VISUAL PROMPT
by Devraj Govindan @ https://www.deviantart.com/devrajgovindan

Write an adventure story which features this setting.
Waterfall
Deep in the woods, where pine trees were shrouded in pallid, foggy weather, there was a pair of children carefully walking on the narrow path where the trees started getting higher and thicker, so even the sun struggled to let its light reach them.
The girl was dragging a twig in her right hand that made a trail whenever she walked deeper into the woods.
“Alby, do you think we’re lost?” Her feet were starting to feel sore from walking for some time.
The boy’s head spun to look at her, his face drenched with sweat. “I don’t know. What do you think, Lana?” His legs started to give up, and he gestured for her to rest on the big trunk with dampish mold all over it.
“I think we are. We’ve walked so long but still haven’t seen the clover fields near our home,” said the girl quite shakily, looking around their surroundings. “And I just have this feeling that we are far from home, Alby,” she added, pointing to the traces she had left with her twig. There were no overlapping lines, which meant they had been walking on a new track all the time.
“You’re right. Maybe we should go back and try a different route,” he suggested, then asked when and where Lana had started leaving the trail behind.
“I’m not so sure, but maybe after we took many turns since the main road.” Her eyes kept looking up, seeking the correct answer.
“Alright, let’s go back and—”
Before Alby could finish his words, there was the sound of a horse whinnying. “Do you think we should check?” asked Lana. “Maybe the horse needs our help,” she said, trying to reason with her brother.
Alby hesitated, but curiosity got the better of him, and he agreed with Lana to go look for the horse. “We only look at the horse, okay? We don’t get too close to it because it could be dangerous.”
Lana nodded eagerly and started following the sound of the faint whinnying horse. Alby chuckled, seeing how impatient she was.
As he almost caught up with her, he saw horror when he watched her body fall into the unknown.
“Lana!” He screamed and dashed toward his sister, and—
_oh boy._
Below him, he saw a giant waterfall cascading further down into a big pool of blood at the bottom. His heart started racing with fear. “Lana!” he shouted again, his eyes frantically searching for Lana above the cliff.
Alby spotted the horse on the other side of the forest at the edge of the bloody waterfall, but there was no sight of Lana until he heard someone shouting his name.
“Alby!”
His head turned toward the sound, and he saw Lana smiling, soaked with crimson blood in the middle of the waterfall.
“Lana! Get out of there!”
Lana tilted her head to the side, looking confused. “Why? This feels so magical. Can you believe it?” Her voice echoed with the sound of blood rapidly pouring down.
“What?” he mumbled, thinking his sister had gone crazy.
“This is a waterfall of flowers, Alby! So many flowers, look!” she shouted back, gleefully scooping the thick red substance with her hand.
“Jump, Alby. It’s alright.” Lana’s voice echoed again, and Alby just stood there, stricken. He didn’t know what to think right now, but when he blinked, the giant blood waterfall was gone, and it was just like Lana had said—it was a waterfall full of blooming flowers. Shock was visible all over his face.
Taking a deep breath, he took a few steps back before he sprinted and jumped, closing his eyes tightly. Instead of meeting with a splash of blood, he found himself falling with a soft thud and a splash of roses and tulips everywhere.
He hurriedly swam to Lana and grabbed her before swimming with full force to the edge of the odd waterfall.
“Are you okay? You’re not hurt anywhere?” Alby was busy checking her when they finally felt the familiar green grass under their feet again.
“I’m fine,” she said, reassuring him and spinning to show him she was alright.
Alby eventually collapsed to the ground. He warily glanced back at the waterfall. The waterfall, once full of blood, had switched and become a waterfall full of flowers, nowhere near as frightening as the bloody sight he had seen before.
“Alby, this is amazing! We found a magical flower waterfall. Oh, wait—there’s no water, so maybe a flower fall?” She was so occupied with her thoughts, leaving Alby to try to justify what had just happened.
_He hoped they were home now. _
Just like that, in a blink, the flower waterfall changed to an ordinary waterfall with the clearest blue water anyone had ever seen.
Flowing in the middle was a translucent paper that looked like a flying map. Alby’s eyes widened, seeing the transformation of the odd waterfall and realizing it was a map toward their home.
The sound of the horse neighing snapped him back to his senses. The horse reared, looking magnificent beside him.
“Alby, do you think it wants us to get on it?”
Fascinated, when the dashing horse lowered its body, the pair looked at each other and knew.
Alby helped Lana climb up to sit on its back, and he sat behind her.
The horse started to walk slowly, leaving the odd waterfall behind them.
_What an adventure they had just experienced._