The time had finally come for my journey. It felt as though, I had only blinked. My mom was crying seriously from where she was. I wore my best clothes-the green dress my mom gave me on my last birthday- with my slippers. I took the well-knitted purse and hung it on my shoulder. I was very nervous.

The land was dry and unfertile as the Wise man said it will be. Thankfully, they had gathered food that would last them for thirty days before I returned.

People from other neighboring villages had heard about the ordeal and even came to see me leave. My friends wished me farewell and I heard some people doubting my coming back.

"Any creature you see there, you will say this to them 'I am Lyra and I have come from the village of Aquaridge  to help my people retrieve the shell, restore the water in our river and make our lands fertile again. ' Be wise . Good luck on your journey." The wise man wished me good luck and patted me on my back.

My mom rushed over to me and hugged me. She was still sobbing and her eyes were red from not sleeping. I wondered how she would cope for thirty days without me. She hugged me and rubbed my long black hair then said farewell words to me for about 10 minutes before finally letting me go.
    
As I went into the forest, I could hear the weeping of my mother fade away until I could hear it no more.

                               ***
"I am going to restore our water and make our lands fertile again. I will go and come back" I reassured myself.

"I don't think I have gotten to the enchanted grove yet. This is still the forest we know" I was right. I didn't know how far I had walked or the time. I only knew it was still afternoon and I was very hungry. I only ate some apples in the morning as commanded by the wise man. I was also very exhausted.

As I walked further into the forest I saw a golden gate ahead of me. I walked quickly so that I could get to it.

"This is probably the gate to the enchanted grove. " I muttered to myself.

The golden gate was very tall. Even taller than the tallest coconut tree in our village. Maybe even three times taller than it. It was glistening gold and it shone under the sun. I marvelled in wonder for about 30 seconds then I tried to figure out how to open the door. I couldn't see anything after the gate for some reason. 

I tried and tried to turn the knob but it just won't work. I sat on the floor, exhausted, it felt as if hope was lost. I felt miserable. How could I complete the journey when I hadn't even been able to pass the gate.

I looked around then I saw a golden bird on the tree right beside me. It was very beautiful, as beautiful as the gate. It began to sing:

The key to the grove
Is in a very hole
Where perfect nuts are stored
And is rarely ignored

It sounded like this golden bird was trying to help me by singing a riddle. Easy one though.

"A hole where nuts are stored and is rarely ignored. A hole..." I thought to myself, looked around and my eyes caught a hole in the tree where the bird was singing. It kept repeating the song.

I began to climb the tree.  I was used to climbing trees back in our village when I wanted to get coconuts after running away from my hut, because my mom wouldn't let me get coconuts from trees. I had to beg her and tell her I was old enough to go to the river. Besides, this tree was easy to climb, it had a lot of branches.

I deeped my hand into the hole and felt some nuts. I was still very hungry. I cracked the nuts with my teeth and enjoyed the taste. I had almost forgotten my real mission. As I was about to pick my third nut, I felt something furry on my hand.

"You thief, get your filthy hands off my nuts. " It was a talking squirrel. It came out of the hole and looked at me. I immediately dropped the nut. I heard the bird still singing the song. I was surprised to see a squirrel talk.

It was brown but very neat. It's tail was long and bushy. This little squirrel was obviously unhappy

 I remembered what the bird sang in it's song. The key to the grove is in this hole. Maybe I should ask the squirrel. I thought to myself.

"Mr squirrel, may I know your name?" I asked trying to start a friendly conversation with a squirrel. How weird.

"I am Mrs not Mr for your information and call me Mrs Bushytail. " She said quite unpolitely.

" I am sorry Mrs Bushytail. I am Lyra and I come from the village of Aquaridge to retrieve the shell and restore the water in our river and make our lands seefertile again. " I said remembering the words of the wise man. I was balancing myself on a strong branch talking to Mrs Bushytail.

" Is that why you stole my nuts?" She was visibly angry, raising her already high pitched voice even higher.

" I am so sorry. Uhm, I wanted to...ask for the...key to the enchanted grove, I think it's here...in your hole. " I couldn't look at the face of the squirrel and could hardly complete my sentence.

"You nonsense travelers with no manners who always try to enter the enchanted grove. Why do you think I am here? I stay here to prevent anyone from entering the grove. " The squirrel was malicious.

"Wait, do you mean I am not the first one to come here?" I questioned. I always thought no one dared to go near the enchanted grove. I always believed the story even if my mom told me that it was but a mere story fabricated by the elders to prevent children from going deep into the forest.

"Yes! Anytime you stupid travelers from those stupid villages come here to restore their river, they always do the same thing, eat my precious nuts. " She looked at me intensely and I wondered if I was supposed to be scared of a little squirrel. Maybe that was the reason the surrounding villages didn't have rivers and had barren lands.

" I'll make sure you never make it to the enchanted grove or back home. Besides the key is right here with me in this nut you were about to pick. " She picked up the nut and showed it to me, then she opened it from the top and I saw the key. It was as golden as the gate.

I again wondered if I was supposed to be afraid of this squirrel that looked like the only thing it could do,which other squirrels couldn't do, was talking.

"And how are you going to do that?" I was courageous.

The squirrel laughed maliciously and cut a branch from the tree she was standing on. She pointed the tree branch at me. I was beginning to fear. I looked down from the tree and saw how high I had climbed. It looked like the tree grew taller. I could almost see the top of the golden gate. It certainly grew taller. I wanted to escape and didn't know what to do. I was then standing at the edge of a tree branch. The tree branch the squirrel was holding began to glow and it turned into a wand in seconds. It all looked like a dream or my imagination.

"With this, I will turn you into a nut like I did to the others. " The wand glowed even more, then a yellow ray of light pointed at me from it.

Is this the end? I thought to myself. I remembered my mother and her sobbing and everyone in the village. I began to shed tears and the light came towards me. The tree grew taller every second.

I could see my leg slowly leave the tree branch. I was falling at high speed and could hear the squirrel laughing from a distance. I could hardly breathe and couldn't get anything to hold on to. I was screaming on top of my voice. Then everywhere turned dark.