kind and hospitable. Alice gave Charlie and Jessica a tour of the house, the guys went up to the attic and Alice showed them a drawing of one of her friends who came closest to the forest. The picture was a scary tree, with its mouth open. Charlie just smirked, and Jessica felt uneasy. She silently turned away and in a moment was already among the guests. She tried to smile at everyone, but inside there was anxiety, fear from what she saw. Fear of the inhabitants of the forest and allwhat is associated with it. Charlie also went down to the guests, he went up to Jessica. Seeing the fear in his sister’s eyes, he smiled, took her hand and led her into the garden. Emily’s family garden was very beautiful. Jessica forgot about fear when she saw this beauty. Huge trees, an apple tree, a pear tree, Jessica’s favorite peaches. Charlie picked some peaches and handed them to his sister. There was joy and gratitude in her eyes. Although Charlie was serious and silent, he loved his father and sister very much. He pointed his fingers towards the forest – “There.. They are not evil, there was a tree in the picture, he had a mouth. I don’t think it’s possible, it’s not real. Don’t be afraid, dad and I are there, so don’t be afraid.” There was confidence in what he was saying in Charlie’s words. This was not just an attempt to calm the frightened sister. Jessica thought, after what her brother said. She understoodLittle did this girl know that Patrick and Charlie would not be there when she faced the one thing that filled her with fear. If she had been told that she would know the secret and see everything with her own eyes, that much lay ahead of her and that it was all connected with the forbidden forest, she would not have believed it. Jessica felt calmer at heart after her brother’s words. Soon the hero of the occasion appeared. Alice was uncomfortable in front of Jessica, the fear of her classmate’s sister haunted her. She apologized to Jessica and Charlie and began accepting congratulations from the guests. Classmates, friends, neighbors, everyone Alice knew came. Everyone was having fun and singing. One of the first who congratulated the birthday girl was Charlie, he was worried, but said a lot of good things and a lot of kind words and wishes. His words touched Alice and tears of joy flowed down the girl’s cheeks. She had no idea that such a seemingly silent and modest boy could be so kind, to say so many good things. Yes, she cried from surprise, to hear so many good things about herself.. Then Jessica began to congratulate Alice, it’s beautiful, she wished her a lot of good things, after her daughter, Patrick began to congratulate the girl. One by one, everyone congratulated Alice and it was time to go home. Alice could not get enough of the guests, gifts and congratulations. At night, she dreamed of Jessica and Charlie, she rode with them in a beautiful train, similar to the one with which she played a few years ago. They drove past the houses of classmates Charlie and Alice. And the train was driven by Patrick, she woke up in a great mood, it would seem that nothing could spoil her mood. But the news that Alice heard made her uneasy. Alice was going downstairs to have breakfast when she overheard a conversation between Patrick and her father. BesideCharlie was standing with Patrick, but Jessica was nowhere to be seen. Patrick said that when he called the children to breakfast, only Charlie came to breakfast. And when Jessica did not respond to the knock and Patrick opened the door to her room, he found that Jessica was not in the room. He went around the whole yard, talked to almost all the neighbors, but no one saw her. Standing next to Patrick, Charlie was shaking and crying. It was the first time she had seen him so lost, frightened. She wanted to support her classmate, but she did not know how to do it. She went down the stairs and ran out into the street. Charlie ran after her, it seemed to him that Alice wanted to tell him something or hint at something. And it is possible to show that without asking anything, he ran after Alice, hoping that she would help him find his sister. After all, it is not known where she could have gone before dawn. Different thoughts appeared in Charlie’s head. But he didn’t want to think about anything bad. He convinced himself that everything was fine with his sister and that he and dad would find her soon. Discarding all thoughts, Charlie stopped and looked around, nothing was there. They are with Alicestood right in front of the forbidden forest. The boy was seized with fear, on the one hand, fear of the forest, on the other hand, the desire to find his sister. But what happened next surprised Alice and Charlie. Jessica ran out of the forest, whole