The Adventures of Rowan: The Adventure Begins

By Joe Nichols, Joan Coleman and Elon Opp

Three boys set out for a hike through the woods. What started as a day hike turns into an adventure that none of them could have imagined. Each boy finds a path marked with his own initial. The all agree to explore their own paths.
This story is about the adventure Rowan, the youngest of the three boys who heads off down the path marked "R". He discovers a strange and wonderful land. He also learns of an important mission that only he can accomplish to save the land of "R".

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Mar 11, 2018
• ISBN: 9781543927610

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It was a perfect spring day for a hike in the woods. The air was warm and the sun was rising to great heights. Rowan, his brother Elon, and his cousin Nolan couldn’t wait to go outside and hike in the woods. Rowan was the youngest of the boys and stood out from the darker-haired boys with his auburn hair. He was full of energy and possessed a fearlessness and courage that made him stand out from other boys his age. Rowan was part of a large family that included many cousins and family connections. Rowan loved his older brother, and though they had quite different personalities, they were very close and shared a mutual respect for each other. All of the cousins shared the value of their kinship. They all loved going on adventures together. Rowan came from a family of great love.

Rowan and Elon’s mother, Keegan, was busy packing a lunch for each of them—yogurt for Elon, crackers and cheese for Nolan, and peanut butter and jam sandwich for Rowan. Keegan also gave each of them a treat of gummy bears for a snack after their lunch. Quick, their dog, wagged her tail and barked, letting them know that she insisted on going on the hike. Quick always had lots of energy when it came to hikes with the boys. Everyone knows that dogs are good hiking companions and Elon called her to join their hiking expedition. Tabby, their cat, wanted to go too, but everyone knows that cats are not good hikers so she had to stay at home and keep Keegan company. Finally, after lots of kisses and hugs, they set off on the path from their house towards Roslyn woods.

They laughed and ran towards the trail they knew well from previous hikes. The trail was a bit rugged and less well marked than it had been in the fall when they last went for a hike. The long winter had taken its toll, leaving lots of ruts and rocks along the way. At times they were not sure if they were on the right path and felt a bit confused about the way. Elon was confident about their direction and urged the other boys to continue on. After all, this was an adventure to explore, wasn’t it? As they moved deeper into the woods, the overlying canopy of pines and cedars filtered the bright sunshine so things became a little less clear. Old logs took on the shapes of otherworldly creatures, or so it seemed. Trees began to look like looming giants. Fallen logs looked like alligators, tigers, and other creatures they couldn’t recognize. Nolan reassured everyone that this was just the effect of the filtered light and nothing to worry about. Finally, they arrived at a clearing in the woods where there was an old dead log that made a perfect place to rest and have their lunch. They had been hiking for over two hours and were getting a bit hungry. While they were eagerly consuming the sandwiches and other treats Keegan had made for them, the boys noticed something a bit odd that they hadn’t noticed before. There were three clear paths heading in three different directions from the edge of the clearing. Each of these paths was marked by a sign: One sign had the letter N, one sign had the letter E, and the last sign had the letter R. The boys realized that each sign had the first letter of their names. Elon and Nolan thought this was very strange, but Rowan felt this was a clear indication that the boys should split up and explore the path marked with his first initial. Elon, being the oldest of the boys, was a bit wary about splitting up and Nolan thought it was very strange the three signs should just seem to appear in the clearing. Rowan, however, was excited for an adventure and prevailed on the other boys to agree to explore each path. They all agreed that they would meet back at the clearing in exactly one hour to report what they found down their individual paths. If one of them did not return, the other boys would run as quickly as possible back home and get Elon’s dad, Aaron.

And so they were off.

Rowan felt like this was the best adventure ever. For once he was exploring on his own and was excited to report his findings back to the other boys. He walked past tall ferns that made him feel very small. He crossed over a log that fell across the creek and made a bridge for the path. On the other side of the log bridge, he spied lots of mushrooms