The trees stood tall and proud, in their same old place, like They had for hundred of years. The creek water ran with the same babbling like it had when she was a child. Everything was the same, except her. She was different. The forest seem to know she wasn't who she use to be. It didn't speak to her like it had before. Did it feel betrayed by her absence?
She closed her eyes and just listened, she heard the birds, the breeze and the scuffle of tiny feet. But the forest refused to speak to her. She suppose she deserved it. It had been two years. The paths she had made in the ground were slowly disappearing, as if she hadn't been there at all.
She stood on top of the large hill overlooking the valley or holler as she was used to calling it. The uphill trek left her breathless, and amazed that she used to walk this everyday. She wasn't as fit as she use to be, Though she decided to blame the extra person she was currently carrying.
She had forgotten how far she could see from on top of that hill. She could see her Mamaw's house, smoke coming from the chimney. So many memories hit her, this was where she grew up. This is where her cousins grew up. This place held so much meaning for her.
It made her a little sad to think it wouldn't hold the same meaning for her own child.
Though a part of her would always remain here, her heart was with her new home; her husband and now with their unborn child. She wouldn't regret moving on, but she'd never forget about the forest or the holler that raised her.
With one last glance and deep breath , she started the trek back, looking foreword to the warmth her Mamaw's stove provided.
"Home is the nicest word there is" - Laura Ingalls Wilder
