Heart of the Forest

Millie's POV

Mom, Wake up. Mom, you promised we could explore in the morning. Mom."

"I'm up. I'm up," I groaned as I looked over at the alarm clock. "6:30 in the morning, seriously, kid."

"Can I have pancakes?" This kid. Sometimes I feel like he thinks I'm a pancake-making machine and nothing else.

"The movers will be getting here a little later with our kitchen stuff. We can find an Ihop and then explore Nelson for a bit."

"Yay yay yay. We are going to explore. Then after that, we have to come home and go for a walk in the trees. Mom, you promised."

"Sure, baby."

I looked up Ihop on my GPS, and they didn't have an IHOP! Seriously no IHOP? The town did, however, have a diner called Billie's, which apparently has the "best breakfast food around", according to google. Billie's it is, I thought.

As soon as we entered Billie's, we were greeted by a waitress with brown hair pulled back and piercing blue eyes. She was wearing an old-timey waitress uniform.

"You must be Millie, and you adorable little boy must be Connor."
  Um, okay how does she know that?

"Mom, how does that lady know our names?" Four-year-olds have no filter.

"You are all your Aunt Jules has been talking about. Welcome to Nelson, by the way. I'm Anna Kate. You are going to love it here. We are all a family." She had to be one of the friendliest people I have ever met. Not sure I like it.

I can't lie; Billie's did have the best breakfast food around. Definitely better than IHOP, and I would have previously said it was a sin to call a restaurant better than IHOP. Connor was over the moon with his chocolate chip pancakes.

After breakfast, we walked around for a bit. Every few steps we took, someone greeted us. Most of them knew our names and then proceeded to tell us theirs.

I hope they didn't expect me to remember everyone the next time we went to the grocery store. I am not sure if I will get used to this "everyone knows everyone atmosphere". One thing is for sure Nelson is nothing like Southern California.

The town itself is beautiful. There are mountains directly behind us, and the rest of the town is surrounded by large Lodgepole pine trees.

You can see snow already at the top of the mountains, and I can already tell this place is breathtaking when covered in white.

When we got home, Connor was on cloud nine, meeting everyone in the town. That did not make him forget about the promised hike, though.

Consequently, a few hours later, after the movers brought in their things and I decided Connor had rested enough, we were heading out the door and into the Forest.

"We're going on an adventure, we're going on an adventure," Connor began to sing, and I couldn't help but join in. The Forest I also had to admit, was beautiful.

It had almost a magical feel to it. About ten minutes into our hike, we came across a flowing river. The leaves were all different colors, and some had already fallen. I could only imagine what this place looked like in the spring.

"We're going on an adventure, we're going on an adventure," forty-five minutes later, Connor still kept up his singing and excited attitude. I, on the other hand, knew he would soon want to be carried and that we should head back before we got lost.

"Let's head back home now, buddy." Oh, shit, which was home?

Panic overtook me as I realized I was no girl scout. Not only did I get the notion we were lost, but I suddenly had the feeling that we were being watched.

"We're going on an adventure, we're going on an adventure."

"Shhh." I snapped at Connor.

"Why did you shhh me?" Connor whined

"Because baby, mommy needs to concentrate for a second." And I am totally creeped out right now.

"I'm getting pretty tired. Can you give me a piggyback ride?" I knew that was coming. Four-year-olds are so demanding, and I am a complete idiot for walking in a direction not towards the house for 45 minutes.

I bent down so Connor could hop on my back and started in the direction my instincts told me to go. As I continued to walk, I kept feeling more and more like we were being watched. The sounds of leaves cracking to my left caused me to stop and snap my head.

"Why did you stop, mommy?" Came Connor's sleepy voice.

"No reason, baby, just admiring the scenery." Get it together, Millie. It was just a rabbit. You need to get us home.