Jean and Natalie walked side by side along the forest, with their gazes alternating between the forest and the perimeter wall. Everybody seemed to be too busy to talk.
A few minutes later, the two stopped simultaneously. They then lifted their heads and gazed in the distance of the ancient pavement that extended from where they were standing to the depth of the forest. They then stared in the distance for a few moments.
At this moment, a wave of restlessness hit Jean. This was as a result of what he was thinking at the moment.
His mind was clouded with multiple questions about what lied within the depth of the forest.
Like; Why was this pavement constructed? Where does it lead to because I did not see it emerging from either end of the forest? What lies in the middle of this forest? Could the main purpose of the forest be the main purpose of the gate? What if mom already told me the answer to my question? How can I even be sure about that?
Those were just an example of a list of questions that were running through Jean's mind as he stood next to Natalie while staring ahead.
A few minutes later, Natalie shifted her gaze towards Jean. As if noticing Natalie's gaze, Jean turned in her direction and smiled lightly.
"What do you have in mind?"
Natalie asked with a grin.
A little bit confused, Jean rubbed his eyes and blinked for a couple of times.
"…But I thought you wanted to tell me something!"
"I thought you were the one who was eager to visit this part of the compound. And therefore, I expected you to give a go ahead since it is your tour."
Natalie stated nonchalantly as she faced away.
'Why does it seem that this forest tour has gotten on her nerves?'
Jean thought deeply while studying Natalie's face closely. He had noticed a tense expression on Natalie's face when she was telling him about the forest tour. This was the reason he deduced that Natalie was somehow perturbed by their tour in some way.
"Okay, mom. Let's go."
Jean said with a shrug as he started heading deeper into the forest.
'I hope she follows me as soon as possible, because I don't think I can manage alone in this eerie forest'
Jean thought to himself.
Although he wanted to study the forest, he wasn't sure if the forest was safe for him. He was just an innocent ten-year-old kid.
Standing motionless while staring at the leaving Jean, Natalie wore a complicated look. Noticing this, Jean stopped, turned back and faced Natalie.
"Is there a problem, mom?"
Jean asked with furrowed brows.
Natalie shook her head and moved forward. A few seconds later, she overtook Jean and started moving deeper into the forest. With a shrug, Jean hurried to catch up with her.
A few breaths later, the dual was moving side by side as they headed deeper into the forest. During this moment, only one question lingered in Jean's mind.
What is the main purpose of the forest?
This was what Jean kept asking himself as he walked along with Natalie in the forest.
However, he had already asked Natalie about this, he was still unsatisfied by the answer that she provided. He felt that there was more to be told. And that more is what he really wanted to know,
As they headed deeper, the trees started getting thicker, taller and huge. Its branches spread out wide in all directions. The undergrowth started to fade, replaced by bare soil covered by fallen dry branches and leaves. The trees looked more parked together. From a single look, one could easily tell that traversing this part of the forest could have been harder.
Jean and Natalie were not facing that challenge currently, simply because, they were maintaining their course along the ancient battered pavement.
'This pavement is still useful despite its awful state in these parts of the forest.'
Jean couldn't help but appreciate how important the battered pavement was to their forest tour. Although he wanted to traverse the forest as quickly as possible, he still wanted to leave the ancient pavement and study the areas of the forest that were located away from the pavement.
'I need to tell her about this'
With that thought in mind, Jean slowed down and shifted his gaze to his side.
"Mom, why can't we move to the sides and inspect the forest better?"
On hearing this, Natalie gave Jean a sideway look and snorted as she slowed down.
"If you feel it is the right thing to do, go ahead and do it"
Natalie retorted with a serious face.
'This is the part of this tour that I don't like'
Jean thought with a subtle frown evident on his bleak young face.
"But I need your support in order for me to be able to do that"
Jean answered out of frustration.
With that, there was a moment of silence between the two, only disturbed by the howling of wind and the swaying of the trees.
Realizing that Natalie was still mute, he added,
"Okay, mom. I am sorry if I offended you. I would take what you would say."
Jean said apologetically while maintaining an innocent face.
In an instance, Natalie's lips curled upwards. She then arranged her hair that was swaying in the wind. Looking down to face Jean, she blinked and placed her hand on Jean's small shoulder, prompting him to look up to face her.
"There is something that you need to know… as long as I am in charge of the tour, you have to remain calm and let me take you through what I feel could be important to you. And in case I miss out on something; you still have plenty of opportunities remaining. For as long as we stay here, you would have a chance to come and cover on that."
These words from Natalie sank deep in Jean's mind.
'She has a point… I can still come some other time to visit this part in case I missed on something'
Jean contemplated on the matter.
From Natalie's previous statements, he was able to tell that this was just a brief tour of the forest. That was one of the reason Natalie didn't go in details explaining everything to Jean. Struck by this sudden realization, Jean relaxed a bit.
Although he wanted to know more about the forest, he still had to take it bit by bit in order for him to be able to master every important detail.
'Learning things slowly can help in its mastery and developing a deeper understanding of it. But for me, I don't think I am patient enough to practice such. My intuition is directing me that there is something that I need to know about this forest, and I don't think I can withstand it for that long.'
Jean took his mother's advice because he felt it was appropriate at the moment. This was based on the fact that, this was Jean's first visit of the forest, not to mention that he just discovered it a while ago. So, sticking to Natalie's advice, was the best thing to do currently.
After a few moments of reverie, Jean nodded and gulped.
"I will stick to that, mom."
Jean said with a broad smile.
In return, Natalie smiled lightly and turned to face in the direction that they were heading to. As if understanding Natalie's body language, Jean lifted his gaze and started moving forward as Natalie did the same.
This was the moment Jean sensed a change in the air around. With a subtle frown, Jean studied Natalie closely. He was checking to see if he could notice her reaction to the changes of the air around them. The more he checked, the more he didn't notice anything. Natalie continued moving as if nothing has happened.
'Why is she not reacting to this chilling breeze?'
Jean thought for a while as he folded his arms.
He had noticed that the air around them was cooling with every forward step they made. This was when he stepped forward and moved from the where he had stood during their conversation a while ago. The are some possibilities that the air around them was already cool but at a slightly lower degree from the point they were having their heated conversation from. And Jean might have been too entangled in the conversation, to the point of not noticing this right away.
This chilling breeze could have been regarded as normal, but when Jean stared at the sky and saw a brightly shining sun, he was forced to take the matter with much seriousness. The breeze was strangely cool as if originating from a snowy mountain.
'Who knows, perhaps there is a mountain right ahead of us… how can I be that stupid to think of such. If there was a mountain in this forest, then I could have noticed it from the moment we first entered the compound.'
Jean grinned darkly as he palmed his forehead.
'This strange breeze!'
Without slowing down, he shifted his gaze to the side and looked up to face Natalie. Suddenly, he flinched on meeting her gaze.
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