Oaklynn and the Forest

Her laughter was sucked out of her as her hazel eyes opened on the other side of the gap in the rock.  Everything was gone.  All the color and the sound and the hope the hidden forest had given her was gone.  In it's place, an ash grey skeleton remained, still smoking from the fire that had undoubtedly consumed the trees.  Her new blue converse turned grey as she took careful steps through the ash.  Who had done this?  Who had known about her secret?  And who would've wanted to destroy it?  Tears spilled as the boy pulled himself through the rock and came to stand in silent shock beside her.  He'd never get to see the beauty that used to live here.  Never get to experience the magic of the hidden forest.  Her knees gave out and she fell to the ground, one hand over her mouth and one hand clutching at her heart.  She prayed he would stay silent, and he did, instead sinking down beside her in quiet sadness.  He hadn't seen it before, but he could tell things were not how they should be.  A sudden panic lit in her chest as she scanned the bony remains of the trees.  Where was Buttercup, the sweet and snugly white rabbit?  Where was Willow, the gangly baby deer who jumped in circles around her as they played?  Where were the blue birds and the squirrels and wild little Bandit, the red fox?

"Bandit?"  She whispered, praying for a miracle.  "Willow?  Buttercup!"  Her cries got louder, echoing off the walls of the towering rocks ringing in the forest.

"Oaklynn-" The boy said her name gently, as if in apology as she got to her feet.

"Bandit!"  She screamed, but the forest was silent.  The only escape her little animals would have had was the gap in the rock where she shimmied in.  But they were hundreds of feet up in the mountain.  Her little darlings would be lost by now.  The thought struck a chord of anguish in her and she pushed past the boy to get back to the mountainside.

"Bandit!  Willow!  Buttercup!"  She screamed their names over and over, a chorus of pleas for them to come to her safe and sound.  Behind her, the boy added her own name to the chorus.

"Oaklynn!"

Their voices felt too small on the side of the mountain and when Bandit did not run up to nip at her and Willow did not come running and Buttercup did not curl up on her feet, she felt broken.  Voice raw and eye red, she slid to the ground in defeat.  Her little family was gone.  Just like the one her home felt so empty without.  Just like the place she had run from.  There was no home for her anymore, anywhere.  The boy called for her again and her name rang through the air like a memory.

"Oaklynn!" 

She could not bring herself to answer.  She could hardly bring herself to breathe.  She was ash inside, just like her forest.  Lost, just like her animals.  Gone, just like everyone else and nothing mattered anymore.