The forest

The sun light filtering through the tree leaves were beautiful, the birds chirping happily, squirrels running up and down. Rei breathed in and out, her eyes closed.She was... aware.

Acutely aware of everything around her. The fresh mountain air filled her lungs. She stood still for a moment, then opened her eyes. A deer and her doe stood a few feet away, staring. Suddenly the deer and the doe raced off. Rei raced off behind her, tearing through the grass. Running. She stopped.

The deer and her doe had dissapeared. Where? She closed her eyes and breathed in. Where? "Concentrate Rei" the soft voice of her ma chiding her "Take in the fresh mountain air". Rei smiled, and breathed in. "Now, feel the mountain, its air coursing through you, the grass, the birds, feel it." Rei breathed in, and felt the mountain inside her, its fresh air in her lungs. "Remember this fact, it's not just a mountain, it's your mountain" Rei was aware. She opened her eyes and raced down the path worn in by multiple times of being ran on. The deer and her doe, their trail almost invisible, yet she still knew. It was her mountain. Fresh tracks lead to.... "Found it!" Rei yelled.

The deer and her doe looked up from the wild strawberries. Rei simply smiled at them. They turned their attention back to the strawberries. Rei took out her basket, and picked some of the strawberries. She closed her eyes, imagining the perogi that her ma would make from them. Walking back up the mountain, Rei began to hum. It was a sweet melody, pure and had still yet to cross with sadness. Taking a strawberry out to eat Rei noticed a sound that made her stop. The tiniest whimper that would of gone unoticed if she was still humming. A fox kit that had lost its momma? A bear cub that had gotten hurt? She closed her eyes, feeling the air connect her to her mountain and followed the sound of crying.

****************************************

It had been more than 5 minutes since she heard the tears and she had yet to find the source of the crying. She open her eyes puzzled. She would found the source already. She couldn't smell anything, just the mountain air. Inhaling it, she noticed a scent underlying it. A scent she couldn't put her finger on. Not the scared scent of a lost kit of cub. A breeze ruffled the tree leaves the scent thick in the air. It came from the..."Right" murmured Rei.

She followed the invisible trail, the one that only mountain folk can see. The scent was all that took up the air now, fresh cotton with a sweet undertone. The trees were spread out , hinting a clearing was up a head. Rei breathed and stepped inside. "Hello?" She called out. The whimpering stopped. "I heard someone here crying, is everything okay?" There was no answer, and yet Rei felt a presence. Then a quiet voice "Who are you?" Rei looked up. And her breath caught in her throat.