Far away from the civilized world, where things moved at nature's pace amongst the mountains lived a girl called Emily. 

  Emily came from a middle class family in England who encouraged her to follow the family tradition and become a lawyer in her home city of London.

  Back at home Emily tried hard to focus on her studies. Meanwhile she dreamed of freedom, of a land where there were no rules, no set way of doing things, where she could use her imagination and intelligence to direct her exactly where she chose to go, where she could be constantly learning and adapting for survival.

  One morning back in London Emily spoke to her father about what she really wanted. “Father I am really trying hard to focus on my studies, but I just know there must be more out there.” He scratched his head and pondered for a moment, then began to reply, “But Emily, if you try your hardest to pursue a career as a lawyer you will have the financial security to live a safe and happy life.” “Hmmmm …Just like you?” Emily mumbled under her breath. “What did you say?” Her father replied. “I want more, I want to be free, and I want an adventure!” Emily enthusiastically cried. “I have had enough Emily. Go to your room and finish your homework.” Emily’s father returned to his chair where he continued to smoke his pipe and read the paper. Emily walked up the stairs and into her room, frustrated with her father’s lack of encouragement. 

  In the corner of her bedroom, hidden under her textbooks sat a pile of magazines that she had been collecting without her father knowing. Emily collected science books and travel magazines, there where old atlases and biographies from some of the world’s most famous explorers. Snippets from newspapers filled a scrapbook; along with inventions and ideas she had been putting together over the years. 

  Emily would lie in bed each night and imagine escaping. Running off out of the city, catching the nearest train or flying somewhere completely new. 

 She dreamed of being surrounded by nature, where she could understand things so much more clearly, where it all felt truly real.

  After a long day at college where Emily had spent most of her day gazing out the window and doodling inventions in the back of her exercise books, she walked home and arrived at her front door. Knowing the amount of homework, she had been set for rest of the evening, she took a deep breath in and reached for the door handle. Before Emily had time to open it she saw a paper airplane fly in front of her then lodge itself in one of the pot plants next to the window. Curiously, Emily smiled to herself then leaned over and picked it up, she noticed writing underneath one of the folds, it contained a message. “You can do whatever you want, follow your heart” with an “x”, underneath. Emily recognized the handwriting. It was her brothers. He knew what Emily dreamed about and he could tell she wasn’t happy. When they were children, Emily would take her brother to the woods where they would build forts and climb trees.  Emily expressed her creativity and her ability to invent new things that would work in their games. He remembered how happy she was and he missed seeing her that way. She smiled to herself then put the airplane in her pocket. “I will,” she whispered.

 Emily was left a large amount of money in her aunt Becky’s will when she sadly passed away. The money was supposed to go towards her university funding, but she did not want to go, she wanted to be amongst nature, amongst the mountains.

  Emily walked into the sitting room where her dad sat smoking his pipe. “Emily. What have I told you about wearing those shoes in the house?” He said in a stern voice. “Sorry,” Emily’s eyes sunk towards the ground and she slowly made her way up the stairs to her room.

  Emily took out her atlas and opened it up, “Canada,” she gasped; she stared long and hard at the map, and the mountain range in British Columbia. She closed her eyes and imagined herself lying on the deck of a wooden cabin amongst the mountains. “That is where I want to be.” Without a second thought Emily booked a one-way ticket to British Columbia Canada. This is where her journey begun. Three days of college went past, each day she sat eagerly anticipating the secret flight she had booked, the day came, it was the morning of a normal college day, her bags where packed and she finished writing her letter to her brother, she crept into his room and snuck it next to his bead. She then grabbed her bags and made her way to the airport.  

Emily arrived in Canada. She was cold, hungry and unsure of what her decision would lead to. She caught a taxi to a small town in British Columbia then began her journey.

 There was an unmarked area in her atlas, far from the surrounding settlements amongst the mountains, it was hidden, nobody lived there and no roads went there, the only way to get to a place like this was by foot, so that is what she did. Emily hiked twenty miles through the mountainous woodlands with nothing but the clothes on her back and her backpack containing a tent, rope and tools she had picked up on her way and other bits and pieces she managed to squeeze in. She had stocked up on flapjacks and anything she could get her hands on before she began her hike from the small town, it was a long way and her feet where throbbing, she couldn’t wait to get to her location, a place to settle and build her new home.

 As Emily walked along a winding river she looked down at her shoes, they really were starting to wear down and they were the only pair she had with her. She was glad she had followed her instinct and made the choice to fly away, even though at that particular time things where looking bleak.

 

Two months had passed filled with hard work building; Emily sat on the decking of her cabin, rocking backwards and forward in a hammock she had made from an old dusty blanket she had brought from back in London.

  The sun was setting and there was a hazy glow shining through the silhouetted mountains. It was so quiet, only the sound of the wildlife could be heard, and the light breeze passing through the trees. She could hear the birds singing, occasionally the sound of a deer scampering through the forest, even the sound of mice burying their way into the leaves that covered the forest floor. She couldn’t imagine herself wanting to be anywhere else. She had the peace and freedom she had longed for back in London.

