A New Perspective
954 Words
[Apollo]
Apollo thought it would be better to take Teri to the top of the cliff near the forest where the ground was more flat. She just couldn't seem to hold her balance on the slippery sand. He watched as Teri gawked in awe at the forest in front of her.
"Is this... is this really where you live?"
"Yeah. This place is really huge and no one ever tries to get in here. This place keeps us hidden," replied Apollo.
"Wow... it's... it's so much bigger than I imagined.
Teri took a couple wobbly steps forward. She heard birds chirping in the trees and looked around for them, but couldn't see them anywhere. She took another step forward, until she stepped on something that made her flinch.
"Hey, you okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine. I just stepped on something. That hurt..."
Teri swiped off a tiny pebble from the bottom of her foot and took a step back.
"Hmm... hang on..." Apollo pulled his backpack over his shoulder and started rooting around inside, before pulling out a pair of sandals and tossing them on the ground.
"Here, try these."
"What are they?" Teri asked.
"They're shoes. Just slip them on your feet. That way, you can walk anywhere without anything stabbing you in the foot. Look, you just slide them onto your feet."
Teri slowly stepped into the sandals and took a moment to get comfortable in them. Apollo was surprised that they seem to fit her. Teri took a step forward and surprised herself again. The sandals were sturdy and smooth, and she couldn't feel the rough, hard ground of the forest anymore.
"Woah! These are amazing!"
Apollo laughed as he watched Teri trot around happily. He noticed her steps were a little less wobbly now. She eventually spun around and pointed deeper into the forest.
"Do you live further in there? Can you show me?"
"Uh... y-yeah, I can show you. Just be careful, you don't want to trip over anything."
Apollo was a little reluctant to show Teri the tree house, but he couldn't find a way to say no. She was only curious and Apollo was more than happy to show everything he knew about to Teri. She had many questions and Apollo did his best to answer all of them. Every so often, Teri would stop and point at something and Apollo provided a brief explanation for her to understand.
"How far away is your home?" Teri asked.
"Oh, not far. But, I know you want to look at everything, so there's no need to rush."
"What about your friend? Is she there?"
"Well... I don't know. I've been looking for her all day, but I haven't seen her. I don't know where else she might be, but I'm sure she'll be back soon. I think she'd really like to meet you.
"If she's anywhere around here, I could help look for her with you," Teri offered.
"No, no, it's okay! I trust her, and I'm sure she'll come back on her own. She's probably just... busy doing something."
"Okay, if you say so..."
Apollo directed Teri back on their familiar path towards the tree house. Along the way, they passed underneath a gentle sunbeam, but when Teri turned around to look up at it, she winced and covered her eyes.
"Ah... Is it just me, or does everything seem... brighter out here?"
"Yeah, it's always like this. If you live really deep in the lake, the light won't reach all the way down, so you're probably used to seeing everything in the dark a bit more. If the light hurts your eyes, we can stay in the shade. I'm sure your eyes will adjust the more time you spend out here." Apollo explained.
"Yeah... yeah, that makes sense. I didn't think about that before. I also noticed... it's a little warmer up here. It feels nice."
They continued walking until Teri saw something coming into view and trotted towards it. They had made it to the tree house and Teri was excited to explore every inch of it. She noticed the small pond in front of her, but was slightly disappointed to see that there was nothing in it. She walked around it and stepped up to the base of the tree house.
"Wow! So this is your home? It really is a house in a tree!"
"Yes, that's why they call it a... tree house," replied Apollo as he caught up with Teri.
"It's so much smaller than I thought it would be. Do you and your friends really live in there?"
"Uh... yeah. I know it looks small, but it's got everything we need. Like I said, since it's out here in the woods, nobody but us know about it, so it keeps us safe."
"I see... Can I go inside?"
Teri tried to climb up to the platform and Apollo had to help her up. When she stood up, she stared at everything before her.
"Wow... I know we're not up that high, but it looks so different from up here." said Teri softly, before immediately turning around and walking inside the tree house to look at everything.
Apollo sighed and sat down. He made sure Teri couldn't see him as he pulled out his phone and sent Sophia another message.
> Hey, where are you??? Please get back here ASAP!! There's something you need to see!!
While he enjoyed showing Teri everything there was to see, in the back of his mind, he was actually starting to get worried. If she didn't reply, or didn't get back home before sundown, he might actually have to drag Teri out to help look for her.
- Writer
