14

"Ahh, the good old times..." said grandpa James while going through his old photo album. He felt nostalgic after looking at all those photographs depicting his happiest childhood memories. He was about to close the album when an old photo fell to the ground. "What is that?," he wondered. It was a photo of him in a beautiful forest with his friend Lily. He remembered that forest well by the most unusual adventure he had ever participated in. You want to know what happened, don't you? Alright, you asked for it.

It was a stormy night. An evil scientist Norman was in his castle experimenting when suddenly he shouted "Igor, I have found it!" His assistant Igor (what a cliche' name, isn't it?) rushed to the room confused. "What is it, sir?" "I found the unknown object in the forest that produces infinite energy. I will be able to power my inventions and the whole world! I will be filthy rich!" Thunder ripped the following silence and a blue light casted a shadow on the scientist's face. It seemed disfigured as an evil grin split his face. "Start cutting the trees, Igor. It's somewhere in the forest, and we will have to dig deep in order to find it. No matter the cost or the time it takes us to find it." Igor grumpily took a shovel and looked at the spot on the map where Norman was pointing at.

After three long hours of travelling James and his friend Lily arrived to the old forest where they camp every spring. They loved camping there because it was always such a beautiful and special place. At least it was, until Lily yelled "What happened here?! Who did this?" The whole forest was cut down. It seemed defeated with its big old trees lying on the ground. Animals were still running away from the fallen trees. James noticed a sad squirell on the nearest fallen tree. Crouching down he asked "What's wrong, little fella?" The squirrel replied "They destroyed my home. Almost all of our homes. I don't have anywhere to go to. I couldn't do anything against those metal monsters." "Do you know who did this?" Lily asked. "It must be Norman, the scientist who lives in that castle over there. Only he is evil enough to do such a thing... " "We must confront him!" James yelled. "This shall not be tolerated!" The squrriel jumped with enthusiasm and asked "Do you really think we can fix this?" "I'm not sure how, trees won't be able to grow anymore..." "Oh, you really think they can't? Believe me, they can! This is a magical forest, haven't you noticed?" James and Lily were confused. "Magical? How?" "There is a life source beneath the forest. I believe that is the thing Norman is looking for. According to the legend, Forest Spirit hid underground and it is able to renew trees, make everything alive.....and I'm not sure if you noticed, but I'm a TALKING squirrel!" Lily was puzzled. "Why didn't the forest regenerated then?" "No one knows", the squirrel said, "That's why everybody is leaving. But there is still hope, isn't it?" "Yes, yes, there is," James responded quickly. "What are we waiting for, then? I already have a plan!"

"We look a bit silly, don't you think?" Lily asked James. "It doesn't matter" responded James, "The important thing is that we scare Norman." The trio, now accompanied with a squirell's friend, a bear, was on it's way to the castle. They decided to scare Norman off with their costumes and convince him to leave the area, hoping that the forest will recover. They found their way to the castle by following the path on the map. After a short while, they entered and James whispered "Alright everyone, you know the plan and your parts. Let's go!" They found Norman in his lab and started screeching and yelling. Norman started running away in fear and in a hurry, decided to hide where he found the magical object. The group went after him. Igor was in the forest, obediently digging a hole in the ground. He thought he saw something at the bottom. When he saw Norman running towards him, he was sure that Norman sensed he's got something to tell him. He was pointing at the bottom and explaining to Norman that he's (hopefully) found it, when he saw an angry group running after Norman. Since he has already digged up a huge hole, Norman was quick to find an emerald rock which contained huge power. The bear ran faster and tried to stop Norman, but it was too late, Norman had already taken it. The group then saw the most beautiful light when the rock flew away from Norman and started shining as brightly as the Sun. Steven was frightened when he recognized Forest Spirit shining from the rock. The group was shocked. "Thank you for setting me free Norman," started the rock, "but the damage you made in the forest is terrible. A horrendous crime against the nature was done, and you are responsible for it. From this day forward, you are banished from the forest and forbidden to set foot in here. Leave now and never return!" finished Forest Spirit. Norman ran away frightened and Forest Spirit started regenerating the forest.

Finally, everything was just the way it should be. The animals returned, the treetops were humming a song about the wind and James took Lily back to the campsite. They even had new friends to go camping with.