Prologue

I went to the forest today. Mother and her fellows summoned me from sleep before the sun had reached our depths. The air is sweet with the new growth, the flowering and greenery. The trees creek as they wake silent in their greetings but fresh in their scents. Mother acknowledged my presence as I entered the oldest tree in our patch of woods, our meeting tree. She was hallow in the base, her insides lined with soft pine needles now sunk into indentations from the weight of us sitting cycle by cycle on them.

Mother and the other elders wished that I travel toward the sun so that I may meet others like us and continue my training. They think I’m something special because I’m human, or rather, was and can understand creatures. I have no desire to be more then what I am, so small am I anyway. I have no powers as do the more gifted and can not wield a weapon. Killing makes me weak.

Every morning I tie back my hair, gather the old dress I’ve had since Mother first made it and walk in my bare feet to the forest. I bathe in the pond then lie in the plants, welcoming those who approach. I have not yet learned all their names but I study and listen to them everyday and they nuzzle and study me. I think it’s a fair trade. To leave this place would throw all I’ve learned off course but, as expected, I will do as Mother wants.