Emerald Willow

Chapter 5

Sierras P.O.V
Four years later
I've been living in the forest for 7 years now. I barely remember anything outside the forest. I don't remember the faces of my parents or even where I came from. It's like a distant memory now. My abilities have gotten stronger. I can understand and communicate with both animals and all flora. I can even understand the fairies now. I'm starting to learn how to grow vines from the ground and how to wilt away plants that are at the brink of death. But I don't just wilt them away I reincarnate them into new seeds that blossom more brightly than in their past life. Mama Willow says it's a rare gift and I shouldn't use it very often because it has a ware on my body. Shes been giving me lessons three times a day everyday. In the morning I learn how to classify different plants and animals and which classes and families they belong to.By mid afternoon that's when we practice my magical abilities.I can start to make plants sprout out of the earth and learn how to extend vines from the ground, bending the shape to my perfection, almost making them taller than Mama Willow herself. Then by sunset she makes me go to this remote part of the forest where trees have not grown for the last few years and I camp out there with Ivy and we wait for the night animals to come in. I've only seen little innocent creatures like bunnies, squirrels, mice and occasionally owls. Since this is my fifth time coming out at night. I find the night more peaceful. I love looking up at the night sky that shines more beautiful than the day. It's always so magnificent when the stars look like little white dots in the sky. I close my eyes and I relay on my other senses. I hear other deers in the distance chewing grass and small creature's footsteps on the fallen leaves. I change senses and smell the musty wood and raindrop scent in the air that lingers there all night. It makes me feel like I'm connecting more spiritually with nature itself. Mama Willow says I'm almost ready to go down my spiritual path. I don't even know what that means, but she always says,
"When you're ready, you will know."
I've been so lonely these past few years, yes I have Mama Willow, Ivy, and the fairies but I miss other humans. I miss that boy I saw four years ago. I haven't seen him since that one night. I wonder where he went? Or if he even remembered me at all. I stay up late at night thinking about the next time I will see him again or if I will ever again. I try to push him out of my mind and focus on my training. That's more important than some silly boy. After that night when I told Mama Willow and the fairies about the little boy and his father, they warned me to stay away from them. His dad is called a lumberjack, they come into these woods to cut down perfectly healthy trees for there own selfish needs. The fairies told me they've been coming into these woods for years and they're respectful of natures laws. I remember asking that night,
"How are they respectful if they cut down every tree!"
The fairy whispered back,
"That lumberjack only takes what he needs, he's not greedy like the rest of them."
I guess it was true after all, I hadn't seen them since. It was getting late and Ivy and I started to head back to the pond where everyone was waiting for us to return. Mama Willow greets us as we walk into the little clearing beyond the ferns. I lay down beside her trunk and try to drift away to sleep. That night I ended up dreaming about that little boy I once saw in the forest and how I longed to see him again.