“Ugh! Why is it so dark and gloomy out there?” Kai stared out the window of their SUV as her mom drove them along the winding highway through the forest-thick mountains toward Saffron Lake Country. She was completely shocked to see that the normally beautiful, lush forest surrounding them, known as ‘the Wicket’ to the locals, now appeared before them, dark and dreary. It looked nothing like how she remembered from her many summers spent here.

“Even the environmentalists can’t figure out what is happening to the forest. It’s definitely a strange situation,” Kai’s mom, Renna, replied.

“Tell me again why I had to miss Hannah’s sleepover for this?” Kai said.

“I’m sorry, Kai. If your dad hadn’t been on a work trip, you could have stayed home and gone to the sleepover. But here we are! And we’ll have to make the most of it. I’ve had this trip planned for months now; I could finally fit it into our schedule. We just need to pack up some things so the cottage is ready to be sold...it just can’t sit there any longer, unoccupied,” her mom said.

It had been six years since Kai’s grandma had passed away... And six years since they had been back.

Renna had hoped that this trip away from their busy schedules in the city would give Kai a chance to breathe. Kai was growing up so fast. The spunky and once full-of-life little girl was slowly disappearing into a quiet and moody young lady.

Kai sighed and adjusted her headphones back onto her ears. It was easier to stay away. For so long, she had been devastated about losing her grandma. It was just easier to carry on with life in the city and not have to face all the heartache she had long since buried away. Although Kai had only been six years old when her grandma died, she had spent so much time at her grandma’s Saffron Lake cottage...she had so many memories there. Over the years, the memories had started to get fuzzy. She was afraid it would be too painful to revisit the cottage and feel it all over again.

As they turned onto the long dirt driveway and made their way toward the cottage, Kai looked out at the dull brown foliage twisting up from the ground, rising high on either side of them, bending into a canopy of darkness above.

She grabbed the locket around her neck and held it tight in her hand. Kai’s grandma had given her the necklace three weeks before she passed away; Kai never took it off. Holding it in her hand always comforted her; it had a warmth about it.

As they neared the cottage, Kai was surprised by the sudden excitement she was feeling. Her stomach felt like butterflies were dancing all around, spinning and fluttering about.

Kai caught her mom’s eye and smiled. Maybe this won’t be so bad, she thought.

“I wonder if it will be the same as I remember?” she thought aloud.

“Well,” said her mom, “besides all the brown, wilting trees surrounding us, everything inside should be just as we left it six years ago...but with a thick layer of dust!” She winked at Kai as she pulled up to the front of the cottage and put the car into park.

Kai ejected from her seat so quickly that she forgot to take off her seat belt and flew back stiffly. She let out a cry.

“I guess we know the seatbelts work!” She giggled. Her mom shook her head and sweetly ruffled Kai’s long blonde hair, which was pulled back in a messy ponytail. “Mom! Please! I’m 12 now. I don’t want you doing that anymore.”

“But you’ll always be my baby,” her mom replied affectionately.

Kai groaned as she closed the car door and ran over to the front window of the cottage to peer in. Sheets were draped over all the furniture, and the stillness inside felt eerie. She turned to see her mom juggling boxes of cleaning supplies, stumbling up the front porch steps.

“Oh, sorry, Mom.” Kai reached out and took a pail full of supplies.

“Thanks, sweety,” her mom said, out of breath.

Renna bent down to put the boxes on the porch. She paused as she brushed her fingers over her name etched in the wood planks, and beside hers was Kai’s. She smiled to herself, remembering how hard Kai worked to carve her name into the wood at five years old. Renna stood up and grabbed the keys from her coat pocket, jiggling them into the sticky lock.

Grandma Ruth’s cottage had always been such a warm, happy place. As they walked into the kitchen, Kai could almost see her grandma at the kitchen counter rolling dough for her famous sweet apple pies. And she could almost hear her grandma humming to the tune of whatever crackly country song softly played from her old am/fm radio on the windowsill.

Kai remembered sitting up on the counter, taking part in whatever baking step she could get her little hands on. Her grandma always handed her a tart green apple to eat while they baked. Kai realized that this was the first time she’d thought of this memory in a long time. Her heart ached; she really missed her grandma.

Grandma Ruth was a feisty woman with a heart of gold. Kai would often spend weekends at the cottage...just her and her grandma. Kai’s grandfather had passed away long before she was born. Her grandma had continued to live in the cottage—their home—ever since they retired.

It was a cozy and simple cottage on the edge of the Wicket. A long winding trail began behind it and made its way through the lush forest...or at least it used to be lush.

Kai and her grandma used to explore along the trail. They would bring a backpack with snacks and a basket for any “treasures” they found. Her grandma would tell amazing stories about the forest. She was convinced there was a magical element to it. She would point out how the leaves and the flowers all had a sparkle to them if you happened to be looking in just the right light. She would skip around the forest, pulling Kai along, talking about all the forest critters and how they lived in harmony and worked together to keep their home so beautiful...it truly was beautiful. Kai was always in awe of the way her grandma spoke about the Wicket. To Kai, it was her grandma who brought out the magic.

Kai continued into the living room. Sheets covered all the couches and chairs. She could see dust particles floating around the room from the sunlight streaming in the windows.

She walked over to the cabinet in the corner of the room. Family pictures sat on every shelf. Kai picked up one of the photos taken of her standing in the Wicket beside her favorite tree, which was shaped like an elephant’s trunk. Something peculiar caught her eye in the photo. Behind the tree in the bushes, it looked almost as though something was peering out of the leaves. Was it really a tiny face with bright, sparkly eyes? Kai wiped away the dust that clung to the frame. It did look like something was there, but what could it be? Grandma would have said that it was one of the “magical creatures” from the Wicket, Kai thought, chuckling to herself.

Kai placed the photo back on the shelf and moved along into her old room. Everything was as she remembered. Toys in the corner, a dollhouse on the dresser, and a twin bed in the center with a green patchwork quilt neatly tucked in.

Kai fell back onto her bed, tightly hugging the stuffy bear that had been lying on her pillow. Shiny circles of light on the ceiling caught her attention. She sat up, looking for where it was coming from. Over in the corner of her dresser sat a rectangular open box. She walked over and peered inside. She squealed with delight. It was her old gemstone collection. The sunlight was reflecting off the gems and casting tiny light spots all over the ceiling.

One of her grandma’s favorite hobbies was collecting different colored gems and stones from the Wicket. She had so many stones that she let Kai pick out some of her favorites to keep in a box for herself. Kai scanned over the stones, picking up one here and there and rolling them over in her fingers.

There was one empty spot in the box. Kai recalled telling her grandma that she desperately wanted to add the black onyx stone to her collection. She had seen it in a book and had loved how shiny and mysterious it looked.

Unfortunately, her grandma had never come across one on her many adventures in the forest, and the spot had remained empty in the box, with the hope that one day she would complete her collection.

Suddenly, all Kai wanted to do was to be in the Wicket, surrounded by the magic her grandma always spoke about.