The girl had always enjoyed walks. They cleared her head more than anything else in the world could, which she needed right now. 

     For the past few months, she had been unbelievably stressed, and it had only gotten worse; a new sense of restlessness had engulfed her, and she couldn't seem to shake it. She needed to go somewhere, do something different than her everyday routine. And so, in the most impulsive decision she had ever made, she picked up from her comfortable job and moved to a ranch house that bordered a large forest. The strange thing was that as soon as she moved, she felt more relaxed.

    She had saved enough money from her former job to stay there for a long time: she could pay bills, buy groceries (as soon as she found the nearest supermarket), and even splurge on nights out occasionally. To her, it was the perfect existence: simple and fulfilling. 

    As soon as she unpacked, her brain zeroed in on the fact that there was a wide expanse of woods in her backyard, something which she was itching to explore. She laced up her sneakers and headed out of the back door and into the forest that lay before her. 

    It was twilight, and the midnight blue sky hung above her, a tapestry of purples and blues; the moonlight softened the darkness they cast on the trees below. It was a beautiful sight, and the girl bathed in the feeling of calm it brought her. 

    There was a path already woven through the flora and she followed it, listening to the crunch of dead leaves underneath her feet. Her flashlight cast a beam of light that illuminated her way as she walked, feeling the tension slip out of her. 

    She hadn't felt this relaxed in years. 

    And that was when it started. 

    Winds whipped up out of nowhere, when she was far away from the house, and raindrops landed on the leaves above her. Strangely, she didn't feel any fall on her, though the trees bent with the force of the wind. They swayed in different directions that contrasted with the airflow, and she swallowed. Like the rain, the wind didn't seem to touch her. 

    She stood in what seemed to be a pocket of stillness; the trees creaked beside her, their leaves flying every which way, but the air around her stayed where it was, untouched. The effect it had was surreal, and she didn't know whether to be awed or afraid. 

    And just as suddenly as it started, it stopped; the trees came to a stand-still, and the rain no longer pounded against the ground. Now it was just quiet, and the girl finally noticed something strange: the trees were all bent toward her. Their branches were splayed in all directions, but their trunks faced her, as if saluting her presence among them. 

    She, understandably, did not know how to feel about this.

    Abruptly, a female voice radiated from within the forest. "Sister," it said, gently yet powerfully at the same time. "You are welcome. I have been waiting for you."

    "Me?" the girl asked, glancing around for the source of the voice. "But…why?"

    "We are kindred souls. You long for nature's presence, and I am nature -- I moved you here so you could find happiness."

    "Who are you?" she asked. 

    There were no words, just the sound of whispering wind as a woman slowly materialized into being in front of her.

    Her long, doe-brown hair flowed like water over her shoulders; her dress was made of woven leaves whose green color deepened the closer they were to the ground; her feet were bare and they barely made a sound on the grass as she gracefully walked to stand in front of the girl. 

    "I am Mother Nature," the woman replied, smiling with kind green eyes, "and you are worthy of my love."