The forest holds memories

When Catie woke up, she found herself in a sunny forest. She stood up and tried to remember how she got there...

"Hello?" – the girl shouted hoping that someone would be there. Her word echoed far among the trees. No answer...

Being alone and lost in the woods would've been creepy, but not in this place. It looked so heavenly and peaceful... like a dream... The sunlight streaming in between the tree branches, the beautiful song of the birds, the brooklet babbling softly in the distance and the rustling of wind-blown leaves... it just wasn't real...

As Catie was walking deeper in the forest, she could feel the magic of the forest.

Suddenly she heard some noise... calling her name... She turned around and to her greatest surprise she saw her dad.

"Dad?" – The girl ran into her father's arms and hugged him. This couldn't be possible... – "You died..." – her voice broke.

"I'm right here" – her father responded smiling. Catie hasn't felt this safe for quite a long time.

As they were walking the girl noticed people laughing and kids playing around among the trees. However when she looked closer, she couldn't believe her eyes.

"Is that..."

"You" – her father nodded his head.

And he was right; it was her! As if the forest would've known every single happy moment of her life. The girl saw the little Catie drawing and playing in the garden, first trying the bicycle, picking the most beautiful flowers for Mothers' Day, collecting and observing the bugs she found outside and chasing the neighbour's cat.

The forest knew everything about Catie. Being there made her remember many good memories. When she first fell over with her new skates and her father did the same on purpose just to cheer her up... When she got a dog for her 6. birthday and she named it Lily, because it reminded her of the flower.

Catie not only relived memories she remembered... The girl saw herself being born and held by her parents, saying her first word, playing and walking the first time as a baby. And when she looked at her parents, she saw pure happiness in their eyes. They looked extremely proud at each small step the little girl did forward.

"Wow" – Catie was amazed – "My memories" – she whispered.

"Sure they are" – her father replied smiling while they kept walking.

The girl couldn't resist and she stopped at each scene to relive the joy of the moment.

A few minutes later the forest changed somehow. It started to feel weird... strange... There were no more memories... The trees were rustling peacefully.

"So I guess we just reached the present now..." – Catie was confused. – "Oh my God!" – her jaw dropped as soon as she saw a completely different side of the forest.

She was standing right in front of a boundary line that divided her from a dark creepy, dried up part of the woods with full of shadows.

Catie hesitated. She was unsure what to do. The girl was still on the lively and colourful area, the sunrays were gently caressing her shoulders, yet she felt the freezing cold of the other side.

Suddenly a butterfly with beautiful blue and gold wings flew away past her, straight to the greyness. It lost its colours and turned into black and white in one second.

"Dad, what's this pla-..." – Catie turned around but saw nobody behind her – "Dad? Where did you go?"

She looked around desperately and spotted some kind of statue made from rock on the other side of the border. She ran to the strange object without hesitation. Wait...

"It's... a grave?" – Catie was getting more and more scared.

After she cleaned the stone, she could read her father's name on it with big bold letters. She staggered back and suddenly remembered... All those terrifying flashbacks from the past that used to cause her nightmares...

She saw it again... her dad... he was out of breath... gasping... his body was shaking. It was traumatizing to see him suffer... knowing that she couldn't help... No one could... Catie had no idea that a heart attack could look so shocking.

As she was staring at the huge piece of stone, it was the first time she didn't burst into tears and cry while reliving that cruel memory. Instead she was smiling.

The girl was grateful for her father. They did a lot of fun things together ever since she was little. They made and flew a kite together, rode bike, went on trips, concerts, festivals. They organized movie nights, played hide 'n seek in the garden and had family dinners outside, so Lily wasn't left out and could eat with them. Once they stole mum's whole wardrobe and exchanged it with dad's clothes. And not one of their baking missions went wrong and ended as a mess in the kitchen. But they cleaned it up together so mum noticed nothing when she got home.

These memories made Catie stronger and helped her overcome the childhood tragedy.

When the girl lifted her head, surprisingly she didn't see the dark shadows or the tormented trees anywhere. The abandoned, grey forest slowly turned into just as delightful, as the one she was wandering with her dad a few minutes ago. The colours of happiness took over the whole place... including Catie's heart.

She finally learned to let go...