I wish

Saralynne is 7 years old. She lives with her Aunt Linda and Uncle John in a farmhouse at the edge of town. Wateford is a very small town where everyone knows everyone. Saralynne's parents died when she was young from a terrible car accident while on vacation. Saralynne lived in Bear City with them and loved the city noises and all the people. She had lots of friends that she went to school with. Her best friend lived in the same apartment building that she did.

But with her parents gone, she had to move to Wateford to live with her Aunt and Uncle. She missed her friends in the city very much. There is no one her age living near her. She has to take a bus to the nearby town of Holt to go to school. She is the only kid from Wateford at the school.

It is very lonely. Her Aunt and Uncle don't have any children, they don't know much about raising any. They were the only family Saralynne had left so it was their Christian duty to take her in.

It is June and school is over for the summer. Saralynne wasn't happy about spending the whole summer at the farmhouse with no one to play with. Her Aunt sent her outside to play right after breakfast. She believed that children didn't need anything except fresh air. Saralynne wasn't allowed to go inside until lunch.

"There is nothing to do." she complained to herself as she started to wander away from the farmhouse.

On the edge of the property was a forest. At night she could see it from her bedroom window and it looked very scary. There was always noises coming from it.

But as she stood at the edge looking into it, it didn't seem that scary at all during the day. There were birds chirping and a squirrel ran out right in front of her. She was standing in front of two tall trees with just enough space in between them for a little girl her size to walk through. The path was overgrown a little but Saralynne could still make it out.

"This isn't scary at all." she said looking around.

"There was nothing like this at my old house." she informed a robin perched on branch overhead.

Saralynne continued walking for a couple of minutes until she started to hear a noise coming from the forest ahead of her. It was the sound the toilet makes at the farmhouse after she flushes it. Stepping around a big tree, she came upon a small stream splashing over some rocks and running out of sight around another tree.

"Oh." she exclaimed. At the bottom of the tree facing the water was a little seat made from its roots. It was very comfortable. She sat down and looked around.

"I wish my mommy was here to see this," Saralynne said softly to herself. Her mommy loved nature, she was always growing plants and flowers in their old apartment. She was teaching Saralynne all about them. She was only allowed to bring one plant with her when she moved to Wateford. It was the hardest choice she had ever had to make. She chose her mommy's favourite plant, the orchid. It was in a pot that Saralynne had made for her mommy in school the year before. It sits on her nightstand in her bedroom and its the first thing she sees in the morning when she opens her eyes and its the last thing she sees at night. It helps her to keep her mommy close.

All this remembering had made Saralynne's eyes start to water. She didn't like crying, it made her eyes itch and her nose run. Aunt Linda told her that crying was for babies.

"I wish there was someone here to play with," she said. "I'm bored."

Sighing, she stood up and was about to turn around to walk back to the house when she saw something brown jump behind a tree nearby. She stood still and waited to see if anything would appear. Slowly a brown nose appeared, then the eyes and
face of a deer. Saralynne had never been this close to a wild animal before. She had been to Bear City Zoo and had even seen the deer but they hadn't come as close as this.

Saralynne didn't want to scare the deer away so she slowly put out her hand and waited to see what it would do. She didn't know how long she stood there but finally the deer took a step toward her. It came right up to Saralynne and sniffed her hand.

"Hi," Saralynne whispered. She stroked its nose gently. She couldn't believe how close it was. "Where did you come from? You're just a baby. Your mommy is probably looking for you."

The deer moved its head back and forth like it was telling her no.

Suddenly a branch snapped behind them and the deer darted away and disappeared. Saralynne turned around and saw a family of rabbits hop by.

"She wasn't scared of me but you made her run away." she said crossly to the mother rabbit with her hands on her hips. The mother rabbit stopped and wrinkled her nose at Saralynne and then hopped away with her babies.

Saralynne stayed put for a couple of minutes to see if the deer would come back but it didn't so she headed home for lunch. She hoped she wasn't late. Her Uncle gets mad whenever she is late.

"You're late." Uncle John informed her as she came through the front door.

