Leo smiled to himself as he ran through the trees. All these years of chasing kids and cats made chasing a monkey seem almost exciting. He chased it across the field and into the mountains when suddenly it disappeared into a broken shed by the edge of the woods. Leo doubted if he should enter a building that looked like a house of cards, one blow from caving in. But then that crystal was everything he had left. A reminder of love. Of family. The door creaked as he entered and whatever he had expected to see, it was absolutely not what he saw. She stood there in the middle of the room with the crystal in her hand, her golden eyes sparkling with mischief and just a hint of anger.
"How many times have I told you Miranda ?! Stealing is bad. Very bad! Oh hello.", she smiled. "This must be yours. I'm extremely sorry. She's just a bad, bad monkey!" .
Leo didn't realise when the crystal was back in his hand or when he was out of the shed and standing next to her. He could almost swear that he could see stars in her eyes.
"I'm Hazel", she said. Hazel . The name suited her. "I'm -uh- m my-my name is Leo", he managed to say.
"I've never seen you around Leo, tourist?", she asked , petting Miranda who was now sitting on her shoulder and playing with her hair.
"No , I was just passing by".
"You look exhausted !and there's no inn nearby for you to rest the night . My house is right on the cliff . Why don't you come with me?!", she was genuinely offering him help. "but ..", "No buts . You are coming with me ! And that's final. "
There was no reason why Leo had to refuse her offer. They started climbing the goat trail up the mountain and Hazel sang all along the way . Though Leo did not understand the wordings, he could feel the magic .. Just like the rest of the jungle .
Once again he was so mesmerised by her that he did not realise when they had reached to the top .
