At first, Mirabelle simply walked.
The enormous trees stretched toward the sky around her, their branches intertwining impossibly far overhead. Only scattered rays of sunlight managed to penetrate the dense canopy, falling in narrow golden beams that danced across the path whenever the leaves shifted in the breeze.
Birdsong followed her through the forest.
She could smell everything around her. Feel the uneven earth beneath her bare feet.
And then...
Mirabelle noticed something was wrong.
She slowed.
For a moment, she couldn't tell what had changed.
Then she took another step.
Her foot touched the ground. And the forest changed. Mirabelle stopped.
The tree that had stood beside her was gone.
Not moved.
Gone.
In its place stood another, its trunk wider, its bark darker, its roots rising from the earth like the backs of enormous sleeping creatures.
She stared at it.
Then looked behind her.
The path was still there.
