Louvel's Forest

Hopscotch

“Hey guys, wait up!” Louvel called out. She ran to catch up to her classmates. School had ended, and they always walk home together. Her friends were talking about irrelevant stuff, as Louvel was deep in thought.

“What’s our homework again?” Asked Sam. He is the only child of two snowy owls, and his feathers are so white, they are almost reflective. Eve, the daughter of the fox who spoke to Harvey in the morning, responded. “We have to find four different types of bugs”. “How are we supposed to do that if they always run away when I look at them?”  Sam asked.

Louvel came out of her trance, and observed her friends. Sam was a cute little owl. He wasn’t flying, as they were walking too slow, but hopping from branch to branch along the trees that aligned the path. He moved with such ease, his head twisted directly towards the group. Eve moved with grace, gently placing one paw after another as she walked. Her head was held high with her snout in the air. Louvel noticed someone else with them too.

Hiding behind Eve was a porcupine. He hadn’t spoke, hadn’t made a sound. He just walked. Confused, Louvel’s eyes darted from Sam’s to Eve’s and back to the mysterious stranger.

“Hello?” She asked. The porcupine’s eyes filled with fear, and answered. “H-Hey” The others spun around, and looked at the shaken creature. “What the- what are you doing here?” Sam asked.
“Well um, I was walking home and I walked so fast that I caught up to you. I tried to go around but I couldn’t. So I just...walked here.” He looked down as if he had committed the greatest sin.

No one spoke for a minute. The porcupine didn’t know what to do, so he just started at the floor. Louvel felt bad for him, so she broke the silence. “What’s your name?” He jumped a little, startled by the sudden noise. “Timide, but my family calls me Tim.” He seemed to be warming up to them. Louvel had never seen him at school before. She assumed he was new, and began walking again. When Tim didn’t follow, she stopped and gestured for him to follow her. He trotted to catch up, and walked next to her, rather than behind.

They had been playing I Spy, when Tim had a question. “Louvel, how come all of us are animals, but you’re human? If I may ask. It’s just confusing, since I was told that humans never came near here.” Louvel hadn’t been asked this question before. She wasn’t sure how to respond. “Um well, I guess it’s because Harvey found me here when I was a baby.” Tim looked confused, so she told him the infamous story that she had heard so many times. The dark forest, the basket under the tree. The whole story. Throughout her talking, Tim displayed his emotions greatly. He shivered when she described the forest, his eyes bulged out of his head when she explained her ability.

Hearing it in her own words felt weird to her. She imagined the blue power, coursing through her veins, pumping in her heart. What would have become of her if Harvey didn’t find her? What if she didn’t live up to her potential, as the savior of the forest? What if she failed everybody? Just as these thoughts poured into her brain, Sam gasped loudly.

All heads turned to him, and followed his gaze to a rose bud, not open yet. Small, delicate, and faded. The blue color completely gone, as if sucked out by an invisible vampire. Eve freaked out. “Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, what do we do?” Sam turned to Louvel, with wide eyes. “Fix it Louvel! Do something!”. Louvel scrambled, and touched the bud with her finger. Nothing changed. “Um I don’t know I don’t know.” She walked in circles, thinking. What had she done wrong? “ I don’t know what I did, I was just thinking about how I didn’t want to disappoint Harvey.”

Tim’s spikes perked up, as if a light bulb has turned on. “It lost color, when you had negative thoughts, so we have to make you happy to change it back!” The animals scrambled. Sam flew from tree to tree, until he spoke loudly. “I got it!” He flew to Louvel, and landed on the floor in front of her. “What’s a rabbit’s favorite game?” Louvel hesitated before asking “What?” Sam repeated himself while the other animals in the back nervously watched. Louvel looked at Eve. Eve nodded her head at her.

Louvel sighed and said, “Uh I don’t know, what is a rabbit’s favorite game?” Sam shouted “Hopscotch!” And burst out laughing. Louvel didn’t get it at first, but when it hit her, she laughed too. Tim and Eve couldn’t help but laugh as well, and the whole group sat laughing for a what seemed like an eternity. When they finished, they all turned to look at the rose bud. The beautiful blue color had returned.

Tim exclaimed “Hooray!” Louvel smiled from ear to ear, and lead the group to walk on. Just as they reach the area where the ground was level again, Tim turned to ask , “Where do you get your ability or whatever from anyway?” Louvel stopped with him, and tried to think hard.

Harvey had told her before, but what was it? She remembered back to mornings in the cave and recalled their conversations. At last, her memory returned. “He said it manifests itself from happiness.” He took a moment to comprehend, and started walking away while he thought out loud.

“That’s weird, I wonder why blue would mean happiness. Yellow should mean happiness, not blue.” Louvel never thought about it before. But now she wondered too.