The Little Adventure

The directions Methuselah gave me could no longer be utilized. My mindless meandering the day prior had rendered the instructions useless. Vanessa and I were too far lost now, and in my dismay, I forged blindly through the forest with my little sister.

“Natasha, I’m thirsty. Shouldn't we be near the creek?”

I was hot. Today was dry in comparison to our miserable day before, and I was also thirsty. The spring weather was unpredictable where we lived. “Natasha?!” Vanessa’s high-pitched voice sounded like nails on a chalkboard.

“WHAT?!” My face was hot. My ears burned. I loathed that high-pitched voice she often used, and I was reminded of playing ponies with Vanessa in our little bedroom. “Just STOP whining!” I yelled at her in frustration. She looked at her feet. We both stopped walking at this point, and I stared at her. I was so frustrated and sad and angry. I was so full of feelings that they pushed against my skin. The temples of my head throbbed as the blood beat hard within my skull. All of my thoughts and emotions grew bigger. I scowled; not just at her but at every single thing in sight.

Vanessa looked up with her big, blue innocent eyes making the fleetest contact with mine. She reached out, softly touching my shoulder, and consequently set my fragile emotions on fire.

“DON'T TOUCH ME!!!” I screamed. And then I screamed again an angry and incomprehensible scream. My face contorted into the ugliest version of itself. A blue vein on the right side of my temple showed purple; my face turned as red as an overripe tomato at the end of summer. I clenched my fists and lunged forward, shoving her down. She yelped in surprise, not sure what she had done to trigger my wrath, and she fell backward. The needles and sticks stuck into the palms of her small, soft hands.

I fell to my knees in lamentation. My feelings of sadness, so immense, now deluged out waves of sobs, gasps, and tears. I could not breathe, and I hid my head in my knees and covered my ears to try and block out the sound of my own wailing. Everything was dark as I squeezed my eyelids shut as tightly as I could.

Vanessa, being her intuitive, 5 year old self, quickly took her heavy sweatshirt off and used it to cover my head and upper back. Placing her knees at my head, she leaned forward and rubbed my back.

“Breathe. Feel the ground. Breathe slowly.”

I tried to breathe slower. I tried to feel the ground. My eyes were shut, my forehead touched the earth, and I breathed slowly, deeply.

“Breathe in. breathe out.”

She sounded like my Mom trying to guide me through my breathing exercises. I listened to Vanessa talk.

“We need to find the creek, Natasha. Listen closely.” Her hands were warm, but the chaos in my brain was noisy, and I couldn't focus. I took three more heavy deep breaths. The earth under my hands was cool and damp. The air that filled my lungs was cold and fresh and moist. It had the faintest smell of evergreens, and it made my lungs feel clean.

She rubbed my back some more, and I closed my eyes and strained my ears to hear anything that sounded like water. I began to feel more calm, and the turmoil in my mind began to dissipate.

“I love you. I think you are the best.”

I sat up and whipped my eyes. I cleaned the dirt and needles off of my clothing and my face. I took one last deep breathe.

“I wish you wouldn't say that. I’m not the best. I pushed you and I shouldn’t have.” I sat back on my butt and hugged my knees into my chest. “I don't know how to find the river now. We've been lost for so long and now I don't know how to get back.” tears rolled down my face. I was so sad about where I was. I wanted to be home. I wanted to hug mom. I wanted feel Logan’s soft fuzzy hair. I wanted to play rough with dad. I wanted warm food to eat and cold water to drink. I wanted a warm clean shower and my soft bed. Honestly, I even wanted to brush my teeth, a task I wouldn't typically find joy in.

“Just listen Tasha. Maybe we’ll hear the creek.”

She and I sat still and listened as hard as we could. You wouldn't think the woods would be so noisy, but when we stopped and listened carefully was full of sounds.

The wind blew gently through the bare branches and rustled the needles of the evergreens. It stirred the old leaves on the ground from last year, and they scurried about like little skittish rodents scampering to hide. I could hear the caws of a noisy blue jay and the chirps of the chickadees. There was no possible way to hear water. Even the wind deceived my ears and sounded like rushing water swirling about.

“I know the way, Tasha.” Vanessa looked at me and stood up. She offered me her hand and helped me to my feet. “Do you trust me”

“Sure.” I felt hesitant and nervous, but I didn't know the way anymore, and I didn't know what else to do.