"Sorry, Uncle John. I'm going to wash up for lunch." Saralynne hurried into the bathroom and washed her hands.

"Where were you? I didn't see you anywhere in the yard." asked Aunt Linda as she placed a plate in front of Saralynne.

"I went into the forest and I saw a baby deer. It came right up to me and let me pet it." she explained excitedly.

"There are no deers in that forest." Uncle John said.

"I'm pretty sure it was a deer," she said suddenly unsure. Uncle John always made her feel that way. She always doubted herself when she talked to him. "It had a white tail and nose and it was brown."

"No one has ever seen any deer come out of that forest."

"Maybe it was something else." She knew that it was wrong to argue with her Uncle so she didn't say anything else about it.

She wasn't allowed to go outside for the rest of the day because Uncle John said that if she didn't have anything productive to do she could help Aunt Linda with the house work. She didn't really know what 'productive' meant but didn't want to ask. She was always told to look in the dictionary for the words she didn't understand. But she didn't always understand what that said either. So she tried to remember the words so that she could ask her teacher at school. She had a very nice teacher who always took the time to answer her questions. She was nervous about meeting her new teacher next year. Other kids in her class said that he is very strict.

She spend the afternoon dusting the living and dining rooms.

After dinner she watched the news with her Aunt and Uncle. She wasn't allowed to watch any of the shows she used to watch with her parents except the Flower Hour that comes on every Saturday morning. Uncle John approved of Saralynne's interest in flowers and plants as long as she kept them outside. The exception was her mommy's orchid.


The next morning after she was excused from breakfast she hurried outside before she was given any jobs to do. She wanted to see if she could find the deer again. She took the path to the sitting tree and sat down to wait. She looked around and noticed the same family of rabbits she saw yesterday having their breakfast.

"I hope you don't scare my deer away today." she told Mother Rabbit. "I want someone to play with."

Mother Rabbit paused for a second and looked at Saralynne, then continued munching on a leaf. Saralynne hoped she won't have to wait long for the deer.

"I have to think of a name for it." she thought to herself. "I wonder if it is a boy or a girl deer. Mmmmmm."

She sat thinking for a couple of minutes, trying to come up with a name. But she couldn't think of one.

"I wonder how you can tell the difference?"

She got bored of thinking about a name after a while and decided the baby deer wasn't coming. She got up and started wandering down the stream, picking her way over rocks and around trees. Around the bend, out of sight of her sitting tree she came to a thicket. Peeking inside she saw her baby deer sleeping. She didn't want to wake it up so she sat down on the ground to watch it for a bit. But she snapped a twig and it woke the deer up. The deer's head shot up and it stared at Saralynne. She held her breath and stayed very still. She didn't wait the deer to run away again.

"Hi, you scared me." said a small voice.

Saralynne jumped up and looked around quickly to see where the voice had come from. She had thought she was alone. But she didn't see anyone so she started to think she had imagined it when the voice spoke again.

"What's your name?"

"Who's there?" Saralynne turned in circles trying to find where the voice was coming from when she noticed the deer's mouth had moved.

"My name is Angel."

Saralynne saw the deer's mouth move again and heard the words come from it's direction but didn't understand how it could talk.

"Are you talking to me?" she asked.

"Yes, of course. Who else did you think I was talking to?" Angel asked back.

"But you're a deer. Animals can't talk."

"Of course we can. What's your name?"

"Saralynne."

"I like that name. Sorry I ran away yesterday, I get jumpy sometimes."

Saralynne didn't know what to say. She had never talked to a deer before. But Angel kept asking her questions and soon she was sitting on the ground next to her answering them and asking some herself.

"I live with my Uunt Linda and Uncle John." she was explaining. "My mommy and daddy died in an accident a long time ago. Where is your mommy and daddy, Angel?"

"I don't know where my daddy is, I have never met him. My mommy was taken away by some people just before the snow melted. I haven't seen her since." Angel sniffed and bowed her head. "I miss her so much."

Saralynne understood what Angel meant. She missed her mommy a lot too. She was always lonely but she was glad she had found someone she could be friends with.

