liked this trip through the tree
any better than the last one.
The four of us climbed to
our feet, the huge fig tree behind us. This time, I was able to
look around with interest. The sun was higher in the sky than at
home and it was much warmer. The air was sweet, like a room spray
made of strawberries and cinnamon toast. So different from home! A
tingly sensation chased from my feet to the top of my
head.
I murmured, “Toto, I don’t
think we’re in Kansas anymore.”
Doug’s grin practically
stretched ear to ear. “I don’t believe this!”
The dirt road we stood on
stretched into the distance, looking narrow and indistinct where it
finally veered to the left and out of sight. On the right, open
fields were covered with strange brightly colored flowers, unlike
any I’d ever seen.
Some were larger than
dinner plates, while others were too small to make out individual
shapes. Huge sections of the field were layered in shades of
yellow, orange and purple. There were even colors I couldn’t name.
It looked like a crazed painter had splashed an entire paint store
over the meadow.
I don’t know how long I’d
been staring at the flowers in amazement, trying to find even one I
recognized when Olivia asked, “How’d they do that to the
rocks?”
That’s when I saw them. In
places, unbelievable rock formations thrust out of the grass. As if
the sculptor decided to create the most bizarre shapes ever. Rocks
were bent, twisted, curved, and braided. Some as thin as paper,
delicately carved into patterns and shapes I didn’t recognize. More
than one balanced on a tip no bigger than a needle. There was no
way a rock should be able to stand like that.
“ I like it,” Doug said
suddenly. I blinked, feeling like I’d been staring a long
time.
I wanted to show Doug
something…
“ Oh! Check this out!” I
pulled out my phone and grinned. Doug’s eyes grew wide as he
watched the screen going haywire. Olivia and Faith held theirs out
as well.
He immediately pulled out
his phone, just as mine gave that strange whining sound and died
like last time.
“ What?” Olivia’s hands
were on her hips, and she glared at him. “You think we messed up
our phones just to fool you?”
“ Well…” He paused and
shrugged with a grin. I rolled my eyes as Olivia started to snap back at him.
Faith interrupted, “Shhh,
listen!”
After several moments of
quiet, Olivia asked, “So what is it I’m supposed to listen for? I
don’t hear anything.”
Faith shoved her hands in
her pockets. “Exactly!” she said. “’There’s no sound.”
We were all quiet again,
then I said, “That’s creepy. I’ve never, ever been anywhere there
wasn’t some noise.”
Doug sounded like he
was talking to a group of little kids.
“Well, there’s no wind. And this road isn’t paved. It doesn’t look
like cars normally drive here. I don’t think it’s
strange”
How can he be so
thick?
“ Doug!” Frustration made
my voice come out like a growl. “There’s no sound! No birds, no
crickets, no frogs, no wind, no cars, no ocean, no airplanes, no
stereos. Nothing! Nada! Zip! Zilch!”
“ That’s not all,” said
Faith, sounding worried. “I don’t hear any people. Ronny said there
would be people we could ask about her mom.”
“ I guess we’ll have to
start searching for someone,” I said, trying to sound matter of
fact rather than nervous. “Should we go straight or use that path
to the right?”
“ We should go straight,”
Faith said.
“ I say we should go to the
right,” Doug declared, and actually started to turn that
direction.
Olivia, Faith and I all
looked at him, then spoke together. It sounded like we’d been
practicing it. “Straight!” It sounded so great, we gave each other
a high-five.
Doug rolled his eyes.
“Okay, okay, we can go straight,” He muttered something else under
his breath and I was glad I couldn’t hear it. I didn’t think he was
giving us a compliment.
The road was made of
any better than the last one.
The four of us climbed to
our feet, the huge fig tree behind us. This time, I was able to
look around with interest. The sun was higher in the sky than at
home and it was much warmer. The air was sweet, like a room spray
made of strawberries and cinnamon toast. So different from home! A
tingly sensation chased from my feet to the top of my
head.
I murmured, “Toto, I don’t
think we’re in Kansas anymore.”
Doug’s grin practically
stretched ear to ear. “I don’t believe this!”
The dirt road we stood on
stretched into the distance, looking narrow and indistinct where it
finally veered to the left and out of sight. On the right, open
fields were covered with strange brightly colored flowers, unlike
any I’d ever seen.
Some were larger than
dinner plates, while others were too small to make out individual
shapes. Huge sections of the field were layered in shades of
yellow, orange and purple. There were even colors I couldn’t name.
It looked like a crazed painter had splashed an entire paint store
over the meadow.
I don’t know how long I’d
been staring at the flowers in amazement, trying to find even one I
recognized when Olivia asked, “How’d they do that to the
rocks?”
That’s when I saw them. In
places, unbelievable rock formations thrust out of the grass. As if
the sculptor decided to create the most bizarre shapes ever. Rocks
were bent, twisted, curved, and braided. Some as thin as paper,
delicately carved into patterns and shapes I didn’t recognize. More
than one balanced on a tip no bigger than a needle. There was no
way a rock should be able to stand like that.
“ I like it,” Doug said
suddenly. I blinked, feeling like I’d been staring a long
time.
I wanted to show Doug
something…
“ Oh! Check this out!” I
pulled out my phone and grinned. Doug’s eyes grew wide as he
watched the screen going haywire. Olivia and Faith held theirs out
as well.
He immediately pulled out
his phone, just as mine gave that strange whining sound and died
like last time.
“ What?” Olivia’s hands
were on her hips, and she glared at him. “You think we messed up
our phones just to fool you?”
“ Well…” He paused and
shrugged with a grin. I rolled my eyes as Olivia started to snap back at him.
Faith interrupted, “Shhh,
listen!”
After several moments of
quiet, Olivia asked, “So what is it I’m supposed to listen for? I
don’t hear anything.”
Faith shoved her hands in
her pockets. “Exactly!” she said. “’There’s no sound.”
We were all quiet again,
then I said, “That’s creepy. I’ve never, ever been anywhere there
wasn’t some noise.”
Doug sounded like he
was talking to a group of little kids.
“Well, there’s no wind. And this road isn’t paved. It doesn’t look
like cars normally drive here. I don’t think it’s
strange”
How can he be so
thick?
“ Doug!” Frustration made
my voice come out like a growl. “There’s no sound! No birds, no
crickets, no frogs, no wind, no cars, no ocean, no airplanes, no
stereos. Nothing! Nada! Zip! Zilch!”
“ That’s not all,” said
Faith, sounding worried. “I don’t hear any people. Ronny said there
would be people we could ask about her mom.”
“ I guess we’ll have to
start searching for someone,” I said, trying to sound matter of
fact rather than nervous. “Should we go straight or use that path
to the right?”
“ We should go straight,”
Faith said.
“ I say we should go to the
right,” Doug declared, and actually started to turn that
direction.
Olivia, Faith and I all
looked at him, then spoke together. It sounded like we’d been
practicing it. “Straight!” It sounded so great, we gave each other
a high-five.
Doug rolled his eyes.
“Okay, okay, we can go straight,” He muttered something else under
his breath and I was glad I couldn’t hear it. I didn’t think he was
giving us a compliment.
The road was made of
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