Path to the Forgotten Cache

Inspired by hidden trails, forgotten journals, and the whispered legends of Great Lakes foragers, this short story uncovers a buried cache tied to memory, decay, and the strange mushrooms that defy explanation. Scroll to the end for the original writing prompt that sparked it.

The wind had teeth that morning. It bit through Carter’s wool coat as he scanned the tree line near the base of Iron Elk Ridge. Mist rose from the damp earth, curling through the hardwoods like smoke. Beside him, Lou unpacked their gear in silence, brushing dirt from a decades-old field guide.

“You’re sure this is the place?” Carter asked, checking the compass against a photo of the original 1932 expedition log.

Lou nodded. “The notes said, ‘ridge split where the sugar maples lean east.’ This is it. No GPS. No markers. Just the map and our feet.”

They weren’t just foraging for mushrooms. They were retracing a lost expedition rumored to have discovered a cache of rare edible mushrooms deep in the Great Lakes backcountry. Some believed the original foragers never made it back. Others claimed the men had stumbled onto something worth hiding.

The two had spent weeks researching historic mushroom trails and studying field guides from Michigan, Wisconsin, and northern Indiana. Most modern foragers stuck close to marked paths. Carter and Lou chose to disappear into the forgotten places, the overgrown corridors where wild morels, oyster mushrooms, and hen-of-the-woods still grew untouched.

By late morning, they had left the known trail system entirely. Deadfall covered the ground. Lou paused near a toppled birch. “Check this out.”

Carter knelt beside him. A hollow log was blooming with what looked like lion’s mane mushrooms, white and cascading like frozen waterfalls. He took a few careful photos for identification later. “Pristine. This hasn’t been touched.”

“Just like the notes said. ‘Look for the beard of the woodsman. The trail turns there.’”

They kept moving, guided only by fading landmarks and a sketch drawn nearly a hundred years ago. The day dragged on. A light drizzle began, softening the soil and making their boots heavier.

Near dusk, they crossed a dry creek bed and saw it. A small ring of stacked stones, almost swallowed by undergrowth. In the center was an old wooden box, weathered and cracked but still intact.

Inside were three things. First, a hand-drawn map, long and faded but still legible. It showed hidden mushroom foraging locations scattered across the Great Lakes region, far off any known trail. The second was a field journal. Page after page described how to reach each site, what to look for, and how to avoid misleading terrain.

The third detail stopped them both cold.

In the final section of the journal, a paragraph had been circled in pencil. It described a mushroom the author called “Revenantis.” The entry claimed it only appeared after specific environmental conditions were met: weeks of cold rain, new moon overhead, and a nearby birch collapse. The writer described its flesh as gold-veined and slightly translucent. He claimed it reversed signs of aging in mice and even improved memory.

The tone of the writing changed after that. The last page was scrawled in a shaking hand.

“They’re watching. They know what we found. We couldn’t carry the samples. We buried what we had. If you’re reading this, you must be a forager. Please finish what we started. The cache holds everything you need. The Revenantis is real.”

Lou looked up slowly with a look of terror on his face. “What do you think? Hoax or not?”

Carter didn’t answer. He was already scanning the map, marking the next trailhead. The night was falling fast, but neither man felt like stopping. Somewhere out there, buried beneath moss and time, was the mushroom that could change everything.

And they were the only hope of finding it.

Writing Prompt: While retracing the route of a long-lost 1932 foraging expedition through the Great Lakes wilderness, two modern mushroom hunters uncover a hidden cache buried beneath decades of moss and stone. Inside, they find a detailed journal and map revealing secret mushroom foraging locations throughout Michigan, Wisconsin, and Indiana. The final pages speak of an undocumented mushroom known as Revenantis, rumored to reverse aging and enhance memory. The journal’s ominous warning hints that the original foragers were being hunted—and that someone must complete their mission before the mushroom is lost forever.