My friends and I used to ride our bikes in the apartment complex across the street from where I lived. Our loyalties were to this place because of its massive construction, which consists of huge mazes; one could get lost for hours if ventured deep enough into these winding labyrinths. I couldn't count the multitude of days spent learning and loving these mazes. The apartment complex had to be somewhere around one square mile in its entirety. We would always find something new and interesting when we visited the mazes. One day we found a small waterfall connected by a stream to a little pond farther down that we never knew existed. Another time we found an entrance to a forest with man made trails that seemed like somebody put a little too much time into. The list goes on, always finding these strange, yet peaceful places, only accessible through the mazes of this grea

After pelting each other with strawberries and figs from our slingshots, we decided to head back to civilization. We made our way back to the tunnel, grabbing some fruit for later on the way. Before we ventured back into the tunnel, something caught my eye that I didn't see before; it was a dirty green duffle bag, covered in the same stuff we were. I opened it to see what was inside. There was a moldy sweater that omitted a very fowl odor, highly offensive to the nose. A canteen that looked like it was from World War II or something. A Swiss army knife, the kind with the spoon and fork built right on to it, mind you. Along with a few other oddball things, including a pair of binoculars that worked better then the ones I had at home. Who did all this stuff belong to and why would someone just leave it there like that? We didn't see any signs anywhere else that someone had been there. Where was this person? Why was their bag right outside of the tunnel? Were their bones perhaps somewhere close by as well? This had successfully raised many more questions about the nature of this place. We were ready to leave at this point.

I've never been back to that place, mainly because of the locked cage installed shortly after we found it, though I am sure it still exists. I must say though, it is one of the most interesting places I have ever seen to this day. However, I doubt I will ever understand why that duffle bag was just left right outside the tunnel with no trace of its owner. I wonder what became of him, who knows, perhaps the maintenance man that he ran into was a little less forgiving. Yet, whatever did happen, I had a lot of fun that day and I got a sweet pair of binoculars out the deal.

I remembered the tunnel because we had come across it once before. Oddly enough, one of the paths of the maze led right to it. It was about the size of a beach ball

Some common words found in the essay are:
Viejo California, II Swiss, Mission Viejo, , fruit growing, mission viejo, outside tunnel, apartment complex, duffle bag, pair binoculars,
Approximate Word count = 1269
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)