Boy And The Forest

Milo Hart stood at the forest edge with one muddy shoe on the grass and one shoe on the soft brown earth. Ahead, tiny lights twinkled between the trees.

“Wait for me,” Milo whispered.

The lights blinked once, twice, then danced along a narrow path. They looked like little stars caught in the leaves. A warm breeze carried the smell of pine needles and fresh moss. Somewhere nearby, a bird sang three bright notes.

Milo pulled his blue cap down over his curls. He had come to explore, and now the forest seemed to be inviting him in.

At the edge of the path, Milo found a small red button. He picked it up and placed it in his pocket. Then he looked at the twinkly trail again.

“I will follow you,” he said.

He took one step, then another. The forest floor felt soft under his shoes. Ferns brushed his knees. Sunlight slipped through the branches and made golden spots on the path.

The twinkly lights moved farther ahead.

Milo walked faster. “I am coming!”

The path curved around a tall pine tree. It dipped under a branch and rose over a little hill. Milo ducked beneath the branch. A drop of water landed on his nose.

“Plip!”

Milo giggled and wiped it away.

Then the wind began to blow.

Whoosh!

Leaves spun across the path. The twinkly lights shook in the branches. Milo held his cap with both hands.

“Slow down, wind,” he called.

The wind did not stop. It rushed past Milo and pushed a cloud of dry leaves around his ankles. He stepped back, but his heel bumped into something hard.

Milo turned.

A wide old stump sat beside the path. Its top was flat and covered with soft green moss. A little hole ran through the middle. Every time the wind passed through it, the stump made a funny sound.

“Woooo,” sang the stump.

Milo blinked. “Are you making that sound?”

The stump answered with another windy note.

“Woooo!”

Milo smiled. It was not a scary sound. It sounded like a sleepy flute. But the stump stood right across the narrow path. The twinkly trail shimmered on the other side.

Milo tried to step around the left side. A low branch stretched across the way.

He tried the right side. A pile of roots curled up from the ground.

Milo looked at the stump. “You are a very big block.”

The wind swirled again. A puff of leaves bumped Milo’s knees. His cap flew off and landed on the mossy stump.

“Oh!” cried Milo.

He reached for his cap, but a gust lifted it into the air. The cap sailed in a slow circle and landed behind the stump.

Milo hurried around the roots. His shoe slipped on a wet leaf, and he sat down with a soft plop.

For a moment, he stayed still. The ground was cool beneath his hands. The forest smelled green and clean. He could hear the wind, the birds, and the gentle wooo of the stump.

Milo brushed dirt from his palms.

“I wanted to follow the lights,” he said. “But I keep trying the same way.”

He looked carefully at the stump. The path did not end there. A small opening led between two young trees. Another path curved down toward a patch of yellow flowers.

Milo had not noticed them before.

He stood and fetched his cap. “The forest has more than one way forward.”

Milo first tried the narrow opening between the young trees. He held the branches apart and squeezed through. The twinkly lights appeared above him, shining on the leaves.

“There you are!” Milo said.

He took three steps.

Then the ground became thick with tall grass. The grass tickled his arms and covered his shoes. Milo could not see where the path went.

He stepped back. A tiny spider web brushed his sleeve. It was silver and bright, like a small net made of moonlight.

“Sorry,” Milo said to the spider, though he could not see it. “I will find another way.”

He returned to the stump and studied the second path. It curved toward the yellow flowers. The flowers nodded in the breeze.

Milo followed them.

The path was wider there. He could walk without ducking or squeezing. Bees hummed softly near the flowers. A warm ray of sunlight touched his face.

But the twinkly trail was fading.

One light blinked beside a fern. Another glowed near a smooth gray stone. Then both lights slipped behind the trees.

Milo stopped.

“Please wait,” he called.

The forest gave him only the sound of leaves brushing together.

Milo felt a small lump in his throat. He had wanted one clear path. He had wanted to know exactly where the lights would lead. Now there were two paths, and the lights were hard to see.

He sat on the gray stone. It was warm from the sun. Milo took the red button from his pocket and held it in his palm.

“What should I do?” he asked the button.

The button, of course, said nothing.

Milo listened instead. The wind had grown softer. The stump still sang behind him, but now its song sounded gentle.

Wooo.

Milo looked back. The two paths met near the stump. He could return to the forest edge, or he could choose one path and keep exploring.

He remembered how he had rushed when the lights moved....