Vanessa now led the way, weaving in and out of white birch trees and balsams. She was confident, and we walked quickly. The terrain started to change.

“Vanessa, how do you know where to go?” I panted. She was walking fast, and I was nearly trotting to keep up with her.

“I hear it.” She sounded confident, but I wasn't so sure.

How could she distinguish the sound of water from all the other sounds? I never heard any water. How could she?

“I can smell it too Tasha. Can’t you?”

This seemed like utter nonsense. Smelling the creek? She was going to get us lost even further in the woods and I felt fear and anger start to boil up again.

“You're full of crap!” I stopped. “You’re going to get us lost further into the woods!” My voice turned shrill with panic. I clenched my fists, and I felt my face getting hotter- my ears started to burn. My thoughts and emotions brewed again.

I sprinted toward her and reached for her arm. We needed to turn around and try to get back home. I was done with this adventure. I wasn't going to save Isaiah. I changed my mind. I needed to go home, to sleep in my bed, to eat a hot meal.

The terrain was changing precipitously.

Vanessa saw me lurch forward, and she dodged my hand. I slipped and fell. I landed face first in the soft dirt and lay there momentarily. I heard water now. I lifted my head and drew back in awe. The air in my lungs escaped in a gasp. I laid inches from the edge of a cliff. I inched closer to the edge on my belly and looked out. The view was breathtaking. Hardwoods had been replaced by tall pines, and now I looked into a vast gorge, so deep I felt vertigo next to its edge. Three or four hundred feet below was the creek. All around shale and Silestone walls rose from the depths below, and some created dramatic fins that stretched out constructing small ledges of safety for birds and the brave animals that dared venture up the cliffs. Trees grew on some of these, and all around you could see small waterfalls plummeting down, adding to the thunderous noise of the water below that echoed with a mighty roar.

I had never felt so small.

I shouted, “Stay back!” as I backed away from the edge and sat against a white birch. Vanessa stood back with her arms crossed. She looked both satisfied with our discovery and exasperated, likely because of my dangerous impulse and lack of trust in her. Vanessa was smart and intuitive but often didn't receive the recognition that she deserved because she always seemed to be dreaming, disinterested, or distracted.

“I told you I could hear it,” she said smugly. Her eyes gleamed and she smiled slyly. She stood there with her arms folded, tapping her right foot, soaking in her moment of having proved me wrong.

“I thought it was just the wind.” I looked at the ground. I felt guilty for doubting her and, even worse for trying to tackle her.

“So which way do you think we should go?” I offered humility as a substitute for an apology. She looked around for a moment before answering.

“This way,” She pointed to her right.

“Not to be a jerk but why?” I didn't see any logic behind her answer, and I wanted to understand how she was making this decision.

“The fern says so.” I raised an eyebrow. She pointed to the ferns that had just started to poke their heads out of the ground. They looked to be waving and pointing in the direction she had suggested. “Remember Tasha, This is the living forest.” She looked at me with a wry smile and I reluctantly nodded in acknowledgment of her obvious observation.

We started walking in the direction the ferns were pointing. I was tired and I was hungrier than I had ever been. We needed to find some food.

“Ness we need to figure something for food. I’m starving,” We came to a halt.

Vanessa turned in a circle. She walked slowly towards a thin and young-looking white birch. She gently put her hand on it.

“Will you help us?” She asked in a small voice. It seemed unlikely that this tree would respond. I knew this was the living forest, but this tree just looked like a regular tree.

Suddenly, the black rough patches that haphazardly covered the tree rearranged themselves, and a face appeared. It blinked slowly as if it were just waking up.

“What are you?!” The voice of this tree was not booming like Methuselah. It was thin and airy. It sounded young and maybe even a little startled.

“We’re girls?” Vanessa said. The tree started to screech an ear-piercing screech. Its black bark face contorted into the face of a Halloween ghost- a big black o-shaped mouth and big black eyes with a white background. Two of its small lower branches covered its face, and it began to sway wildly like it was trying to uproot itself. I backed away for fear I would be knocked down over the cliff, which we stood only several feet away from still.

“VANESSA BACK UP!!” I screamed, but she did just the opposite.

To my horror, Vanessa crawled on her hands and knees toward the tree until she was close enough to touch it. She pressed her face against the trunk, closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around it.