36

It was a cold, rainy October afternoon. Oliver was feeling extremely bored. There was nothing on TV and his old, fragile bones couldn’t handle going outside in such weather. So he decided to do what he always did at times like that. He opened the dusty wooden tray and pulled out a thick wide blue book. It was a book filled with pictures, memories he had made over the past. He loved to reminisce about all of the adventures in his life. After looking at them for a while, he turned the page to the photo he would always come back to. It was a photo of him posing with Samantha, his now deceased wife, Max the Squirrel, Tony the Bear and Lilly the Rabbit. They were all just children then. And with a light smile on his lips, Oliver remembered the greatest story of them all.

It happened on a hot day in July. He and Samantha were best friends at the time and they would spend all summer holidays playing in the nearby forest. In the good old days talking animals were no wonder, so having Lilly, Tony and Max as friends wasn’t unusual. That day, Max came to his house looking very sad. Some people were cutting down the trees! That meant not only they would lose a place to play, but Max, Lilly and Tony would also lose their homes! They were devastated until Samantha, his sweet, clever Samantha, got an idea. A scientist lived just a mile away from them. All the newspaper said he invented a potion which made plants grow faster and bigger. He should be able to help them! “But Samantha”, Max whined, “He’s crazy! He hates local people and has no sympathy for animals as well! Why would he help us?” They all sat in silence for a while, thinking it over. Oliver’s face suddenly lit up and he exclaimed “Exactly! He’s crazy! Which means if we dress up strangely, we can convince him we were sent from the future to convey the mission of saving the forest to him.” They all agreed happily.

And so they headed towards Matilda, a nice chubby lady with rose tinted cheeks. She held open a store with many uncommon things, costumes being one of them. After getting the suits from an old chest and promising Matilda they would pay next time, they proceeded to the scientist’s house. They got more than a few confused looks for wearing a pirate, dragon, knight, superhero and a Native American suit. Costumes weren’t quite coordinated or appropriate, but those were the only ones Matilda had. They could only hope it would work. The sun was already falling down by the time they arrived to the dilapidated cabin. They knocked and a big brown eye looked at them through the hole in the door. “Who are you? What do you want?” the scientist asked quickly, his voice high pitched from nervousness. Oliver cleared his throat and then said in a serious tone: “We are the Rescue Team and we’re from the future. Our job is to prevent catastrophes from happening in the future by travelling to the past. We demand you to give us your plant growing potion in order to stop Earth from decomposition.” It was quiet for a few moments and they already thought they failed when the scientist opened the door. He dropped papers from his arms as soon as he saw them wearing such unusual clothes. It took him a while to form a proper sentence. “Come in, come in, so sorry for being rude earlier, gentlemen”, he apologized with fear. They followed him inside. The cabin seemed abandoned and small from the outside, but from the inside it was huge and equipped with the newest technology. While they were admiring the view, the scientist brought them a bottle with green liquid in it. “Here it is”, he said. “Thank you sir, your help will be noted.” It wasn’t until then that they realized how tired they were from all the walking. “Say, do you by any chance have a vehicle we can use to get to our location?” Oliver wondered. “Oh, of course, you can use my car”. Oliver almost fainted. He had only heard of cars and was very interested in them. The thought of actually seeing one sent tingles through his body.

The scientist led them to a red car with white lights and black tires. It was beautiful. As soon as the scientist started driving, they were all incredibly shocked, Lilly even felt sick from the speed. They got back home in no time. There were even less trees in the forest than before. They watched the scientist sip tiny drops of the potion on the ground, leaving huge and strong trees growing behind him. Other people from the town couldn’t believe their eyes; the forest was wider than ever. Wood cutters were terrified, they thought that the town was haunted and ran away immediately. Their home was saved, and Samantha was so excited she gave Oliver a small kiss on the cheek.

Oliver closed the book. The loving memory of his friends turned to bitterness when he realized he was the last one alive. The thought of such an adventure never happening again ached too much. But he smiled anyway. His friends may not be here anymore, but their stories lived on. So he got back in his wheelchair and pretended it was the scientist’s car, reliving it all over again.