“One day, my brother and I decided to go for a walk in the woods,” our grandma started her story. “We walked so deep into the woods that we got lost. When we tried to find our way back, we were lured into a witch’s cabin. Luckily, we got away just in time. Otherwise, we would’ve been baked into pies.”
    I glanced at my twin brother, Jason. He didn’t even look like he was paying attention.
    “Great story,” I said, “but…”
    “You’d best remember this story, Alexis,” Grandma said. “It may happen to you one day.”
    “Yeah, right,” Jason said. Apparently he had been paying attention. “Witches are totally fake.”
    Our grandma ignored his comment.
    “That is why you should not go off into the woods alone,” she told us. “Alexis, Jason, you two better remember that.”
    “I’ve told you before,Grandma, call me Alex,” I said.
    She ignored that, too.
    “I’m going inside,” she said. “Don’t leave sight of the cabin.”
    Grandma stood up from her rocking chair and went into the house, leaving me alone with my brother.
    Jason turned to me, grinning widely.
    “I’ve got an idea,” he said.
    Jason had a wide grin on his face. I knew that nothing good could come out of this idea.
    “What’s your brilliant idea this time?”
    “We should play a prank on Grandma,” Jason said. “Let’s go for a walk in the woods just long enough to make her think we’re trapped by a witch or something.”
    “But what if we get lost?” I asked.
    “Don’t worry,” Jason told me. “I’ve got a plan.”
    My brother pulled a package of Skittles out of his pocket. I already didn’t like this plan.
    “I’ll drop these on the ground as we walk,” he said. “We’ll be able to follow the trail of Skittles back here when we’re done with our walk.”
    “But what if the birds eat them or something?”
    “Come on, Alex. Relax. Everyone knows that birds don’t eat Skittles.”
    “I still think this is a bad idea.”
    “Oh, loosen up. It’ll be fun.”
    I stared at Jason for a moment. There was no use arguing. Convincing my brother he had a bad idea was like talking to a brick wall.
    “Fine.” I finally relented. “Let’s go.”
    With that, we began our walk. Every few feet, Jason dropped a Skittle on the ground. After a little while, I began to think that the plan was a good one after all. That’s exactly when everything started to go wrong.
    “Maybe we should go back,” Jason said. “I’m out of Skittles.”
    “Good idea,” I agreed.
    I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket and turned on the flashlight app. I shined the light on the ground, but couldn’t see any of the Skittles. I noticed a squirrel with something orange held in its clutches.
    “Uh… Jason.”
    “What?”
    “I think the squirrels ate the Skittles.”
    “No big deal.” Jason waved one hand dismissively. “We just have to go back from where we came.”
    I nodded.
    “Yeah, you’re right.”
    Jason and I turned and started walking in the other direction. It didn’t take long before I started having my doubts.
    “Alex,” Jason said after a few more minutes of walking without finding our grandma’s house. “I think we’re lost.”
    I didn’t respond. That had been just what I was afraid of.
    “I’ll call Grandma,” I said.
I pulled out my phone and dialed her number, but there was no signal. I tried again. There was still no signal.
    “Try holding the phone over your head,” Jason suggested.
    I tried. It still didn’t work. I began walking around in circles. Even a bad signal would’ve been nice. After a moment, I got a weak signal. I took another step. The signal was slightly better.
    “This way,” I told Jason.
    I began walking forward, Jason right behind me. The signal on my phone kept getting stronger and stronger. A little while later, I had a signal strong enough to make a call.
    “Alex, I see a cabin,” Jason said, pointing.
    The cabin he was pointing to had a bunch of satellite dishes on the roof. A light was on in the front room.
    “Maybe we can ask for directions,” I said.
    Shoving my phone into my pocket, I began walking to the cabin. My brother followed closely behind me. I knocked on the door. Jason and I waited impatiently for whoever lived there to answer.
    The door swung inwardly. An old woman stood in the doorway.
    “Are you children lost?” she asked.
    “Yeah,” I said. “Could you give us directions to our grandma’s house?”
    I described the house to the woman, but all she did was frown. My heart sunk. I had the bad feeling that Jason and I would be lost forever.
    “You two are welcome to stay here if you’d like,” the woman offered.
    Usually, I would have refused right away. Kids have always been taught not to enter a stranger’s house, but I was not thinking straight. After being lost in the woods for so long, the woman’s offer sounded great.
    “That sounds great,” I said.
    “Then come on in.” The woman stepped aside. “Make yourselves at home.”
    Jason and I walked inside. The living room was huge. There was a humungous flat-screened TV. Against the far wall were about twenty old arcade games. A buffet table with just about every snack imaginable sat in the middle of the room.
    “Sweet!” Jason exclaimed, rushing over to the buffet table. He grabbed a donut and ate it so quickly you’d think he hadn’t eaten in a week.
    “I’ll be in the other room if you need me.” The woman smiled and gestured towards an open doorway into the kitchen.
    I walked over to the couch and took a seat. I grabbed the remote and started flipping through the channels. Jason flopped down next to me and yanked the remote out of my hand.