"I'm not an animal," Saralynne explained. "I'm a girl. Uncle John told me yesterday that no one had ever seen any deers in this forest before. I wonder who took your mommy? Was it around here?"

"No, I got scared when she didn't come back from getting supper so I went to look for her. But I walked so far away from home that I couldn't remember the way back. Then I found this place and so I just stayed here."

"I know what it's like being far from home. I used to live in a big city with my parents but then I had to move here when they died. It's very lonely here. I don't have anyone to play with."

"You can play with me. I don't have anyone to play with either."

"Okay, what do you want to play?"

"I don't know any games, do you?"

"Sure, I know lots. How about 'hide and go seek'?"

"How do you play that?"

Saralynne thought it was kind of funny that Angel didn't know how to play a simple game like 'hide and go seek' but then she remembered who Angel was. So she patiently explained how to play the game.

"I'll be 'it' first, so you go and hide and after I cound to ten, I'll come and find you." Saralynne stood up and put her face in her arms against a nearby tree.

"Okay." Angel said as she bounded away.

Saralynne counted out loud to ten then opened her eyes and look around. Right away she could see Angel's tail behind a bush not so far away.

"I see you Angel," she called without moving. "You have to find something bigger to hide behind if you don't want me to see you."

Next it was Angel's turn to count and Saralynne found an easy hiding place. They played their game all morning, going further and further away from Angel's thicket until Saralynne noticed that the trees were spread out more. She was just going to mention this to Angel when they suddenly came to a meadow.

"I know this place," exclaimed Angel, wide-eyed. "My mommy and I used to come here."

Angel took a step out into the meadow but Saralynne stopped her from going any further.

"It's probably not a good idea for you to go out into the open during the day, Angel." Saralynne was remembering the movie 'Bambi' that she had seen with her mommy once. She didn't want anything like that to happen to her new friend. She didn't want to have to explain to Angel why and scare her so she changed the subject before Angel could say anything. "Anyway, it's getting late, I need to be getting home. Do you remember the way back?"

They turned and looked around them and realized they hadn't paid any attention to where they were going and now they were lost. Saralynne felt tears burning her eyes and she tried to find something that looked familiar from the way they had come but everything looked the same to her. She sudden'y couldn't help it and sat down where she was and had a good cry.

Angel wasn't all that concerned about being lost, there wasn't anyone at home that would miss her.

"I just was my nice cozy thicket." she said softly settling down next to Saralynne with her head on her lap.

"Uncle John and Aunt Linda are probably worried sick by now. It's long past lunch time. Uncle John hates it when I'm late and I've never missed a meal before." Saralynne was sniffing and trying to talk between her crying. She hugged Angel until her crying stopped. They stayed there for a little while and started getting sleepy from their game and crying. Saralynne curled up next to Angel and they both fell fast asleep.

It was still light out when Saralynne woke up. She kept her eyes closed, stayed still and tried to listen for Aunt Linda moving around in the kitchen. She usually didn't get out of bed until Aunt Linda was up too. She didn't like Saralynne in the kitchen by herself. But she couldn't hear anything. So she tired to pull the covers over her but then she remembered where she was. Her eyes flew open and she noticed that Angel was waking up beside her.

"I thought this was all a bad dream." Saralynne said sadly. Tears came to her eyes again but she squeezed them shut tight until the tears stopped.

"Please don't cry again." Angel soothed rubbing her nose against Saralynne.

"What are we going to do?"

"We could ask someone the way back?"

"Ask who?" Saralynne asked a little annoyly. She quickly looked around not seeing anyone at first but then she slowly began to realize other animals were in the area. A bird flew by overhead without looking down. A squirrel chattered on a nearby branch, stopped and looked down at them.

"What's the matter with you two?" it asked.

"We're lost." stated Angel. "I don't suppose you know the way back to the stream."

"Which one? There are lots of streams and rivers in this forest. You'll have to be a little more specific than that."

Angel and Saralynne looked at each other. They had no idea what stream or river it was.

"How are we going to find out what stream we're looking for?" Saralynne asked the squirrel.

"I don't know but you could ask the Lady of the Wood."

