"Emily, come an' look at this!!" Your cousin, Connor, shouted at you from deep in the forest. You fumbled through the brush, following the sound of his voice, your long, braided hair thumping against your back.
You and Connor had deeply entwined history together, even for your brief years of life. For starters, you and Connor were born on exactly the same day. Your first birthday was the day Connor was born. You were seven now, Connor six. He and your uncle and aunt lived just down the road from yours, so you were always coming over to one another's houses to play. You trick-or-treated together, celebrated Christmas and Easter together. You shared birthday parties. You even went to the same pre-school. Suffice it to say that, even though Connor had some habits that got on your nerves, the two of you were tight. It was almost as if you were destined to stay together.
Today, you were playing "forest explorers." Connor's backyard was part of a thick forest of trees; it was your favorite place to play even if your parents were always concerned about the two of you getting lost. You hopped over fallen logs and ducked under branches, venturing deeper into the woods, to the place where you heard Connor's voice. He was always calling after you to show you something interesting, usually an exotic bug or snail he'd found. (He would generally proceed to eat said bug, just to gross you out.)
"Emily, look, look!" You came upon him crouched over the big, hollowed-out stump of an oak tree. "I found real treasure!! Look!!"
"I don't believe you," you said, but your voice trailed off as you peeked over the edge of the stump and saw, in its depths, two glowing jewels. One glinted a fiery red; the other's cool blue hue reminded you of the sky on a sunny day. You reached in, grasping for the gems, but as you felt around inside, your fingers wrapped around fine silvery chains. They were amulets, meant to be worn. "Woah," you marveled as you held them up; even the gems' metal setting and chains gleamed coolly in the verdant light that filtered down from the leaves above.
"Aren't they neat!" Connor was practically bouncing up and down in excitement.
"Should we show them to our parents?" you asked. You were always the more reserved, practical one of the two of you.
"Heck no!! These are gonna be our secret treasure!! They'll be like, our buddy charms!!" His grubby hand darted toward yours and abruptly he yanked the red amulet out of your hand. "This is the one I want!!" Of course he'd go for the red one; red was his favorite color. He threw it around his neck and let it dangle against his chest. You always preferred blue, yourself, so you had no problems with this arrangement.
But when you slipped the blue amulet's chain around your neck, a strange reaction occurred. Connor's amulet started to glow, casting a hot red light over the both of you. You opened your mouth to speak, but within the blink of an eye, the gleam of the amulet turned blinding. "Con--"
A ray shot out from Connor's chest, refracting against your own, blue amulet. The sheer force of the radiant blow knocked you to the ground. Your vision went dark.
Your eyes fluttered, and you slowly stirred to consciousness. When you pushed yourself up from the ground, you realized something was terribly wrong. You were laying against a huge maple leaf... And the giant shadow of your cousin loomed over you.
(Just how small had you shrunk down to be?)
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