The Town of Willow Falls

A Devastating State

Leo's POV

As soon as I see the trees, it makes me want to cry. I'm sure the ruins of an old city look better than the trees.
They're in such a devastating state.
I look over at Amanda. She has a blank face but I can tell she's mostly shocked.

"Let's check out the damage." I take her hand.

We go up to the first tree.
Amanda takes out the vial and pours a small drop at the base.

"I'm hoping not much is needed to revive the trees. We have to be careful with this." Amanda moves on to the next tree.

We take turns saving the trees, giving occasional encouraging words to the plants.

After pouring a small amount at each base, we step back and hope for the best.

"We should meet up with everyone. I'll text Rory to figure out where they've all met up." Amanda pulls out her phone.

Five minutes pass and Amanda's still staring at her phone with intense focus.

"Any answer?" I ask.

"Hmm... no. But she just texted me this bunch of random symbols. I don't know what this is." Amanda shows me.

"It's not a code for something, is it?" I guess.

"I doubt it. Rory wouldn't create a code just to text back. Besides, there's no pattern here."

"You could try calling or contacting Grace. Or we could wander around until we find them?"

"I tried calling. No answer. Contacting Grace isn't working, either. Let's go to Grace's first."

"Best bet. Do you have the Reviver?" I make sure, just in case.

"Yup."

Amanda's got this, where as I would have probably left it at the first tree.

---

We arrive at the Kelly's and knock.
Connor's mom answers the door.

"Hello, Leo, Amanda. Nice to see you! Everyone's in the living room eating cookies. Come in!"

"Hey, you two!" Rory greets us at the door.

"Hey. Is your phone not working or something?" Amanda asks.

"Oh yeah. My screen's malfunctioning and not working. That's why I couldn't get your texts or calls. I can't afford to wreck another phone, so I'll probably try to get it fixed without anyone knowing. What's new with the trees?"

"We only used a little Reviver on each tree. No immediate reactions or anything. It might take a while."

"Okay. Well hopefully not too long. Come join us. You missed our crazy story about actually finding the Reviver." Rory shrugs.

"Expecting nothing less than crazy. Haha." Amanda slips her shoes off.

Her socks are orange with adorable hedgehogs on them.

"I like your socks, Amanda." I laugh.

"Don't judge me." Amanda smiles back.

"No, I'm serious."

"Okayyyy."

We join everyone in the living room and we all catch up on what each other has been doing.
In this moment, I feel the connection of family. I may not see it like Grace has described but it's warm in my heart. Amanda must feel it, too because she smiles at me again and laces her hand in mine.

It's been too long since I've updated this story. I'm trying to get the ball of writing inspiration to get rolling again. I have some ideas of where this is going to go so hopefully that should help me write more. The story shouldn't be too much longer but I'm not ending super soon or anything. ~M