wood and stream

She decided to go on the hike alone because, well, there wasn't anyone there to go with her. Aunt Aubrey and Uncle Harry had gone to fetch her sister and husband and nephew from the airport, which was a long drive away from Mount Desert Island where the house was. Seal Harbor, specifically, on Pierce's Point. They would not be back until dinnertime, Aunt Aubrey said. No matter, thought Chloe. It would do her well to go alone.
When she proposed this plan to her dear Aunt Aubrey, she was flabbergasted. She said it wasn't a good idea "because, well, it's just not done! A young girl hiking alone in those woods!" Perhaps it wasn't a good idea; staying at the house was much safer. But the thought of an entire second day being spent indoors did not sit well with Chloe, and she decided to go anyway.
After she heard the car speed down the long gravel driveway, she put on her backpack and, map in hand, stepped out onto the front porch. She had never been to these woods, and it would all be entirely new. And so, beneath the veil of morning fog, she took off on a journey to an uncertain destination.