The woods swallowed them quickly. Underfoot, roots twisted like knotted ropes. Branches arched overhead, casting everything in greenish shadow. Flashlights flickered on. Lisa stepped carefully, her breath tight. Every snapping twig felt like a signal. Every shadow a question. Could Coco be somewhere in this vast, tangled place?
The group spread out, weaving between trees and ducking beneath low-hanging limbs. Some called out softly, “Coco!” Others poked through the underbrush with sticks. Lisa scanned the ground and the canopy, desperate for anything—pawprints, fur, even a dropped collar. But the forest gave them nothing but silence.