Arthur and the Invisibles 5: Legend of the Forest

Chapter 2: A Pleasant Afternoon

Row upon row of houses lined the streets, each one varying in colour, size, and grandeur. Some were detached, and lay alone, solitary towers to mark the greatness, or arrogance, of their owners. Others were squashed together in tight bundles that sprawled on for a row or two, merging into each other in complete agreement. The weakened sun emitted wonderful rays of yellow onto the houses on one side of the street, refracting the beams of light onto the faces of the opposing houses, whose faces were hidden from the glowing orb of joy. The streets were completely overrun by children, some younger ones skipping along happily, their parents holding their hands tightly as if to stop them flying away, while the older ones, such as Arthur, walked alone.

Walking home alone was one of the minor pleasures that Arthur enjoyed on a daily basis. He had walked home with Dylan on a few occasions, although the two lived a fair distance apart, and didn't make it very far before being forced to split up. But with no disrespect to his friend, Arthur preferred to walk alone. Walking with someone, you were often drawn into a conversation, where you had to make constant eye contact with the person with whom you were conversing. Alone, you would have no chance of missing a peculiarly shaped cloud, or the magical glint of the sun in a puddle of rainwater. All things an ordinary person would be happy to miss. 

Arthur took a right into a small public path leading to a dense grove, ruined only by the slight appearance of a faded tarmac path. A pleasant smile adorning his face, Arthur moved his eyes all around him as he walked, seeing nothing but green. He looked at his watch. It was only ten past three. He preferred to be home by half past at the latest, lest his mother not organise a search party by the local police. Although his mother certainly wasn't the nervous, unconfident wreck she had been twenty moons prior, she still upheld her motherly duties with commitment and pride, even if that meant worrying a little too much.

But he had made surprisingly good time today, and wasn't far from home. So when he came to a large log, he decided to stop for a moment and appreciate the nature around him.

He sat down comfortably, and began to absorb himself into his surroundings. Everything around him reminded him of the Seven Kingdoms: vegetation gracefully dominating every direction, and no obvious signs of human interaction that so often ruined nature. The trees were so dense here, they silenced the occasional, corruptive groan of any nearby cars, much to Arthur's delight. He closed his eyes, allowing the soft brushing sound caused by the constant collisions of the waving leaves above him to soothe his heart.

The quiet breeze transported a quiet but detectable twittering sound into Arthur's ears, and he opened his eyes and moved his head in its direction, delighted to notice a small robin positioned further along the log. He smiled, carefully moving his backpack round to sit on his knee, and quietly unzipped one of the pockets, as not to frighten the delicate creature. He reached in, his hand reappearing moments later with a half eaten apple. Arthur squeezed his fingers into the bite marks, managing to pull out the small seed from within. He shifted his body slowly to face the bird, and extended his hand, offering it the seed. 

The Robin jerked it's body from side to side, as birds often do, before hopping forward to Arthur, and gently but quickly plucking the seed from the palm of his hand. Arthur flashed the bird a friendly smile and it remained there for a moment, as if to thank the young boy for his pleasant gift, before turning away and fluttering up into the tree canopy. Arthur watched the bird's silhouette disappear into the greenery, before swinging his backpack back around, and standing from the log, to continue on his journey.

As the trees finally began to part, Arthur emerged from the grove onto a quiet side street, just to the right of where the main street connected with this one. With a single glance back at the grove, he continued on, making a right, then another right, and then a left, until he finally came to his house.