The Willow Tree

Chapter 1

The world is beautiful, noisy and often lonely but beautiful. I reached out behind me to touch the soft moss and hard, rough bark. Stretching my legs outward, dropping my pen and raising my hands above my head reaching as far as I could, almost touching the branches above me. As I let my hands drop back down to my sides I sighed a big heaving sigh. It felt amazing the wind was blowing; the water from the lake next to me was coming my way, sprinkling my face and the moss on the willow tree behind me was soft and wonderful, just what I needed after a stressful day at school.  I put my journal down beside me and started to roll, stopping just beside the glistening lake. I brought my self into a sitting position and swung my bare feet into the nice, cool water. Ah, how nice the water felt on my feet. It was an amazing feeling, being in such a wonderful place, alone just able to enjoy the world as it is. No technology and noisy people to ruin the peaceful quiet of the forest.

4 years ago I found this place. I was running around in the woods with my friends, as any 12 year old girl would do back then. All of a sudden I ran into a wall of sorts. It felt like warm water running both through and over me. Washing me, cleaning the dirt under my fingernails and the mud on my face. I just stood there in awe looking around. There were huge trees, flowers and a mystical feel to this place. Like a place I had never seen before. It was beautiful very different from the place I had just left behind.

All of a sudden I felt panicked. Where were my friends? Why had they not followed me here? Where am I? What am I doing? Questions swirling through my head like a tornado, stuff whipping around trying to find a place to settle before being carried away from it's home.

I had turned around to look at the wall I had just gone through. You couldn't see anything, like there was no wall at all. Just the slightest hint of ripples across the wall made me realize that it was a translucent wall and that it might still be there even though I could not see it.

I turned around and walked through the barrier. All of a sudden I was back with my friends where I was before. As if nothing had happened. As if it was all a figure of my imagination or a hallucination.

"Hey guys come over here." I called for my friends, as that was the most natural thing to do at the moment. The 2 of them ran over to me a concerned look on their faces.

"Yeah what's up?" Brooklyn asked.

"Dude look over here okay?" I pointed to were I had just stepped through. Where the whole other world had been.

"Watch this carefully okay. There is a portal here; it leads to a whole other world. Watch I'm gonna go through it okay?"

They both nodded and so I turned around and headed for the portal. Three... Two...One Whack!

What the? I fell backward rubbing my head. Ow!

My friends were laughing in the background. "I thought you had something really serious to show us, instead you just tripped and fell." Jaclyn obviously did not understand. "I could've sworn there was something there a moment ago... but whatever just go back to what ever you are doing... I'm going to just sit here for a bit." And that's what I did. I sat there for at least half and hour just staring in space, until I had the courage to walk back into the mystical place. Maybe it was only meant for me... maybe I was the only one who was supposed to find it... and maybe it will stay that way.