[ WP ] He reached for the forest , and to his surprise , it reached back .

*INSPIRED BY A REAL LIFE EVENT* 
 
 `` I remember always having an active imagination growing up. And I may have believed some of them back then, but what kid did n't believe in silly things? It was when I was ten that things started to get strange. 
 
 `` I was reading a book about trees while on the bus going to school. My friend came up and sat beside me and said,'We got ta talk under the slide at recess.' Not a big deal, I thought. I was very curious, though. 
 
 `` So recess rolls around and I found my friend hiding beneath the slide. He had a book on magic in his laps. Something about druids. He looked around, making sure no one would hear and whispered,'I can talk to trees, too.' 
 
 `` I was so confused. I mean, this guy was a jokester and all, but this was just weird. Even as a ten year old. I had no idea what he was even talking about. So I said,'Sammy, what are you talking about?' 
 
 `` Sammy told me that he could talk to trees and that he was sure I could, too. He told me to go to the park after school and try for myself. I thought he was just being funny, but I still thought about during the second half of school. It started to be the only thing I thought about. In Math, I could n't figure out how to add two and two let alone how to divide. In Reading, I could n't even focus on a single letter, let alone put a few together to make a sentence. As the periods went by, the more invested and fixated I was on the fact that maybe I really could talk to trees. 
 
 `` So after school, I went to the park. See, it was right in my neighbourhood, so it was n't even dangerous or anything for me to go alone. I sat down criss-cross in front of the woods that lined the park and I looked up at the really old ash tree. 
 
 ``'Hello,' I said. 
 
 ``'Hello,' I said again. 
 
 `` I was disappointed and relieved all at the same time that the tree did n't talk back to me. As soon as I pushed the idea from my mind, I stood up and began to walk away. 
 
 ``'Hello, little one,' I heard from behind me. 
 
 `` My eyes lit up for sure at that moment. I turned around, sprinted back to my spot, and stood, head stretched all the way back. 
 
 ``'Is this real?' I asked. 
 
 `` The voice replied,'I do n't know. Is it?' 
 
 `` I decided it was, and from then on I started talking to my different flora friends as often as I could. See, they were much nicer than the people I knew. 
 
 `` It started to get out of hand after a while when I stopped talking to my friends, and eventually stopped talking to my family. I only talked to plants. 
 
 That's why I'm here. Because it's gone too far. It was just my imagination. I know it is n't real, I just want it to stop and have my friends back again...'' 
 
 `` So you fully understand that you ca n't actually talk to plants?'' Doctor Goodchild asks. 
 
 `` Yes,'' I say. `` I just want the voices to stop.'' 
 
 `` I'm here to help you with that,'' the doctor says. `` We just have to figure out why your brain wants you to think that plants are talking to you. But I think this is enough for now. You've made more progress today than you have in the last five years, Christopher. I think it would be nice for you to go home tonight to sleep in your own bed, do n't you?'' 
 
 `` Yes, please,'' I say. 
 
 They send me home with my parents and a bottle of the pills I've been `` taking''. I enter the house, still a bit dizzy from the dramamine I took in the car to keep me from being carsick. I enter my room and notice that the terrarium beside my bed is still hanging on to dear life. I grasp the bowl in my hands, pressing my nose to the glass. *How could they not simply take care of Everett while I was away?! * I think. I clenched my teeth and furrowed my eyebrows in rage. 
 
 I talk to my terrarium. 
 
 `` It will be okay, Everett. I'm here for you now.'' 
 
 `` Yes, I'm here to be with you forever again.'' 
 
 `` No, I wo n't leave you this time.'' 
 
 With Everett held close against my chest, I run away from home.
