Refia and the Creen Forest

I could feel the mud as it squelched between my toes. I waded my way through the bog-like forest, the sun barely visible through the leaves above me. It was hot and humid, and for a moment I wished I wasn’t wearing my Keds. But I had to keep my look current, even here in the middle of nowhere.

My Keds were perfectly designed to be worn in any situation, from running a marathon to exploring an alien planet. It was almost too good to be true, but I didn’t care what they cost anymore. My job was stressful enough that at times I would rather take a vacation than deal with another client’s problems. It wasn’t that I didn’t like people, but some just got on your nerves after awhile. And some days you just didn’t have time to take off your heels and strap on a pair of sensible shoes before leaving the house.

The mud was getting deeper by the second, and it was starting to seep into my socks. I couldn’t help but smile as I remembered how much trouble my mother used to have with her shoes when she went hiking with my father years ago. Now when they took their vacation they wore nothing but sandals and had no more troubles with mud or rocks or whatever else they might encounter on their trip.

I flicked a long strand of blonde hair out of my eyes as I continued onwards down the path. A few hours ago this area had been dry and dusty, but for whatever reason it had rained pretty hard during the night. The forest floor was damp, covered in slimey mud puddles everywhere and messy tree roots that were beginning to criss-cross over each other like tangled spaghetti noodles tossed onto a plate by an impatient chef who just wanted to get home from work.

I finally stopped at what seemed like the end of the line: a wide clearing where the ground flattened out into a large open space full of grass and flowers in every shade of purple imaginable. The sun shone brightly down on me, making me even more thankful that I had thought to wear something light today instead of one of my black dresses or suits which tended to stick to my skin like a second layer when it got this warm outside.

I sat down cross-legged in front of what looked like an enormous bird nest made out of twigs and moss that someone had left behind on the edge of the grassy expanse in front of me. A few small birds circled overhead noisily chirping away at each other about something or other, probably about me since everyone always seemed to notice whenever I walked into a room--it came with being so beautiful apparently (according to everyone except my ex-boyfriend).

I took off my Keds and decided that a break couldn’t hurt: after all, it wasn’t every day you found yourself sitting in front of an alien bird nest on an unexplored planet not far from your home town back on Earth! In fact, it was extremely rare for anyone living anywhere near Earth these days--for whatever reason most people were content staying close to home as if we were afraid of venturing too far beyond our solar system for fear that we might never find our way home again.

As I wiped sweat off my forehead with the sleeve of my blouse, I pondered the possibility that there might indeed be some truth to those fears. After all, there hadn’t been many successful trips back home lately. Just a few weeks ago, another ship had been lost somewhere in space, and then last week someone discovered that all attempts at contacting them had failed, causing widespread panic. If only we could travel faster than light or warp anywhere we wanted without worrying about how long it might take us. Unfortunately, neither technology existed yet, despite decades of research into both fields by scientists across the globe back on Earth.

As a result, no one had any idea how long it would take us if we ever tried getting home again one day using our current ships. It could potentially take years, or even decades, until we reached our destination. Only time would tell if such plans would ever work out in reality if we ever decided to embark on such a journey. However, despite these uncertainties, it seemed that not everyone was particularly eager to return home right now. But who could blame them, considering the beauty of this unexplored world?