The group followed Andrew through the forest, the adults found that travel was more difficult as they couldn't get under stuff so easily and as things grew up, they spread out, so saplings smacking them in the face became normal very quickly. The group complained constantly... except for Keith who was still wearing clothes that were sized appropriately for him, and shoes, and dry socks, and wasn't being smacked by nature every few seconds...
Despite feeling bad for them, listening to them complain constantly wasn't accomplishing anything but annoy him. "I wish they would stop complaining about stuff that was mentioned 10x over." It wasn't complete silence but Andrew stopped bringing up the scrapes he was getting as he stepped through plants, Billy stopped mentioning getting smacked after Andrew lets the small branches snap back, Keith was keeping quiet to begin with, and Henry stopped mentioning his feet hurting, Though other less common complaints did get mentioned, it drastically reduced their overall complaining.
They continued their hurried trek, Andrew leading them deeper into the woods. The trees here grew thicker, older, and the ground underfoot became softer, covered in a carpet of fallen leaves. After what felt like an eternity of navigating through the undergrowth, they saw it – a small, weather-beaten cabin nestled in a clearing. It looked old and somewhat derelict, with peeling paint and a sagging porch, but it offered a definite promise of shelter.
“Here we are!” Andrew announced, his voice raspy.
“A cabin?” Keith asked, his brow furrowed in confusion. “Whose cabin is this?”
"How should I know?" Andrew replied.
"Can we even get in?" Henry asked trying the door and finding it locked. "Uh, problem..."
Billy let out a sigh of relief, "I'm actually glad its locked, I don't want to be caught trespassing or breaking and entering."
The group of men immediately started bickering over the new problems and considerations walking off to try the windows and any other doors while trying to convince Billy that its okay. At this point Keith couldn't stand their complaining any more and stayed on the porch as the trio explored the property. It felt like he was the only one taking the situation seriously, Billy is the only one considering some of the ramifications albeit strange that he's concerned about trespassing and not being aged half a decade... And the other two are acting just as immature as ever! You'd think that them growing up would have instilled some maturity!
Keith sat on the stairs starting to spiral now that he could let his emotions out privately, he began spewing his thoughts listing all the stuff he wished for. "I wish we owned this cabin and could get into it... I wish it had spare outfits that fit, and fresh supplies so they can clean up and we could eat something before we leave." Keith was just getting started and realizing he was thinking too small, "No actually, I wish this cabin we own was our home, so we don't have to go anywhere or see anyone! That would give us some time to fix things."
Keith thought about how cool it would be to live out of a cabin in the woods with his best friends, "Though, I wish it wasn't dilapidated and gross looking." Keith added with a chuckle as he was sucked into his own fantasy. Keith frowned knowing he and his friends wouldn't share ownership in a house regardless of how cool that would be, "I wish at least one of us had a car and a driver's license, preferably here... I mean, we have three adults now, it doesn't feel like too much to ask for..." Yeah, that was a much less dramatic wish. It felt much more doable.
Realizing even that was probably out of reach now trying to figure out the minimum wish that would make things better "I wish the world would treat them like the adults they appear to be, I am at a complete loss as to how to fix them and don't want their parents to yell at me for nearly doubling their son's ages." That last part about the parents was the important bit, the rest was just a nice way to expand it, but altering the minds of six people isn't as good as the whole world... Keith chuckled, his wishes were starting to come with upgrade phases.
"But most importantly I wish they would act their age! They're so annoying, all the time!" Keith let out a final grunt feeling better after getting his worries off his chest even if it didn't fix anything. "Now back to reality. Where'd they all get off to..." the front door opened unexpectedly and Keith screamed.
"Hey we got in with the spare key in the back, come on inside." Billy said walking back in, "Henry and Andrew are washing up by taking showers, I didn't really need one. Just had to hose off my feet, but I don't think my socks survived the journey." He calmly said with a chuckle. "I and the rest of the boys are famished, I'm going to make some dinner after I find more than stretched out underwear to wear. you want some?"
Keith was ravenous but Billy, the one who was worried about trespassing a moment ago, was sure acting surprisingly comfortable. "I'd love something but we should keep our impact to a minimum, we don't want to upset the owners. If this is a vacation home, we might find some crackers and jerky, I'll check the kitchen while you look for clothes."
Billy gave Keith a sideways glance and a confused smile, "Yeah, Jerky." but didn't say anything else before walking off to change clothes. Keith marveled at how nice the place was as he approached the kitchen, everything was well furnished though mismatched and didn't carry a cohesive aesthetic. The real shock was that the kitchen was completely stocked. Rather than finding a few cans of soup or some pasta sauce, he found a fridge full of cheese, milk, eggs, condiments, deli meat, juice, and everything else you'd find in a lived in fridge, but none of it was close to expiring.