Guardian of the Forest

13

 "She was kind of rambling, and seemed way too nice." I look at Nic weird,

"Maybe she was just nice? Did that ever occur to you?" Nic rolled his eyes,

"I don't trust her, can we follow her?"

"I'll follow her. Apricot won't tip her off and you're too loud and clumsy and your force fields will do no good if she doesn't already Know." I grab Nic by the shoulders, "See this is why we're doing all of this training stuff! We can make sure she doesn't Know something she's not supposed to! Cover for me while I'm gone okay? And if I'm not back in an hour get my Mom and tell her that we were playing tag and you couldn't find me, alright?" At Nic's nod I depart.

I don't have to sneak around for long before I find them. Apricot is trotting ahead and pulling on the leash, Lulu has her head bent down over her phone. I move to the side so I'm walking beside her but still hidden by trees, her screen shows Google Maps, she must not know her way around the forest. I drop back so I'm behind them. I follow Lulu and Apricot for a long while then start to get tired, where could we be? The trees spread in front of us and I recognize where we are, Whitewing Lake glitters in the afternoon sun and the blue water looks cool, swans lift off of the surface and I can hear the water splashing beneath their feet. Lulu looks up from her phone then slides it against her leg in her tall boot. Why would Lulu come to Whitewing Lake? Lulu takes a left then starts walking to the clearing beside the lake. The clearing is Whitewing Park, in the distance you can see a playground, a covered stage and patio with picnic tables and grills. Goose poop dots the ground and makes it tricky to walk, I hear Lulu yell at Apricot about eating it. Dogs are gross, this is why I'm a cat person. Lulu bends down and unhooks Apricot's leash,

"Break!" She announces, Apricot just stands there, Lulu makes shooing gestures with her hands,

"Go on! Go! Run! Play! Break!" Apricot tears off. I can see a clumsy Golden Retriever puppy running with his tongue sticking out one second, then the next is a golden blur that speeds around the park and creates gusts of wind. My mouth gapes open and I run to the edge of the Whispering Woods, does Apricot have super speed? I remember when he came speeding into our clearing in the woods earlier, how did her dog get powers? Maybe the same way Isla got her powers, but how did Isla get powers? Lulu's sitting in the grass now with her phone out, she lets out a shriek and turns to face me in the woods, dang it she must have seen my reflection on her phone screen, I step out. Lulu is standing now and I'll admit she seems kind of scary now even though she is a girl, she's tall and seems about Grace's age.

"You followed me?" She accused, none of the niceness from earlier was present, she was mad. I shrugged then watched Apricot speed around again, he blurred then appeared by Lulu's side and sat, panting.

"Apricot is super fast," I look at him then look at her with suspicious eyes, "How?" Lulu's face leaks its color and her eyes widen,

"W-well you've probably never seen a dog run at full speed before! They're really fast, he must have some sled dog in him or, uh, some other kind of fast breed!" I shake my head slowly as if still in shock at seeing a dog run unnaturally fast,

"My aunt has a dog," I say, "And he does not run that fast. Did you get him from a shelter?" Lulu pauses, then answers,

"No. I found him after that one bad storm we had a few weeks ago. He was so small and wet and lost in the woods here," She gestured to the trees behind me, "I was kicking a soccer ball around when he came running after the ball. I took him home with me to see if he was a stray, which he was, so I adopted him." Apricot walked up to me and started licking my hand,

"So you adopted a dog with super speed? Does anyone else know?" Lulu looked at me like one would at a student that failed the easiest question on a test,

"No, I didn't tell my parents because I don't want them to take him away from me. What are you, the supernatural sheriff?" I smile at her annoyed expression, she reminds me of my older sisters.

"Kinda," Lulu's face blanks in confusion,

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Do you have any abilities like Apricot?" I ask, ignoring her question. Lulu sighs and looks at the sky, muttering something about talking about super powers with a little kid.

"No, I don't. I'm just a normal human being like you and your friend back there, is he spying on me from somewhere too?" I smile at her because she's so ignorant, she must see something in my smile because her face starts to express worry,

"But you're not,"

"I'm not a human being?" Her face lights up in rage,

"It's not the 1950s anymore kid! I am darn well a human being and it doesn't matter what you say! It only matters what God says!" Dang it! That did sound racist, why didn't I think before I spoke?!

"No you're a normal human being, I'm not." She stops raging and looks at me with confusion, Apricot runs off again but none of us pay him any mind.

"What?" I smile and take my sharpest fingernail and jerk it across my arm until it bleeds, I clench my other fist against the pain, Lulu looks at me with shock and horror,

"Well what did you do that for?!" I walk closer to her and hold my bleeding arm out,

"Look," Right before her eyes, my skin stops bleeding and knits back together in record time, no mark is left behind. Lulu is even more surprised now,

"Wha-? It just-! How did-? Why-? What-? How?!" I laugh at her stunned face,

"I'm the Guardian of the forest," I gesture to the Whispering Woods behind me, "And it's magical too, which you probably already Know, and my friend Nic is also not normal, neither is my cat or Apricot. I need you to keep this a secret okay? You can't tell anyone, even your family or your friends because I know girls like to tell their friends everything, and if you want you can hang out with Nic and I in the woods when we practice our skills and maybe we can see how fast Apricot can go! That would be so cool! What if he could go faster than a race car?" I laugh, "See you later okay Lulu?" She nods while her mouth is still gaping open from shock and I leave her there stunned in Whitewing Park while I head back to Nic.