The sun shines through a split in between the curtains. Rubbing her eyes, Julia rolls out of bed. After what happened during PE, her mother brought her home. Even though her wrist doesn't hurt too bad, Julia is glad her mother did. She needed a nap, even if she didn't want to admit it.
Julia digs through the pile of clothes lying halfway out of the suitcases. After weeks, she still hasn't unpacked. With some new energy–or spoons–she can go for a hike. Even though doing her homework is the smarter option—or unpack. She stares at her suitcase. Nah. This isn't even her actual home.
She trades her shorts and t-shirt for ripped jeans and a red top. Taking two steps at the time, she hops downstairs and grabs her hiking boots.
Her mother sits at the dining table working on her laptop. "Hi Honey, how are you feeling?"
"Good. Can I take the bus to Forest Hill?" She fills her water bottle.
Her mother looks up from her laptop. "You mean Hill-Forest? I'm not sure if that's a good idea right now."
With an internal sigh, Julia crosses her arms. Her mother left and didn't care about her for years, but now she's suddenly playing the perfectly concerned mother. "My wrist is fine, and I'm fine."
"Let me drive you? You can call me when you want me to pick you up." Before Julia can protest, her mother is already closing her laptop and grabbing her keys.
The forest is a lot closer than she thought. Within ten minutes, the streets of houses make place for trees. They park at the forest entrance. Will this place be as good as the forest by the cabin? Taking off her belt, Julia grabs her backpack and map and opens the car door.
"Call me—" her mother says.
"When I want you to pick me up. I know." Julia closes the door, sighs, turns, and opens the door again. "Thank you for driving me."
"No problem," her mother smiles.
The trees are lush with green leaves. The gravel path turns into a dirt trail, leading people through the forest–protecting them from getting lost. Birds chirp hidden behind the greenery. Small flowers break through the ground and peek between the green blades of grass covering the forest floor. Nature shows off her colours everywhere Julia looks.
Julia walks the trail. How can something this beautiful grow at such a close distance from all the buildings? The city is truly gone now, and she's greeted by green moss, ferns, and other plants she doesn't know the name of–yet. Surrounded by brown bask, twigs, sand, and a green leaf roof hiding the sky. A piece of happiness grows inside her with every step she takes. The worries she had serenely glide away from her.
Stopping by a fork in the trail, she takes out her map. She read that close by is a clearing in the forest–which, the internet told her–is beautiful in summer. Now she just has to find out where it is. Finding the right spot, she folds the map and puts it back inside her pocket. "Left it is."
Soon enough, tall orange and yellow flowers come into view. Bees fly between the flowers, and butterflies rest on the top of the small petals clustered together. She is in awe at the picture painted by nature, and quickly takes out her phone.
Squatting and turning into awkward poses, she takes the perfect photos. Pictures of hard-working bees, butterflies showing off their wings, and beautifully coloured flowers.
Her sixth sense tingles as the odd feeling of someone watching her creeps up. Jerking around, a smiling Mason greets her. He leans against a tree with his arm crossed, wearing basketball shorts and a loose hanging grey tank top.
"Not lost again, are you?"
"No," she smiles, but the smile drops as she looks around. She takes her map out of her pocket. "At least, I don't think so."
YOU ARE READING
Lost and Found
Teen Fiction[3x featured] Do you ever wonder if you are merely a wanderer in this world, lost forever and waiting to be found? Julia was suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome, which left her socially isolated as her friends abandoned her. When she's finally s...
