“AND THIS IS THE BAKERY! IT SELLS THE BEST BREAD IN TOWN,” Naro explained, pointing at the only bakery in the village.

 

Ayla was beginning to regret accepting Naro’s offer to show her around the village. Although the boy was very good at reciting every known fact about every building around, he would still make a bad tour guide because of his loud voice.

 

Ayla noticed that the people in town didn’t mind Naro’s voice that much. They were very friendly to the children, and some nice old elven lady had even given them some of her freshly baked apple pie. ‘Her secret reci-pie’, as she had told them with a wink.

 

For Ayla, the people in the village were something completely new. She was not used to such open-heartedness from complete strangers. In the city she came from, people mostly minded their own buisness. The only friendly person Ayla knew that wasn’t a relative, was her old neighbour, mister Lades,  an old man in his seventies who would always ask Ayla about her day and such. She really liked mister Lades, and now she was in a village full of people like him.

 

Ayla thought about how mister Lades would be doing right now, while putting her hand on her pocket. Inside was her precious chestnut, the only part of her home she had with her. All her other possesions she owned were sadly gone, but luckily she had the chestnut on her when she got burried under the mudstream.

 

“WHAT’S WRONG?” Ayla was shaken out of her thoughts by Naro’s casual screaming.

 

“W-what?” She asked.

 

“YOU WERE SPACING OUT! ARE YOU OKAY? DO YOU NEED SOME WATER?” The boy was looking a little worried.

 

“No, I’m fine. Thanks for asking.” Ayla replied with a smile. Naro could be loud and obnoxious sometimes, but he was actually a really sweet kid underneath.

 

“COME, I’LL SHOW YOU A SECRET!” Naro suddenly shouted over the streets. A few amused villagers turned to look at them.

 

The boy took Ayla’s hand and ran of, dragging her along.

 

--

 

“What exactly is this?” Ayla asked, looking at what seemed to be the work of a giant bird that had made an attempt at building a nest, with only vaguely the knowledge to do so.

 

“IT’S MY SUPER SECRET TREEHOUSE!” Naro awnsered proudly. They were far enough into the forest that even Naro could not be heard from the village.

 

Ayla eyed the construction. It rested on a thick branch of an old oak, about 5 metres from the ground. The sticks that made up the treehouse looked rather unsecure, and Ayla could not see a way to get onto the branch.

 

“How do you get in?” Alya posed the question.

 

“LIKE THIS!” Naro said.

 

He threw himself on the bark and started to climb upwards with apparent easy. Swinging from branch to branch, he swiftly made his way up. Within a few seconds, he sat on the branch with a large grin on his face.

 

“SEE? NO BIGGIE!” He beamed.

 

Ayla guessed that his longer nails enabled him to climb trees much easier than elves, but still, Ayla was impressed he could climb with such elegance.

 

“ARE YOU COMING? OR DO YOU NEED A HAND?” The boy asked, looking down.

 

For someone who lived in a tree her whole life, Ayla could not let a remark like this slide. So she sighed, walked over to the trunk and started climbing. She wasn’t as fast as Naro, but she still managed to make it without any problem.

 

“No biggie,” she said smugly. Naro grinned.

 

“WELCOME TO MY HOUSE OF AWESOMENESS! HAVE A SEAT, MAKE YOURSELF COMFORTABLE AND TRY NOT TO FALL OUT BECAUSE OF HOW AMAZING IT IS!”

 

“So, this is like, your secret hideout?” Ayla asked.

 

“YES, AND YOU ARE THE FIRST ONE TO EVER COME HERE! NOT EVEN MY MOTHER KNOWS ABOUT THIS PLACE!”

 

--

 

Mare was preparing lunch when Ayla’s mother walked in the kitchen.

 

“Sorry to disturb, but have you seen Ayla? She went out with Naro, but they still haven’t come back. I’ve looked around the village, but I couldn’t find them,” she said.

 

“Ah, they are probably at Naro’s hideout in the forest. He likes to play there, and it’s a not far from the village,” Mare replied. “That’s rare though, he’s never shown anyone that place, not even me. He must really like Ayla, if he took her there.”

 

“Is it safe there?” Ayla’s mother asked a little nervously. Of course she was cautious after she almost lost her daughter, Mare figured as much. She herself knew the troubles of raising a child, especially after…

 

“Don’t worry, I’ve never let my child out of sight,” Mare reassured. She absentmindedly looked out the window in the direction of the village’s graveyard. Her gaze became harder ever so slightly.

 

“Not even once.”