Our 2nd day there, Dad took us on a 5 mile hike. I enjoyed seeing all the different types of plants and animals (years latter my major was biology) and kept stopping to look at of smell something.

I had stopped to look at the most beautiful area of flowers I had ever seen. It was like a royal carpet of vivid, living color stretching off into a distance in front of me. I meandered my way through the low growing plants looking at one plant then another.

I'm not sure how long I spent in the one meadow or how far into the meadow I had walked but suddenly I realized my family was no where around.

I tried to ramain calm and think logically but you know how a 12 year old can be. I thought if I could just find the trail again, I could follow it down to where surely my parents would be waiting for me to catch up. But where was the trail.

I spent a couple of hours looking for the trail and calling for my parents, but when I realized the sun was quickly moving towards the horizon I knew I had to do something or I'd be in big trouble.

I decided to head out in the direction I thought the trail was in, never realizing I was more than a little off course. I was starting to get extremely worried. The last rays of daylight were almost completely gone when I stumbled onto a trail! Finally, I knew I would be safe and my parents couldn't be far away. But less than an hour later, it was too dark to continue and I knew I'd have to find a place to hole up for the night.

Just as the sun was coming up, I heard someone calling my name and looked up to see a woman off in the distance. I figured she was one of the searchers and called to her, but it appeared she didn't here me as she continued to move further away from me.

I started running towards her, calling out for her to stop and help me. But she just kept moving away. I ran harder and harder, trying to catch up with her, hoping that she was headed back to camp where all the searchers were based. I called to her over and over till I started getting scared because she didn't seem to hear me.

A followed her for hours and hours and just before noon, I saw her round a corner ahead of me and disappear from my site. I ran harder, not wanting to lose site of her for more than a moment, but when I round the corner, I was at the campsite my parents and I shared. The lady I followed was no where to be seen.

My mom was sitting at a table not far from where I came out of the forest at. She started crying and ran to me, hugging and crying and causing me to cry at the same time.

When I was asked about how I made it back to the campsite, I told them about following the lady through the forest. Mom said I was the first and only person to come through the forest where I came out at. She had been sitting not 20 feet away, scanning the trees over and over looking for some site of me and would have seen anyone that came through the trees.

I never saw the lady again, and doubt I will ever see her again, unless I get lost again, or something else puts my life in danger and I need my guardian angel to save me.