Missy's Book of Madness

Here I come!

It was the last few hours until their trip was over. Everything went smoothly after the swimming incident, and her mother kept her promise not to mention it again. George had even taught Missy the basics of fishing, although without much success. Even Sheldon had warmed to the outdoors. Well, slightly.  The family was packed and ready to leave, although they wouldn't be leaving for another few hours.

"I'm bored, lets do something," Missy said.

"How 'bout a game?" Mary suggested.

Georgie groaned, and Sheldon's eyebrows shot up to his hairline, but nobody spoke, and Mary took it as a yes.

"If we're going to play a game, can it at least be hide and seek?" Missy pleaded.

"Not that game!" complained Sheldon.

A while later and Missy was running through the bushes at top speed to look for a hiding spot. There had been much negotiation when it came down to playing the game, including Sheldon being the seeker, staying in proximity of the campsite (for Mary's peace of mind), and automatically coming out of a hiding spot after 10 minutes (so George could make sure they wouldn't be late). Already Missy had decided where she would hide. In the thicket of a forest, what better place to hide than in the trees. It was an obvious spot, but there was such an abundance of them that Missy highly doubted she would be caught.

She kept running until her legs felt too weak to carry her. In the direction she had come from Missy could see a spot of light shining through the trees. This was the clearing where the site was situated. It was so small Missy had to squint to make out the light, but it was definitely there. Missy decided quite sensibly not to run any further. She was already a long way away and knew that however far she went out, she would have to walk back again. And Missy hated long walks. 

Unfortunately, the place she had chosen was surrounded by tall, spindly trees, all with lime green leaves that looked very out of place between the thick oaks and supple ash trees that she had passes before. Further in the distance was a small cluster of Cedar Elms, that she recognised from Medford. Missy had climbed some of these before, and knew they would be capable of holding her. She jogged up to the first one and placed and hand on the lowest branch, before beginning to climb.

Missy had watched people climbing trees before, and the most common problem seemed to be a lack of branches. She would watch as they stretched out every inch of their body, in touching distance of another branch, but failing. They would often try to jump for a branch, which almost always ended badly. However, her tree was the polar opposite. Branches galore reaches their long gnarled fingers towards her, clawing lines down her back and snagging on her pale skin. More than once, the girl had to shut her eyes to avoid the jutting sticks, afraid they would flick at her. It was a painful and slow going procedure, and when she stopped to check on her progress she could see how far she had come. Which wasn't very far at all.

Being such a small child, it was easy to hop about and pull all of her weight upwards without being worried of snapping anything. But as she got higher, the branches became more sparse and spindly, forcing her to take her time to meticulously chose her next move. Missy wasn't intending to climb all the way to the top. She wasn't stupid. But Missy still wanted to get high enough to see over some of the lower trees, and maybe catch a glimpse of Sheldon coming. When her head finally peeking over the lines of trees, her breath caught in her mouth, The sight was like no other, and Missy felt goosebumps rise on her arms. The sheer size of the forest had not been clear to her, until now. It was truly beautiful, and she only wished that somebody else was there to witness it with her.