Limbus

Chapter 4 ~ Demolition Day

One day. That's all we had. They would be back the next day and there was nothing Forest and I could do anything about. It was depressing to know that we couldn't do anything like hopeless kids. That's not how I wanted to feel. I wanted to know that everything would be okay and that Lane Acres will remain intact. Although we had help from the 'Demolition Haters', every thing that we did just turned out to be something that lead to a dead end. We wouldn't have been able to ward them off for much longer. Either it was actually going to happen and Lane Acres just becomes a mere memory to me or we just pray for a miracle. The former seems like the more obvious answer but a miracle wouldn't be so bad.

I met up with Forest at the foot of the seemlessly endless tress and discussed about coming up with a plan. Every idea almost seemed impossible.

"How about a strike? That always seems to work out. At least on the news it says it does," Forest suggested, shrugging afterwards.

"It's not a bad idea. Actually, it's the best idea that we've got but who exactly are we going to convince to go on strike?" I asked.

"There's got to be at least a group of people that are against the whole thing."

"Yeah. The 'Demolition Haters'. But they don't have valuable jobs so nobody will give a tiny rat's ass about them. They ain't fools, you know?" I proved a valid point, shocking myself in the process about the smart comment that just so happened to make it's way out of my mouth.

"No, I mean others. Not all people are haters of Mother Nature," he said.

"True. But who is actually willing to sacrifice their jobs, lives and source of income by going up against the government just because of a forest?"

"Are you trying to save the dang forest or burn it down?" Forest asked annoyed.

"You're right. I'm sorry. I was ruling out all the possible scenarios," I said.

"That's okay. I get it. You're upset. I am too. But we are going to find a way," he said as he rested a hand upon my shoulder.

My body heated up at his touch. We had only just met and the effect he had on me was unbelievable. He wasn't the type to have girls falling at his feet with every beck and call but he was more of the type to have hidden beauty. Underneath all the walls that he had put up was the real him. It was the real Forest.

"Come on, I wanna show you something." He nodded in the direction of the trees within.

I nodded slowly and traced his footsteps as he walked. The imprints he left on the ground were much larger than my puny little feet but it somehow made me feel protected. His sudden halt caused me to crash straight into his back. I stumbled backwards as I mentally slapped myself because of my stupidity. I looked up with an apologetic smile and followed his eyes which seemed to have landed upon a specific tree.

The tree was rather large. The closer I looked, the more I realized that the creases displayed on the bark were very aged. A sudden slide show of images clicked in my head and I saw the tiny seedling that it first began as. It changed to a growing tree and as the seasons passed, the leaves would fall and regrow in blind sight. It was beautiful. The slide-show in my head had stopped and I turned towards Forest who was still intently studying the tree. As he did so, I took out my phone an began snapping picture of the magnificent tree.

Photography was a hobby of mine. I didn't have my Polaroid or camera with me so my phone seemed to be the next best thing I could use the capture the pictures. I would sometimes edit the photos on my laptop but most of the time, the images had it's own beauty. Exactly like this tree. Sometimes I would post the pictures on my website to show the world what true nature was and how beautiful it can actually be.