The sun was beating down on the small village of Baroy Oak. The cobblestone streets were flooded with locals taking amongst themselves and enjoying what is the hottest day of the year in Baroy Oak. Flags were flying, people were singing, this could only mean one thing, it was the annual Maple Festival.
The Maple Festival was a huge deal to the village and a lot of hard work had gone into planning and setting up. Markets were stood down every street, attracting many visitors with their wide ranges of fruits, vegetables, fish and souvenirs. Not one person could wish they were anywhere else. The beautiful array of swan and water lilies painted the glistening blue waters of the large river, which flowed around the outskirts of the village, with such a soft, peaceful sound.
Opposite Baroy Oak and across the river was a golden forest, home to millions of extraordinary trees and creatures, marked the purpose of this celebrated day. One very special tree, situated at the very centre of the forest, was the real reason. This magical Sycamore was the largest in the whole of Dachuko, with colours of yellow and orange flooding the leaves. It is believed by the people of Dachuko that autumn is a time for a new beginning, that once the final leaf of this marvellous tree was to fall, so would the past of every living creature in the universe, humans included. Life was seen as many new chances, to change what has been done wrong, to forget the past and look forward to the future. This festival marked the end of each individual's chance.
A fresh, firm breeze rocked the forest, with golden leaves raining on the village and in the river. The sound of the leaves and branches rustling in the forest so freely was the tune to the bright and special day.
Deep inside the heart of this forest was a figure. A young girl, the age of thirteen, was roaming the forest floor, collecting many leaves fallen from the surrounding trees. She had short, strawberry blonde hair, tied up in two scruffy short pigtails towards the top of both sides of her head. Wearing a ragged orange vest and a pair of muddy, brown shorts. It was as if she had not had anything else to wear. She had bright, wide distinctive eyes.
She continued walking barefoot down the leafy walk way, in search of more leaves and seeds she could find. She scoured through the large piles of leaves settles below the trees, when something caught her eye. She reached her hand into the pile of worn out leaves, to reveal what was a large, pink maple leaf. She examined the leaf in amazement and a little smile began to form on her face. Rapidly, she turned around and ran back down the path, with excitement still in her eyes, and the leaf in her right hand.
She began to slow down once she reached a hut, made out of twigs and branches found on the forest floor, and leaves picked from various areas. She came to a halt outside the hut, with a smile from ear to ear.
"Kira look! Look at what I've found!" The young girl shouted with much excitement.
Suddenly a girl, 17 years old, emerged from the hut. She was slightly taller than the 13 year old. With long chocolate brown hair, up in a wild ponytail and her fringe split in two down each side of her head and face. She had wide, beautiful dark brown eyes semi-covered by her fringe and pale skin. She wore a forest green, muddy T-shirt and a pair of lighter green 3-quarter lengths. She had a pair of short black boots and had a think figure.
"Look Kira, the leaf is pink. How is that possible?" asked the 13 year old, still amazed by the leaf's colour and shape. She gave the leaf to Kira to examine. As Kira did so, the girl looked up, and the golden sycamore tree was in her sight. Her jaw dropped as she quickly nudged on Kira's arm.
"What is it? What do you want Tani?" Kira interrogated Tani in a grouchy tone.
"That tree!" Tani pointed upwards directed at the sycamore. "Perhaps this leaf comes from that tree. Look at all the different colours on it. Surely that's where that leaf has come from." Tani assured Kira.
"I'm pretty sure it's not, Tani." Kira corrected, handing the leaf back to Tani and preparing container to collect fruits. "I mean, look up. That tree is many miles away; it's in the centre of the forest. By the time it would have reached this part, that leaf would have been crunchy and brown by now." Kira explained to Tani. Tani suddenly felt a hint of disappointment inside, and her face showed confusion.
"Oh... Well, I suppose." Tani spoke, saddened by the information given by Kira. She turned to watch Kira set up for fruit gathering, still with a saddened look in her eyes. "How comes you're so smart about everything? You always know what things are about. You know about the trees' life cycle, you know what fruits a healthy enough to be eaten, you even manage to keep us safe in a shelter that you built."
"You helped with this shelter too." Kira replied, trying to comfort Tani.
"No, I just helped carry all the branches that you found. Seriously Kira, how do you know all of this?" Tani questioned Kira, determined to find out the reasons for Kira's in-depth knowledge.