and unharmed. Charlie ran up and, with tears in his eyes, hugged his sister tightly. The boy’s voice was trembling, he could not say anything. Jessica realized that her disappearance had frightened her brother. She immediately thought of Patrick. Heworries, because you need to reassure dad. She wiped Charlie’s tears away with a handkerchief, took her brother’s hand, and they both went home. Patrick stood in the yard, seeing Jessica, he ran to Charlie and his daughter. He could only say a couple of phrases: “I’m so.. I was worried, you’re my daughter.” There was silence at dinner, Patrick tried to somehow defuse the situation, to joke, but the children were not in the mood for jokes. Especially Jessica, although she apologized to her father, she still felt uneasy. She considered herself guilty that Patrick was almost speechless, because of her curiosity, he could not even talk normally after her return. It was hard for Patrick, he was confused and this affected his children. He wanted to somehow fix everything, so that Jessica would understand that he was not angry or offended by her. And that no matter what, he is her dad and always will be. Jessica promised that it was the first and last time, when asked to tell why she went to the forest, she replied that she was curious, interested to know what or who lives in the forest. Jessica saw what others could not see, but she was not yet ready to tell. Alice and Charlie didn’t tell anyone about Jessica being in the woods. And Jessica seemed absolutely calm, which surprised Patrick and Charlie. At 5 am, Jessica decided on something that even an adult would not have dared to do. She decided to go into the forest and find out the truth about the forest. Entering the forest, Jessica stopped and could not recover for a long time, in front of her stood a tree, low, but unusual, this tree had eyes like a person, two legs and arms instead of branches and a mouth, but otherwise it looked like on a tree, branches, leaves, only the branches were thick, and there were a lot of leaves, when the tree opened her eyes and held out her hand to the girl, she first froze in one place, and then rushed to run with a cry, without looking back, several times Jessica stumbled over something and fell, then with tears she ran to the edge of the forest, hearing the voices of Alice and Charlie, she stopped, wiped her tears, calming herself, she approached them. It was her first encounter with the strange tree.Jessica most of all wanted to forget about that meeting, she decided that it was not worth telling her brother and friend about meeting with that strange tree in order to fence them off from the forest. So that curiosity does not take possession of them. She didn’t want them to go through the same thing as her. That night, Jessica could not sleep, she lay, the light in the room was turned on. So the girl lay until the morning, at the table she silentlysat, thinking, Patrick and Charlie were talking about something, but Jessica was thinking about her own, only nodding her head in response to questions from her father and brother. Before the eyes of the girl was from time to time, there was an image of a tree that she saw in the forest. And every time she shuddered, she often looked at the photograph of her mother, which was next to the bed, on the shelf in the closet and told about everything. their fears, experiences, curiosity and fear intertwined inside, two opposites. They haunted the girl, a sense of guilt, she also could not forget about him. In fact, Jessica was very vulnerable and sensitive, responsible, but she considered curiosity to be her main disadvantage. Curiosity is what made her forget about responsibility, her weakness. Patrick sat in his office and looked for information about the forest, about those who knew, heard or saw at least something. Patrick’s attention was drawn to an interview with a beekeeper from a nearby village. His name was Paul, Patrick was in that village several times, passing by houses, Patrick greeted the beekeeper. He remembered him and decided to go to that village, to the beekeeper and talk to him about the forest. On the way he needed to fill up, stopping along the way, Patrick decided to go to the store and buy something for Paul. The roadside shop clerk also heard about Paul’s interview. He buys honey from him, Patrick bought food and continued on his way. Arriving at the beekeeper’s house, Patrick went into the yard, Paul was collecting honey. Seeing the guest, Paul smiled, he put a jar of honey on the table. Floor: He remembered him and decided to go to that village, to the beekeeper and talk to him about the forest. On the way he needed to fill up, stopping along the way, Patrick decided to go to the store
