Once upon a time, there was a 6-year-old girl who lived with her two parents. The house they lived in was a small, cozy, two-storey vintage house resting just before the treeline of the forest -heritage of the father. The family had recently renovated it before moving in from their old home downtown; they rented it out to a teenage couple for a fair price. The front porch was fenced off with a white fence, elegant columns and archways with plant carvings, the entrance being a small fancy gate of the same colour and an arch with an anthurium carving in the middle. The exterior brick walls had been painted beige that accentuated the shiny white half-glass front door. The glass of the door had various golden designs on it and a short curtain that hid the interior from any peeking eyes. There was a balcony that overlooked the front yard from the second storey, it too fenced like the front porch of the house; only the arches were decorated with dahlia carvings.

The family was still moving boxes in and around the house, making it more of a mess than it was after the renovation was complete. You couldn't tell the living room from the kitchen or the bathroom from the bedrooms. All the rooms' entrances were plain archways tall enough for a big christmas tree to fit without any issues. The mother was in the kitchen, looking through the fridge to see what they lacked of groceries so she could make a list for the grocer's. The father was unpacking some boxes in the living room and filling the old-looking bookshelf with the books he found while placing some other items aside. Their daughter was upstairs in her bedroom unpacking her toys and placing them on her bed. Among the toys were a variety of horse figurines and animal plushies that she would later place on the vanity opposite of the bed.

The girl didn't have any siblings, so when her parents would leave the house to go to work, she was quite lonely -sometimes a relative would go over to watch her but that didn't happen very often due to distance problems. She would play dolls and roleplay with her plushies and figurines, however, her eyes often wandered to the closet thinking that a monster would be at the other side of it, waiting patiently for her to approach and then eat her! Those scary thoughts only came to mind when she was alone in the house. She was scared of turning corners and being in the living room of this new house, especially at night. She didn't know exactly what she was scared off. Maybe the dark like other kids of her age? Or maybe of the unknown? This was a new environment after all. Those thoughts would immediately fade away when she'd hear her mum or dad enter the house though.

Few days after they settled in, the forest behind the house caught the little girl's eye. Her dad had told her that it was home to various little critters and lakes, back when he and her mother were trying to convince her that moving into the new house was a great idea -he knew how much she loved nature and that was her weak point. Because of that, she wanted to go and explore the trails but her parents wouldn't let her "You're too young to go there", her dad would say, "It's too dangerous", her mother had no say in this. One morning she thought "Should I disobey them?", while looking at the door. Her parents would be out until late in the evening so, if she made a quick trip, they wouldn't find out... right?

 With a huff of determination, she got the extra set of keys for the house from the kitchen. After putting on her violet jacket, keys tucked away in a pocket, she was out the door, leaving the lights on in the house.

She quickly ran to the forest, making sure that no neighbors saw her, and stopped as soon as she was right in front of a stone path. She started to walk on the path slowly, looking at the green trees, the dense bushes, the small mushrooms, the tall grass that reached her knees and the colorful flowers that were scattered around it. She wanted to keep every little detail about them, because in case her parents learnt what she had done and take precautions to make sure she wouldn't visit the forest again.

The forest was starting to turn into a blue tint, there weren't any flowers or mushrooms anymore. Only dead trees, dead bushes and short grass in different shades of blue. She was getting a bit scared of the sudden change in environment and how dark it started to get but she bravely kept on walking; she wouldn't turn back now! Suddenly, out of nowhere, something walked out from behind a tree in the distance. It was too dark to see what it was but it seemed like a tall animal with four feet. At first the girl thought it was a deer but then the animal walked towards some light which found its way through the blue leaves and dark atmosphere, just a little farther away. The girl decided to follow it, making sure she was hidden behind a tree or a big rock on the way to the light. The animal led her to a small lake where a bright blue light (maybe sunlight) lit the area from above, making the water shine. 

Just like the lake, the light uncovered the animal's species. Her eyes widened in disbelief as she stared in awe at the creature.