I didn't want to see that hill ever again. I didn't think that the thing was going to follow me through the woods, since it gave up as soon as it got tangled in the branches behind me, but I kept running long after it's struggling noises were out of earshot.
The moonlight filtered straight down, splashing in puddles of light on the forest floor. I hadn't been paying attention to where I was running, I'd just been getting away. I wasn't sure exactly where I ended up. I'd been all over these woods for years, but it looked different in the foggy twilight. I was sure that I would eventually be able to find my way out. I didn't really feel like blundering around in the dark, though. Who knows what else was out there?
Downhill seemed the safest bet, as long as I avoided the wetlands and the willow trees. Something fluttered through the treetops above me, where I couldn't see it, but I hurried onward. I didn't want to learn anything else about this place if it was all going to be like that.
The forest wasn't quiet. I was straining to hear any sign of danger, and that made me aware of every little sound, every shaking branch and rustling leaf. A cicada started chirping and I jumped and almost started running. There were a couple of times I was almost sure that something was following me, but whenever I looked around there were only the trees.
Finding the cherry tree was a relief. My old friend was still the same as always, standing proud on the edge of a clearing, it's lowest branches almost touching the ground. Now that I knew where I was, I knew which way I needed to go to reach the sycamore tree. I had to go a little bit out of the way to avoid the willow trees, but it didn't take me long.
The tree stood there in the silvery moonlight, the patchy shadows of the other trees contrasting with the patchy colors of its trunk. I rushed toward it, relieved to finally be going home and escaping, and ducked beneath the roots. And stopped short as I felt a wall of dirt. There was no cave, no opening, no space at all behind the roots. Not even the illusion of one, now that it was no longer in shadow. I was trapped, with no idea how to find my way back.
