"Wow! Did you see that?" Douglas said as a blot of lightning flashed across the sky.
"No, I'm trying to see through the rain," his dad replied.
"It's coming down much harder than it was earlier," Margret said. Douglas leaned back in his seat and unloaded his air rifle, not too pleased that he had to leave the party early. His concentration was momentarily broken when lightning struck a tree nearby. Douglas watched as the tree burst into flames and slowly die in the rain.
"Something doesn't feel right about this storm," he said.
"You're telling me," Barry said.
"I know how we can forget about it," Margret said, "Why don't we sing?"
"No," Douglas said sharply.
"Ignore him, hon," Barry said, "Any ideas?"
"Why not the theme song for My Little Pony?" Margret said.
"How drunk are you?" Douglas asked. He was ignored.
"Sound good to me," Barry said.
"Don't, please don't," Douglas thought, but it was too late.
The entire fiasco lasted for in total of three minutes but to Douglas it felt as if it lasted for an hour.
"I used to know what friendship could be, please God will you kill me?"
"Bleedin' hell, I've never seen lighting like that before," Margret said. Douglas looked outside and saw that the lightning had become green and each lighting bolt distorted the air around it.
"What the hell?" Douglas said. Suddenly a blot of lightning struck the middle of the road, sending Barry skidding off the road, through a bush and off a ravine. The last thing that crossed Douglas' mind was what a ravine was doing behind a bush.
"Douglas? Douglas!"
"Wha?" Douglas said weakly, some distance voice was calling him but he couldn't figure out who it was. He tried to move but found himself on the ground, weak and dizzy, he tried to sit up or at least roll over.
"Douglas!" a relived voice came.
"Dad?" Douglas said. Within seconds his dad was next to him and trying to roll him over.
"Easy now, don't want you to get anymore hurt."
"What happened?"
"I don't know but that's not important," Barry said, he then turned to Margret, "Can you get a reception, we need to call for help."
"I've still don't have any bars around here," Margret said irritably.
"I'm okay, just knocked around a little," Douglas said.
"You're bleeding from your head a little," Barry said. Douglas touched a gash on his head and felt blood trickle down his finger.
"I'll be okay. I've got a first aid kit."
"The one from the car?"
"No, the one I keep with me."
Barry sat back as Douglas brought the first aid kit out and handed it to him, Barry couldn't stop feeling guilty about this happening even though he knew that it wasn't his fault. As he stuck a bandage to Douglas' head Douglas could see the guilt in his dad's face.
"You don't have to blame yourself," he said.
"I know," Barry replied.
"What did happen?" Douglas asked.
"Green lightning hit us, didn't you see it?"
"Green...lightning?" Douglas asked, he then went from confused to angry, "The feckin leprechauns!"
"What?" Barry asked but Douglas .
"Those little shits are at it again! Trying to ruin my life, it's all they've been doing!"
"You should calm down a little, you might have hit your head a little." Barry said. Douglas sighed and retrieved his air rife from the wreckage of the car.
"I'm going to get help, no point in sitting around waiting for it to come."
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" his mother asked.
"If one of us doesn't so something then we'll end up dying, I'll go since I've got some stuff to keep me going."
"Just be back soon, it's staring to get around, around...wherever we are," Barry said.
"Is it me or does it seem warmer?" Margret asked. Douglas nodded his head and left in the direction that seemed to have some sort of path.
"I hope that I can get help soon," Douglas said to himself.
Douglas wandered around for some time until he found a tree to rest under while he tried to get his bearings. There wasn't a single definitive landmark around for miles, all there was were trees and bushes. Douglas began to think that finding any sort of help was futile and that he should make his way back to the car so that he and his parents could form a plan of action that would increase their chances of survival. As he turned around he realized something, he had no idea which way the car was. Darkness had fallen and all Douglas was able to see was the outlines of vegetation and the stars. He cursed himself for not laying a breadcrumb trail back to the car and more importantly, his parents. But he had to find shelter for the night, his parents could survive until morning, what did bring Douglas comfort was the abundance of apple trees. He knew that his mother and father could last on those until he got back, hopefully with a rabbit or two. He Douglas was too busy thinking about his parents he tripped up on a tree stump.
"Ow! Shite!" he said as he picked himself off. He dusted himself off and then his eyes fell upon something unusual that was attached to a tree.
"What the bloody hell is a tree doing with a ramp on it?" he thought. He looked up and saw what looked like a tree house sitting above him. Douglas thought that it was abandoned but it looked in too good condition for it to be abandoned. Forgetting about his parents, he walked up the ramp and peered inside the window. The moonlight helped him see inside, it was empty aside from some furniture and some unlit lamps. Douglas went to the door and checked to see if it was locked, he tried to twist the doorknob but it refused to turn. Not wanting to give up so easily Douglas took out his Swiss army knife and pulled what looked like a small spike out of the side and he opened up another tool, Douglas didn't know what it was called but it was long and thin so it fitted into the keyhole easily. He struggled to get all the tumblers but a springing sound and click followed and he was able to open the door. He put away his Swiss army knife and raised his air rifle, ready in case something was inside. Douglas relaxed and lowered the gun once he determined the tree house safe. He looked around to check out what was inside the tree house, there wasn't much to keep track of except for what appeared to be a map drawn by a child. Douglas took it off the wall, read it and then rolled it up and stuffed it into the back of his jacket. Douglas didn't know how late it was but he needed sleep and daylight is he was to find his parents and bring them here, it pained him when he thought of his mother and father sleeping in a car for the night but he would try to return to them at some point just to show that he was alive and to bring them to the tree house. But now, Douglas needed a place to sleep, and while looking around he saw an entrance to an attic.
"That'll do," he thought as he looked for a way up. He found something to stand on and he hoisted himself through the hole. The attic was incredibly dark and Douglas didn't have a flashlight, he crawled around on the floor of the attic looking for anything at this point. He recoiled in surprise when he plunged his hand into something that he never expected.
"Straw?"
He pulled out a handful of what was hay and tried to examine it, it was hay and it would do for making a bed. Douglas felt around a little more and he found a rough blanket to rest on the hay, he smoothed it out into a semi comfortable bed and tried to load his air rifle. Once he was confident that the magazine had been loaded and the air canister checked, Douglas pulled his mask over his face and lay down to try and sleep. He didn't like having to try and rest instead of finding his parents but he could never last forever in the forest and since it was night, who knows what might happen to him. Douglas drifted off into a troubled sleep his hand closed around his rifle, he hoped that nothing would surprise him while he slept.