(Excerpt of Part Two)

Only a year before

Peter was lost in thought, trudging slowly along the winding country road that he and his younger sister Annie used to walk going to school every morning. It seemed like a lifetime ago, lost in blurry memories and painful loneliness amidst the forest shadows.

It was only a year before…

They were happily playing and jostling each other and didn’t see the monstrous car speeding down the old dusty road behind them, then veering wildly out of control.

In the next unforgettable moment, the car had run into his sister, instantly taking her from him forever.

Losing his sister in that tragic way changed his carefree life in blinding seconds, leaving him feeling helpless, with a deep hole in his young life and sensitive heart, almost larger than he could bear.

It was on a fresh early morning such as this, that the spreading sun was just poking its outstretched golden rays like small, curious fingers through the dewy shadows of low hanging branches and the tall peaks of trees, in search of finding things large and small to awaken and brighten.

Peter was on his way to a secret place he discovered after his sister’s death. It felt like he had been drawn to this special place, this ancient forest, seemingly forgotten by time and invisible to people, other than him.