t bear it any longer, he yelled into the darkness. “Carson!!! Carson!!! Carson!!! Carson!!! Carson!!! You there?! You there?! You there?! You there?! You there?! Anybody?! Anybody?! Anybody?! Anybody?! Anybody?!” And then it hit him: HE WAS LOST!!!!!!!!!! 

“Oh no!!!!!!!!” he thought, “I’m never going to get out of this forest!!!!!” And then he heard a sound. SNAP! Logan froze in his tracks and looked around. The sound magnified so much that it sounded like a gunshot!!!

He kept looking around in the trees for the source of the sound. He was so frightened that he could barely move. Then he heard it again!!! SNAP!!! He swung around to see what it was and for a brief second Logan saw a white fox on a tree branch in the distance. The fox reminded him of his old dog Caiden so he felt the animal was safe. Logan used to call his dog by clicking his tongue so he clicked and clicked and clicked at the fox. After about twenty tries, the fox finally decided that he could trust Logan and came over very, very, slowly and cautiously.

“I think I’ll name you Cutie!!! No that doesn’t suit you. How about Jason. No, that doesn’t suit you either. OH!!!! I know!!! I’m going to call you Caiden like my old dog. Yessss!!!!!!! Well Caiden, can you help me get out of the forest?” Caiden didn’t move but he seemed to understand the message because he started to move away from Logan and the clearing. But this time not as slowly and cautiously.

They traveled for a while until Caiden stopped suddenly. He heard something other than the sound of their footsteps on the leafy ground.

Logan looked around and saw a reddish brown animal in the trees.  He saw how big it was and froze until it came into the light. When Logan saw its silky fur gleam in the light with his tree-like antlers and muscular body, he felt less scared because it was only a deer!!!!! 

“What a relief!!!!!!!!!!” thought Logan. “For a second there I thought it was a bear!!!!!” Logan moved very slowly and carefully across the mossy, leaf-coated earth all around him. He didn’t want the deer to hear him and get startled.

“Hi big guy,” said Logan as the deer looked around to see who spoke. “It’s okay, don’t worry buddy! It’s okay!” said Logan with a sensation that he was singing a lullaby in the sweetest and softest voice. The deer didn’t come slowly but trotted over faster and much more confident than Caiden.

“This time I have a name ready for you, it’s Joseph! How do you like it Joseph?” said Logan. The deer looked at him with a look of great disgust. “Okay  okay!!! Sheesh!!!!! How ‘bout Joshua?” The deer looked at him again but this time he seemed delighted at the sound of the name!!!

“Caiden and I were just trying to get out of the woods. Can you help me get home? I got lost and I can't find my way out.”  Joshua looked right into Logan's eyes, with a horribly sad face. 

“Okay then, let's go!!!” Logan, Caiden, and Joshua went farther and farther through the forest until they came to a halt. There was a loud sound hurtling towards them from the dark trees. 

They all looked around and saw a gigantic, big, fat bear the size of a ten person table coming for them as fast as a race car!!!!!!!!!!!!!

“Ruuuuuuuuuuuuun!!!!!!!!!” yelled Logan. “Quick, quick, quick!!!!!! He’s catching up!!!!” They ran as fast as they could. As they were running, they saw the edge of the woods!!!!!

“Yes!!!!!!! an exit!!!!!!!!” said Logan and they all ran for their lives to the edge of the forest. They came out of the forest and breathed in the fresh scent of air. But then they realized that the bear was still pounding after them!!!!!!!! They ran into a thick layer of grass in the nearby field. Logan ducked down and was completely covered by the grass.