Black Fire

Part 1

Katya was walking through the forest that laid silently frozen for months. The ground was soft from the melted snow. Leafs left from last autumn still lay in clumps that crackled when her eight year old feet bumbled along the path. She was the only life she had seen the whole day. Everything must still be sleeping from the winter nights.

Katya herd her grandmother calling from far awy and knew she must have found her winter coat still hangin by the door. The air was still cold but the sun was warm. So ready to rush in spring that she convinced herself that long red sweater and waterproof black pants were enough. Her feet were stuffed into clear rain boots that had ladybugs painted on them. She made a mentle note to remeber to ask to get new rain boots as her foot were so cramped.

Katya wandered around the woods seeing what was different now that the blankets of snow were meted. She wondered for far and wide until the sun was well above her head. She walked along the crest of a very steep hill. Katya was trying to figure out if it was worth the effort to try and make it down the hill when she noticed far away... a flash of blue between the trees at the bottem. 
Adella was almost down the steep hill and she was staring at the small sputtering creek at the bottom. When she got to the edge of the creek she saw how low the creek the water really was. The water had carved out a path threw the earth that was about six feet deep but the water was only a few inches deep now. Adella climbed down some tree roots and landed with a clatter on some dry creek stones. Adella looked around for a nice stick. Getting to work cleaning out all the old leaves that was clogging up the stream. There was a crackle of sticks and and yelp. Being down in the small creek bed Adella could'nt see who or where the sound came from.

Adella climbed back out of the emabankment and saw a little bit up the hill, Katya making her way down. Her dark cury black hair had some leaves and the red sweater had mud all over the back.

"Are you alright?" she called up to the other girl making her way down.

"OH! Yeah! I was down here earlier... an I thought I would see if you needed any help getting down here." Katya said not looking at Adella but down at her feet as she braced herself agenst a tree.

"Do you got mud on your shirt?" Adella asked.

Katya looked down "no, but i might have some on my pants there was mud on a tree a leaned against." 

Adella thought that was odd. There was no mud on any tree she had seen so far but let it go."I think I hard babulya calling for you about your coat?"

"It's not even cold, I told her I didn't need a coat. It's spring now" Katya was looking down at the creek.

"Do you want to help me? I'm getting the leaves out of the way so the water can flow better." Adella asked holding out the stick she held to Katya.

"Why would you do that? Your going to get all wet and cold" Katya said not looking at her but at her feet as she stumbled down te hill. 

"You wont get wet if you dont step in the water." Adella said. She waited for a second before climbing back down the roots. Going back to pulling the debris from the stream. After a little bit of pacing up and down the creeks ledge, Katya decided to climb down. She lost her footing and sat straight down on the ground on the edge of the creek with her feet dangling. Katya looked like she was about to climb down the grand canyon they way she looked down at the creek below her.

Adella pointed to a root system to the side of the girl and told her to put her hand up high there. Put the other on the tree branch and her feet on the roots an then she would just have a small jump down. Adella turned back to her work, knowing that Katya would'nt take her advice if she kept watching her. There was a the same clacking of the creek stones as Katya made her landing.

 Adella worked all day cleaning the creak out. Katya fround some old rope and a bungy straps to have more hand holds getting down to the creek. She also fround the perfect spot underneat a pine tree on top of the hill for a hide out. She ran quickly to show Adella what she had planned. The two girls started gathering supplies and dropping it off underneath the pine tree.

The girls off and on worked on there little hide out with the help of Katya's dad for the rest of that year. The girls took to spends most of there free time and even some summer nights staying out in there little hide out. They had leaned large sticks around the base of the tree in a circle. Katyas dad had made two windows by cutting some of the sticks out in a square. Using a stable gun to tack some screen in place to keep out the bugs. 

Ketya was now nine years old and Adella was still waiting to turn eight. It was winter brake and Ketya was so board being cooped up in the house with her older brother who was home from boarding school and hogging the tv.

The girls lived in a large house that had been divided into three separate apartments. Katya had knocked and asked if Adella was up but her mother had said she wasnt. So Katya decided to set out on a mission on her own. She was tired of asking her dad to put a door on the hideout. He had bought hinges and screws and a door but had put it off since the weather changed. Well today was the day. Katya went and grabbed the cordless drill and the rest of her supplies and tucked them into her empted school bag and set out.

It was late in the after noon now and Katya had pulled off her outer clothing long ago and was wiping her forehead. She sat inside her small hideout staring out through the open door she had hung herself. It was not quit straight. She had stood it up in the space cut out for it. Leaned down screw the bracket into place and when she stood up to do the middle bracket it had leaned forward more. She was unable to screw in the top bracket as she was too short but the door held fine she thought. Only problem was with it being at a tilt it caused the bottom corner to drag a deep gash into the ground. Katyas solution was to get a stuirdy stick and dick out the mud that was in the path of the door. With that done she sat inside the hideout.

 After sometime she herd footsteps aproching. She could not see who it was untill they walked infront of the hideout. It was her father and Adella. Her father held a brown paper bag that he handed to her. Inside was a packed lunch and a juice box. Adella had a pair of binoculars and was staring wildly up at the trees. Swinging her head around and moving the binoculars.

"You should come with us, Adella and I are bird watching" Katyas father said.

The trio set off and walked for a long time. Adella became motionsick and pasted the binoculars to Katya. Who was so wrapped up wit the veiw inside the small peepholes that showed her the world of the treetops.

Katya herd Adella yell out that she saw a bird. Katya was so busy cuircling the binoculars around that she did not see her father kneeling down. Adella pointing at the nest that lay by the open door of the hideout.