    “Wrestling’s on,” Jason said. “I get the TV.”
    I rolled my eyes and stood up. I walked over to the buffet table and grabbed a cookie. Crossing the room, I ate the delicious treat.
    I tried playing a game of pinball, but gave up after a failed a few times. I played a game of Pac-man, but I lost all my lives really quickly. I gave up on the arcade games and resorted myself to watching wrestling with my brother. That’s how I knew I was really bored. I’d usually rather watch paint dry.   
    “Go Cena!” Jason shouted, jumping up and punching his fist in the air.
    On the screen, John Cena was smashing some guy’s head into the side of the ring. It seemed ridiculous to me, but Jason seemed to be getting a kick out of it.
    Somewhere during the course of the wrestling match, I fell asleep. The next thing I knew, daylight was streaming in through the windows and the TV was shut off. Jason was snoring on the couch next to me.
    “Wake up.” I shook his shoulder.
    My brother kept on snoring.
    “Jason, wake up!”
    The only reply was another loud snore.
    Frustrated, I pushed Jason off the couch. My brother hit the floor with a thud. He woke up right away.
    “Hey, what was that for?” Jason complained, standing up.
    “You weren’t waking up fast enough,” I said.
    “Yeah, but you didn’t have to push me.”
    “It woke you up, didn’t it?”
    “Hey, I smell food.”
    I rolled my eyes. My brother could smell food from a mile away.
    “This way,” Jason said. He grabbed my arm and pulled me towards the kitchen.
    “Oh, hello children,” the woman said when she saw us. She was cooking a huge pan of eggs and sausage. “You two sit down. Breakfast will be ready soon.”
    “Actually, we should probably be going,” I said.
    “You must be hungry,” the woman said. “Don’t worry, you can leave right after you eat.”
    I was about to refuse again, but a pleading look from Jason stopped me.
    “Aw, come on, Alex,” he said. “Eating a little bit won’t hurt us.”
    “But Grandma’s going to be worried,” I protested, “We really need to go.”
    “But I’m hungry,” Jason groaned. “I want to eat.”
    Without even waiting for me to respond, Jason walked over and sat at the kitchen table. I realized that there was no use arguing. Once my brother set his mind on something, there was no stopping him, especially if food was involved. I reluctantly walked over and sat next to him.
    The woman set the pan of eggs on the table. She pulled out two plates. She set one in front of me and the other in front of Jason.
        “Aren’t you going to eat?” I asked.
        “I’m not hungry,” the woman replied. “I’ll make something for myself later.”
         I put a couple scoops of eggs on my plate. As I ate, I looked around the room. I noticed that she had a huge oven. It must’ve been big enough to fit two people inside. Something about it made me suddenly remember Grandma’s story.
    “You’re the witch!” I exclaimed, jumping to my feet.
    The woman looked vaguely amused.
    “Interesting,” she said. “Usually little brats like you don’t catch on until I tell them.”
    “Jason,” I said, “we need to go.”
    “But I’m still eating,” my brother protested.
    “Yeah, well if we don’t leave, we’re gonna be the food.”
    “Not hungry anymore.”
    Jason dropped his fork and stood up.
    “You two aren’t going anywhere,” the woman said.
    “You don’t scare me lady,” Jason said. “I took karate.” My brother conveniently forgot to mention that he’d quit after the first lesson.
    “Well, I should.” The woman snapped her fingers and the oven door popped open. “Get in.”
    “Show us how,” I said automatically.
    “I should not have to,” the woman said.
    “Hey, I’ve never crawled into an oven before.”
    “Kids these days,” the woman mumbled. She got down on her hands and knees and crawled into the oven. I slammed the door on her.
    “Come on,” I said, grabbing Jason’s arm and bolting out the door. We both kept running, afraid that the woman would get herself out of the oven and come after us.
*****
    “Alex,” Jason said, panting. “Can we… take a break… now?”
    I nodded, breathing heavily. I leaned against a tree in an attempt to catch my breath.
    “I can’t believe Grandma’s story was true,” Jason said, “it sounded so crazy.”
    “Maybe we should listen to her more.”
    “If we ever get out of here.”
    “Don’t worry,” I said. “We will. We better get going, though.”
    We began to walk in silence. I had the dreadful feeling that we’d be walking like this forever. Then, Jason elbowed me in the stomach.
    “Hey, what was…”   
    “Alex,” Jason interrupted, “is that who I think it is?”
    “I think that’s…”
    “Grandma!” Jason shouted before I had the chance to finish.
    We both sprinted towards our grandma. I had never been so glad to see her in my life.
    “Alexis, Jason,” she said. “I told you not to go off into the woods.”
    “We’re so sorry, Grandma,” Jason said.
    “We should’ve listened,” I added.
    “It’s quite alright,” Grandma said, “just don’t do it again. You gave me quite a scare.”
    “We won’t,” I assured her.
    “Good,” Grandma said. “Now come on. I have some cookies with your names on them.”
    Jason and I started to follow Grandma back to her house, the prospect of cookies making our mouths water.