Remembering Tomorrow

Serenity Stream

      From that moment on, Aurelie would always remember exactly how to get to Serenity Stream. The first landmark was the poisonous mushroom patch.

     "I am a little hungry," Temperance said, glancing longingly at some red-spotted mushrooms. Aurelie quickly assured her friend that that would not be a good idea.

     "If you eat those, your insides will shrivel up," she informed her matter-of-factly. Temperance was alarmed.

     "Really?" She asked, looking at the mushrooms with a frightened look on her face. Aurelie nodded stoically.

     "Indeed. See those spots? If you swallow them they'll go up in flames and burn up your stomach," she said, with quite the impressive straight face. Temperance looked a little skeptical now.

     "Are you sure?"

     "Positive. I read it in a grown-up book, so it's definitely true." Temperance seemed impressed. Aurelie hid her smile behind a handkerchief.

     "Wow, that's super cool. I wonder what would happen if we fed one to a frog," she said eagerly. It was Aurelie's turn to be shocked.

     "You wouldn't really do that to a frog, would you?" asked animal-loving Aurelie fretfully. Temperance shook her head quickly, averting her eyes from the fat bullfrog she'd started to track.

     "Course, not, Rellie. 'Course not."

     It really was quite a pretty picture, with the two little girls prowling through the woods like forest nymphs. Aurelie was starting to wish she'd worn trousers like Temperance-her yellow dress, though pretty, was certainly not at all suited for explorations, and it was getting frayed and ripped at the seams. Aurelie, though, was a wonderful sewer, and would gladly trade a few rips for adventure any day, though she was quite sure that Mrs. Crotchet wouldn't feel the same.

      The second clue to show you you were on your way to Serenity Stream was the log. It was huge and rotting and hollow and magnificent, with all sorts of wonderful animals and plants and fungi inside of it. Temperance decided that it would be splendid for climbing on, and though Aurelie agreed wholeheartedly, she still felt inclined to point out that the end result of that climb may be a fall into a cluster of unknown bugs and fungi.

     "Well, that's a risk we're going to have to take," Temperance declared gleefully as she rolled up the cuffs of her trousers. That wasn't quite the response Aurelie would have given, but she expected nothing less from her friend.

     "You know, I think I'll watch this one," Aurelie let Temperance know, perching on a stump and striking up a one-sided conversation with a particularly interesting caterpillar.

     "Suit yourself," said Temperance, placing her hands on her hips as she surveyed the situation with a critical eye. She quickly grew tired of that, and instead just decided to wing it. She swiftly climbed up a sturdy tree overlooking the log and gave a great leap before she could think anymore and start to doubt herself.

     "TALLYHO!" she shouted joyfully, her arms spread out as if she expected to take off flying. Aurelie looked up and winced, knowing exactly what was going to happen.

     It did.

     The log crumbled underneath the young girl, letting up several puffs of exploding mushrooms and making a wonderful squelching noise. For a moment Temperance had disappeared altogether. Aurelie rose, skirt in hand, and hurried over to the scene of the crime.

     Temperance popped up out of the now broken log with a big smile on her face and an even bigger bug in her hair. Aurelie snatched it out quickly and examined it intently for a few seconds before dropping it back onto the ground.