"The Lady of the Wood?" repeated Saralynne. "Who's that?"

"She looks after this forest and all the animals in it. Everyone knows who she is." The squirrel was looking at Angel when he said this but Angel said that she had never heard of any Lady of the Wood.

"My mommy never got a chance to tell me about her, I guess."

The squirrel nodded like he knew what she was talking about. "My name is Henry and I would be happy to take you to the Lady of the Wood, if you want?"

"Oh, yes please." They said together. Saralynne stood up and suggested that Henry ride on her shoulder. He agreed. She went over to the branch where Henry was and he climbed on. He was just about to point in the direction to go when Saralynne's stomach grumbled.

"Oh, I'm hungry. We missed lunch."

"I have some nuts you can have," Henry offered. "my home is just over there."

Saralynne couldn't see anything else that they could eat so they followed Henry as he jumped back onto the branch and darted along to the next tree. He disappeared for a second in a hole then came out with a handful of almounds. Saralynne didn't really like almounds but she was hungry so she didn't say anything. Henry's handful's were quite small so he had to go back in a couple times to get enough for her. Angel ate a few but preferred the grass around the bottom of the tree better.

"Thank you. By the way my name is Saralynne and this is Angel."

"Your welcome, nice to finally meet you properly. There's a tiny waterfall ahead where you can get a drink if you want. Let's go."

Henry climbed onto Saralynne's shoulder and they started off. At first the only sounds were Saralynne munching on the almounds but then she slowly started to hear the forest sounds. Angel stopped every once in a while to eat some grass or leaves. In no time at all they found the waterfall and stopped for a drink.

"It's very beautiful here." Saralynne said looking around after her turn taking a drink. The area had a magical feeling to it. The ground was covered in soft green moss mixed with grass and fallen leaves. The trees were tall and straight. The bark looked smooth to the touch. The branches seemed to extend toward each other so the animals had no trouble jumping from tree to tree. All the animals that Saralynne could see were busy scurring to and fro but none of them seem angry or annoyed with another.

After they had their drink, Henry pointed Saralynne in the right direction and off they went.

"Tell us about the Lady of the Wood, please, Henry." asked Angel.

"The Lady of the Wood lives in the very centre to the forest in a tiny log cabin. No one is allowed near the cabin without her permission. She has guarduans all around and we have to find one of them if we can see her. They will probably find us before we find one of them. But don't get me wrong, she sees everyone. The guardians are there just in case. She is very beautiful and kind and takes very good care of this forest. She knows everything that happens in here. I wouldn't be surprised if she knows about you two being lost and that we are on our way to see her."

Saralynne and Angel gasped. "How could she know that already? She's never even meet us." asked Saralynne shocked.

"Everyone in the forest has a responsibilty to my Lady to inform her of anything different or strange that happens in the forect. Someone has definitely seen you, Saralynne, and has reported your presence in the forest to her."

"Does she have a name or do we just call her my Lady?" Saralynne wondered.

"I don't know. I have always just called her my Lady." Henry answered slightly puzzled. "I've never thought about calling her anything else. She knows if an animal has been born or if one has died. She can hear everyone's heartbeat."

They were walking through a particularly thick wooded area when suddenly from behind a tree sprang a very big and scary looking bear. It was standing upright on its hind legs and had a necklace of feathers around its neck.

"Hello there Henry," boomed the bear, "we have been expecting you. Follow me."

Saralynne had opened her mouth to scream at being startled but after spying the necklace, she stopped herself. Hearing his voice startled her again, she still wasn't used to hearing animals talk.

Without saying a word and with a nod from Henry, they followed the bear through the thick trees into a clearing. There in the middle of it stood a tiny log cabin with smoke rising from the chimney. There was a stream coming out of the forest at the top of the clearing and it trickled down running close to the cabin and leaving the clearing nearby to where they were standing. A stone path started in front of the group that went meet a wooden bridge over the stream and continued up to the front door of the cabin. Saralynne could see lots of animals, some working in the gardens, some just sitting around not doing anything.

The guardian started down the path so the others followed. As they went along some of the animals called out greetings to Henry