Chapter 1 - Lost in a Dream
As an eerie moonlight drifted across a darkened, evergreen forest, footsteps were heard pounding into the soft earth. The boy ran as fast as he could through the trees, glancing back occasionally. Something or someone was chasing him. His heart raced madly as an unknown creature galloped after him, gaining speed with each passing second. Follow the green light. Follow it. Now! The boy honed in on the bright green light far in front of him and kept running. Hearing branches snapping and trees being uprooted, he knew whatever the thing was, it wasn't happy. Just then he heard, BOOM!. An energy bolt seared through the air, finding its mark and sending the enormous creature stumbling backwards. The boy skidded to a halt and peered into the darkness to see where the bolt had come from. He could see a shadow of a man, with one emerald green eye and the other an electric blue pointing to an object on the ground…
Sig Woods jolted awake in a cold sweat. What an odd dream. He wiped the sweat from his face and sat up, looked around, and collapsed back to sleep.
Sig was a scrawny boy about sixteen years of age, shaggy dirty blonde hair, piercing green eyes, and always pondering.
He lived with his mother and father in a quiet, rural part of Rocksburg Hollow. It was a small town with a population roughly the size of eight thousand five hundred people. His house was a small two- story cottage, a light brown color with dark brown shades. Inside the house, there were many knick knacks, odds and ends, and books related to nature. When walking through the front door you could easily smell a homey, earthy tinge which was somewhat inviting. In the kitchen Sig's mother, Alana, was usually cooking some sort of odd dish.
Sig's mother was a short, plump woman with a wispy blonde bun atop her head and usually dressed in an apron covered in an unmistakable spatter of ingredients. She was in her mid forties with pale blue eyes. Mrs. Woods ran a baking store from her home. Mrs. Woods passion was baking after all. People from miles around would come to buy her homemade jams, jellies, pies, deserts, and any dish of food you could think of.
In the backyard there was an enormous greenhouse where his dad spent most of his days. Sig's father, Herbert Woods was a botanist and was frequently planting different species of herbs, vegetables, and other oddities in the greenhouse. Mr. Woods was tall, balding and always had a plaid shirt on along with favorite, well-worn pants. He was in his early fifties, slender build, and there was deep intelligence in his wide-set brown eyes.
Behind their house was a huge forest where Sig would go to retreat for the day after school. Walking among the plants, animals, and trees he felt most at home and could really learn. The forest always seemed to talk to him in silent tones. He never told his parents as he thought they would think he was daydreaming again.
You see, Sig loved nature. He took care of plants, trees, animals, and anything that was living. He grew up in the forest so he had the natural inclination to take care of it. At any given opportunity, he used every second of spare time to think up revolutionary new ways to improve the forest. In the past, Sig had actually healed a tree that was dying and tended to a garden in middle school.
In school, Sig was quiet, not interacting with many people and getting picked on because of how he acted. Other kids knew Sig liked nature and they were constantly taunting him.
"Hey Sig, watch out you might step on that frog!" fellow students would snicker.
Sig just kept to himself and ignored them. They did not know the importance of nature and didn't take the time to learn. All they cared about were video games and what movies they were going to see that day.
Sig's favorite subject was biology for obvious reasons. He loved to learn about how plants got their energy or how different animals had defense mechanisms if predators got too close. Sig also had a fascination about elements, such as thunderstorms, rain, wind, and hurricanes.
He frequently asked himself, Where do these elements get their immense power?
Sometimes, Sig would excitedly wait for an approaching thunderstorm just to watch the lightning dance across the sky.
One afternoon, Sig could see an approaching rainstorm. "Mum, why do all the animals outside grow silent before it rains?" he asked.
"Well, Sig the animals listen to what nature has to say to them."
"The wind, rain, and thunder are always telling a story and all you have to do is listen." she explained.
Sig replied, "But I cannot hear them. Why can't I hear them and the animals can?"
Sig's mother laughed. "You do not listen with your ears, listen with your body which is in tune with nature." she said quietly.
"Ok mum I guess that makes sense." Sig muttered to himself. So Sig talked with his mother some more about this topic and then turned in for bed.
Sig's room was all the way in the attic which his father had converted into a comfy, quiet room for Sig when he was little. This way Sig could have his peace and quiet while listening to the birds in the morning or watching a thunderstorm.
As he lay down on his bed, Sig pondered his mother's response.
Listen with your body? How do I do that? he wondered.
As he felt his eyes closing he saw a small green light outside his window, glowing. Sig wanted to explore more about this mysterious light but was too tired to do so. He heard a soft rain patter against the roof, he lazily drifted off to sleep.
