Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 30th cycle. Now cycle 31!

Hear that little bird twitter! Been thinking about doing this for a couple days, then this morning decided to just go for it. If you go there, find 'gleekathon' and there I'll be. There's also a video explaining everything... Yep... ;) Check it out!

In case you didn't see it thursday... The gleekathon songbook is now available, and this week (thursday to wednesday) is dedicated to a friend whose birthday it was yesterday. The link to the songbook and a video explaining this week are both available on gleekathon twitter :D

"If a Tree Falls in the Woods"
Finn & Brittany

As school field trips went, this wasn't anything that brought most of them into enthusiasm. Already having to go was past them – but they did it because it meant being out of school – but having to go, basically, in the woods was taking care of removing what little upside they had. They were told not to wander off, and although some of them did, they always managed to find their way back… all except two.

Finn would never say what it was that had led him so far away from everyone. But they were nowhere near a bathroom, he had to go, and… well, he wasn't going to just go behind the nearest tree and have people see his… So he walked, deeper into the woods, passing a few more trees – a few times – to really make sure. After he was done though, believing he was going the right way, he started back to rejoin the group. He walked, and walked… All he saw was more woods. He frowned… Maybe it was to the left, or…

He turned, stopping short of running into a tree, and turned again… running into something, tripping him… "Oh, sorry, I… Finn! It's you!" He looked up.

"Brittany? What are you doing here?" he asked, sitting up.

"I… I got lost," she admitted, wrapping her arms around herself. "I was looking for S… stones…" she blinked, looking around. "Sorry I ran you over."

"It's okay," he told her, moving to stand. "I'm kind of glad I ran into you. Not, uh… not physically, just…" He stopped as getting back on his feet meant putting weight on them… and the left one protested. Brittany saw the look on his face and took a step.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, it's fine," he shook his head. She was still staring at him like she didn't believe him. "Well maybe we can sit for a minute to figure things out." She agreed, moving to help him back down. He could do it on his own, but he let her do it for her sake.

"What do we do now?" she asked. After a moment, he reached in his pocket for his phone. He tried calling, and he knew within seconds…

"It's not working." She did the same, and the result wasn't inspiring.

"Nothing…" He looked around.

"Which way did you come from?" She did the same, staring from tree, to tree, to tree… Her finger roamed, pointed out like when it would stop on the right tree… It went, and went, about three complete turns before Finn reached up to pull her hand back down. "What do we do now?" He considered this, reaching for his ankle. "I'm fine to walk so, maybe we can start…" he looked around. "… somewhere."

"My mother's always told me if I'm lost I should stay where I am," Brittany offered.

"They're going to head for the buses soon," he pointed out. "We have to find a way," he insisted, though he was greatly aware of the fact he had gotten lost by following a wrong path he thought was right. "Or we could stay here." She looked at him, then lifted her head.

"Help!" she shouted into cupped hands in hopes to make her voice carry. It was loud indeed, so much it made Finn jump. "Help!" she stretched the word. For a girl who never really raised her voice, she packed power into it now… Maybe it would work.

"Help!" he did the same, and they continued doing it, every so often… If anyone was moderately near, they would hear it, without a doubt. The fact that no one had shown up yet though, that was the worrying part.

"They'll know we're gone, right?" Brittany asked after a while, playing with her laces.

"Yeah," Finn shrugged, trying to sound reassuring. "Everyone in Glee Club's there, they'll notice we're gone."

"Right…" Brittany smiled, thinking about it. "Think there'll be dogs?" she asked, wishing she hadn't sounded so excited; he just chuckled.

More time went by, and the fight looked to have gone out of them. Brittany had laid down on the ground, staring up at the patch of sky they could see through the branches… The sun wasn't so bright anymore, and the codeword of the hour was 'nightfall.'

"They're not coming…" she mumbled. Finn had been walking around in the circle of their clearing, testing his ankle, trying to find something, anything, to point the way. Every so often he still tried to call out for help, then listened… nothing. Hearing her question, he stopped, coming back to sit with her.

"Yeah, they are," he tried to comfort her. "I mean it's a big place, and they probably don't want anyone else getting lost."

"Like they're surprised," she frowned, twirling blades of grass between her fingers. He could tell she was getting down on herself, and he wasn't sure how to help, because now it was starting to go through his mind, too, and he was feeling something like maybe she was telling the truth… about him, too. He laid down as well, staring at that sky. He was supposed to be a leader, and he couldn't even get them out of a forest. He didn't know how to respond to her words without revealing his own insecurity.

It was just starting to get dark, and neither of them had said a word since Brittany's comment. For all they knew, the other was asleep… But then they started hearing things. They stayed quiet, both of them, almost to make sure they weren't just imagining things out of hunger and exhaustion.

Then all of a sudden, there they all were, each looking more scared than the last, then startled as they almost tripped on them lying there, freaked that they even were on the ground, and then relieved when they sat up. Everyone was speaking at once, asking what had happened, scolding them for wandering off and scaring them… Finn and Brittany didn't say a word. They just got swept up in the trek back to the bus. On the road home though, once everyone had left them in peace, they shared a look, reflection… Maybe they were prone to situations like this, but then at least they weren't alone.

THE END

A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.
In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are
always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!