"I don't know, I guess it's just experience Y'know. I mean, I have lived in this forest for as long as I could remember. Well, I suppose I feel like I have a type of connection with this..." Kira explained to Tani, who became puzzled by Kira's explanation.
"This? What do you mean...? This?" Tani replied, becoming frustrated by her own ignorance. "I've been here for as long I could remember too, what makes you so special?" Tani continued angrily. Tani began to glare at Kira with jealousy as Kira lifted her basket over her shoulder, ready to venture to find food.
"This?" Kira wondered. "The forest, the trees, everything that you see around you... Nature. I feel as if I am a part of each."
Kira waved Tani closer to her and knelt down while pointing towards a small buttercup, growing within the plants on the ground, surrounded by dead leaves.
"You see this little buttercup right here? Well, I'm not sure how, but I know that a little piece of this buttercup's life is within me, and a little piece of my life is in this buttercup. I don't know how, I don't know why, but I just can tell." Kira told Tani, whose face began to brighten up with Kira's words as she stared at the buttercup.
"But Tani, think about it. You know much more than you think you do." Kira reassured. "From your experience of this forest, you know the habitat's of each animal that lives here, you know where each plant grows. Sometimes even I don't know as much as you do when it comes to weather. You know what's going to happen even before it happens, whether it be sun or rain, snow or storm." Tani began to feel proud of herself, seeing her knowledge in a completely different perspective. A smile began to reform on her face, as so with Kira.
"You see, a part of nature is within you too. You just have not thought about it that way."
"Ha-ha, I guess your right! I am in touch with nature; I am just like you after all!" Tani confirmed, full of happiness. "So, are we going food gathering?" Tani suggested.
Both Tani and Kira smiled as they headed off through the trees in search for food.
Fifteen minutes passed since the search for food. Kira, followed by Tani, was holding the basket she had made, carrying a handful of strawberries and blueberries, and several small red apples. Tani pushed apart bushes in search of berries within, while Kira scoured the ground for apples fallen from trees. Thousands of apples were spread out throughout the acres of forest floor; however, some were battered and bruised, making it harder for Kira to find decent and healthy looking apples to collect. Kira and Tani had travelled a couple of miles before reaching a split path.
"Oh, the path is split. Which way would be best to go down?" Tani questioned. Kira took a slight glance down each path before coming to a conclusion.
"Right, I think the best thing to do is split up. Continue searching down the two paths, then after about a mile, return back down the path. We'll meet up here again. Okay?" Kira directed to Tani, who was eager to continue the search. Tani signalled with a nod and a serious look, and then began to track down the right path. Kira shook her head; eyes closed in slight regret, and continued down the left path.
About half a mile down the path, Kira walked slowly while focused on the ground in search for fallen apples. Her eyes moved from left to right with every step she took. It was as if she was completely isolated from the world around her. She was so concentrated she did not realise about the increase of wind in the forest, with the trees and plants swaying rapidly from side to side, rattling their leaves. It was only until the strength of the wind blowing towards her, forced her back a few steps, awaking her to the world again.
"Tani!" Kira shouted, hoping to hear a quiet reply. "The wind is picking up! We'd best head back!" Kira continued to shout, but no reply was heard. The sound of the wind through the trees and the rattling of the leaves drowned out Kira's shouts.
"Tani?" She tried once more. Still there was no reply to Kira.
Kira began to panic; she gripped firmly to her basket and began to run back down the path. The wind began to increase once again, this time forcing her forward, which resulted in herself falling to the ground. The apples which she'd collected and fallen out of her basket and rolled further down the path, some had been lost. She was using her arms to push herself up, she raised her head to see the remainder of the path she was travelling. Her hair covering her face from the wind blowing. Eventually Kira managed to get back to her feet before continuing to hurry back down the path, leaving behind all the apples she had collected, and the basket she had made. Shortly after, the wind caused her to fall back to the ground.
Kira struggled to regain back to standing, so she sat up and used her hands to help aid her back up. Once again she stood up, however she did not continue to run. She just stood still, while the wind continued to blow.
A strange sense surrounded Kira, she felt as if something was not right, that there was danger not far from where she was standing. Kira had a concentrated face, once again she was oblivious to the world, and just focused on this feeling. She had never experienced anything like this before. Adrenaline began to rush through her body, she could tell that something was watching her, from behind.
Again she'd reawaken, and with that, she slowly and quietly began to turn around. All of a sudden, fear had shot through her body as she saw the reason for such a peculiar feeing...