Forest Fairy

In The Forest

Werifesteria. To wander longingly through the forest in search of mystery.

Before, Delaney Dawson would think nothing else but of finding mystery in the town where she lived, in its beautiful forest, the only deep and dreamy place in the area. To walk through its greens every afternoon after school, walking home amongst the maze of trees and twisting branches that reached out to nowhere in particular, whispering without words through thin green leaves that gradually broke off from their branches and spun down to carpet the ground. To her, it was the only interesting thing about home, to take in the scent of pine and earth and fresh air, wandering between trunks and trails that snaked off and joined together in an unspoken harmony.

The trouble was that no matter where Delaney went, there was never a mystery to find. And where else should a mysterious series of events begin than in the forest?

The girl was carefree, light, as if she was floating amongst the leaves that blanketed the deep browns of the uneven ground, her hair fluttering about her shoulders as she went. At first, the scene looked beautifully storybook; a young lady in a deep green dress, practically camouflaged amongst the trees and foliage surrounding her, with a peaceful, content expression on her face, eyes lit up by the long stretches of daylight that weaved in though the high leaves. Nothing could be heard but the subtle sounds of nature and the dainty footsteps that would skip down the dry, muddy path, deeper and deeper into the forest.

The winter air was crisp and cutting, and so the few dogwalkers there ventured no further than the outskirts and clearer pathways of the forest, where the trees didn't mask any direct way in or out, leaving you lost in the nature until you found the modern world once more.

But the girl had no intention of finding that world. She was in her world, in her forest. She paid no attention to the coolness of the breeze against the skin of her bare arms, and delicately adjusted the flower crown on her head with a happy smile. She was home. And home was just so pretty.

The forest that the girl explored is a lovely area in the small, downland village it belongs to, a cosy little town called Braedon, and though the village itself seemed forgotten by the girl, it was certainly not forgotten by Delaney Dawson.

Delaney Dawson was all too familiar with her village, and apart from the forest being a nice place to read and walk and escape to every now and then, Braedon was downright boring. Everything was the same. Everything was quiet and calm and normal. Delaney refused to accept normal.

It was a normal Thursday when she got her usual bus home from school, sitting by herself upstairs and leaning against the glass of the window as she carried on reading the open page on her phone.

'SIX SECRET CODES THAT REMAIN UNSOLVED.'

For a girl who loved mystery, reading about it, learning about it, in a village that was completely empty of it, it all looked ridiculously unfair. Delaney knew all about history and its secrets, how people communicated in ways only they could understand, and books that were written with dashes and made-up symbols and patterns, just so the mystery could go on and on, and hidden things could remain hidden, until the right person came along and discover it.

But, until that Thursday, the right person never seemed to be her.

Delaney left the bus at her stop, sighing as her long hair fluttered in the winter wind and gripping her bag a little tighter against her shoulder as she made her way back home, and through the forest, Braedon Park. It was the best shortcut that she always chose to go through. Nothing happened there either, though she knew that plenty could, the land stretching on for what looked like forever, a place you could easily get lost in if you weren't paying close enough attention. But she knew where she was going. Nowhere special. Home.