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The Story:
Our forests are nothing more than silent wastelands. They were once alive with animals that scurried over the ground and birds that sang proudly of their treetop views. Now, the trees are rotted, victims of some unknown plague.
I like taking strolls through them. Some find the naked limbs and bark-stripped trunks too eery, but I feel it’s important that we not neglect our forests. When they are completely gone, we will die too. And I plan to be there, at their bedside until the final tree’s last breath.
“You’re morbid, you know that?”
The voice belongs to my brother who is hiding in a tree above me.
“No, I’m caring. And you shouldn’t be up there.”
He leaps to the ground, landing on his feet.
“Any of these deadweights could whack you into the ground at any moment, and you’re worried about me climbing a few feet up one.”
This is a chronic argument between us, so I drop it. I continue walking, and he stays beside me, keeping his hands in his pockets.
“Why do you walk through here, sis? I mean, every day it’s the same thing with you.”
“We’re going to die with these trees, Saik.”
“We are not! Please, stop saying that.”
“How can you say we’re not? We need the trees for… What’s in your pocket?”
I keep hearing an odd sound every step he makes with his left leg.
“Nothing.”
“Saik…”
I take a step towards him, which is always the most threatening I need to be with him. He’s a coward, and he knows it.
“Alright!”
He hands me what’s in his pocket. It’s a fresh, blank sheet of paper. I grab him by the shirt collar.
“This doesn’t exist! Where did you get this?”
“From us, Miss Calayda.”
Behind me, a group of armed men have appeared.
“No! No, I told you to stay away from her! That was the deal,” Saik yells at the leader.
“Your brother is a smart man. It seems he’s made a cure for the trees.”
“That’s impossible.”
“Oh, no. He did it. And now that we have it, everyone will have to use our forests for everything, including you.”
His gun clicks, loading a round into the chamber.
“And right now, you’re trespassing on Living Tree Company property.”
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