  Emily would sit and gaze across the valley in the mountain range. She would see the golden eagles flying from peak to peak. “Oh how wonderful it would be to fly,” Emily wishfully said to herself, whist the only creature listening was the owl that would sit in the hollow tree opposite her cabin, watching out for mice that would scurry from under the deck. “Hoooot hooooooooooot,” the owl seemingly replied. “That’s it!” Emily leapt from her chair and grabbed the rolls of paper from the corner of her cabin and proceeded to stretch them across her table using a pinecone and a rock to hold it down flat. She began sketching, then altering each image. “I will invent a flying machine,” she said with a smile. “Where to begin?” she questioned out loud. “The wings!” She had an old beat up tent covered in patches that her granddad had given her some time before she set off on her travels. “This will be perfect,” Emily excitedly cried. Emily needed a frame; she decided to search for a tree with the least brittle branches she could find, which would allow the wings to flex in high winds. Emily drew up a design; she had it all mapped out. “Right, now how to get it off the ground.” Emily thought to herself for a while, she knew she would need some momentum to get it up in the air. Then the bike wheel in the corner of the room caught her eye, “that’s it, I will pedal it like a bike, and I can make a propeller, perfect!” Her plan was coming together. “Right, enough designing for one day, time for bed.” Emily yawned then took herself to her bedroom.

  Emily had put a window in the roof of her cabin; she could stare up at the stars. There was no light filling the sky like in the city of London, there were no buildings creating light that could mask the brightness of the night sky. Here the stars shone so bright, and so many of them could be seen. Emily would look at the stars and let her mind drift and wonder how everything works.

  Emily knew it was important to think scientifically when it came to inventing new things. She was so motivated, so determined to set herself free from everything she knew back at home.

  In the morning Emily begun to construct her ideas, things were going well. She had no measuring tools, only one roll of string she used to get the wing measurements right. There was one problem, the tent she was using for the wings was losing its waterproofing, Emily knew that if it was to fly she could not have any air seeping through the fabric. “What is the best way to make it air tight?” Emily questioned to herself. “The bees!” There was a large empty beehive Emily knew of near her cabin high up a tree, the wax creating the honeycomb would be ideal for waterproofing the fabric. 

 Emily grabbed a coil of rope and walked into the woods.  Emily tied a rock to one end of the rope, and then threw it over one of the branches high up in the tree next to the beehive; she then lowered the rock down towards her and attached a stick to the other end of the rope like the seat of a swing. Emily sat on the seat, and using the other end of the rope she hoisted her way to the top using all her upper body strength. Her arms where trembling, she clenched the rope so tightly, knowing with one slip she would plummet to the ground. Emily released one hand from the rope. Holding tightly with the other, she leaned across and knocked the beehive from its branch, managing to get it to land in her lap. As quickly as she could Emily began lowering herself to the ground. “I did it!” Emily smiled to herself then trekked back to her cabin.

  Emily got to work melting the wax over a fire then rubbing it into the fabric of the tent as fast as she could before the wax had time to cool and harden. 

 It was nearly complete; all she needed to do was create the mechanism to make it fly. Emily used an old bicycle to pedal for take off. There would be two gears; one for the wheels, then as soon as she was air born she could flick her leaver and the chain would jump to the cog that powered the propeller. She had a large cog attached to the pedals, then one extremely small cog attached to the propeller making it spin extremely fast. Emily used rope to adjust the angle of the wings allowing her to control her direction in the air. 

  All the parts where constructed, they just needed assembling, which she planned to do the following morning.

  That night Emily could barely sleep; she was so excited about seeing her flying machine together and in one piece.

  She lay in bed and stared up at the stars. “Why would I ever want to leave this place? ”Everything she wanted was right on her doorstep. She would get lonely from time to time, but she knew back at home she couldn’t make her ideas come to life like she could here. She remembered all the doubts people had about her back at home. Tomorrow was her time to prove to herself that she could make anything possible. 

 

 

There was stillness in the air. Small particles of dust floated past Emily as she lay under the window in her roof that the sun shone brightly through wakening her in the mornings. There was no need for an alarm clock when she could use the sunlight every morning like the woodland creatures did.

 “My invention!” Emily said to herself with excitement. She leapt out of her bed and ran outside, it lay in bits on the ground, the wings needed to be mounted to the bike before it would fly. Emily began as quickly as she could, attaching the wings, “you will see, it can fly, just you wait,” Emily started talking to herself. “Hooooot hooooooot,” the owl called from the tree. “I know you believe in me,” she replied. “Its ready!” She shook the wings to check they were secure then climbed upon the seat of the bike.

  

  Through a gap in the trees, Emily could see the peak of the mountain. She began to pedal. Climbing and climbing, the ground breaking up beneath her tyres as she pushed herself to the top.

  Emily’s legs where burning, she was nearly at the top, the excitement of flying pushed her all the way, finally she was there.

 The sky was so clear and the atmosphere was quiet, just a gentle breeze flowing through her hair.

“Wow, this is it!” she took in a deep breath and began unfolding the wings. Emily pointed the machine across the valley then sat on the seat and began to pedal.

 She pedaled and pedaled; the flying machine was bouncing up and down over the rocks that covered the floor, “come on… fly…fly!” She said desperately trying to get her machine up in the air.

  Her legs where burning, the wheels where spinning so fast, suddenly she got to a drop in front of her, the whoosh! The ground dropped from beneath her wheels, she was flying! “Waaaaaahhhhhheeeeeeeeeee,” she yelled at the top of her lungs! She laughed with excitement, “I did it!” She cried. Emily flicked the gear leaver and the propeller began to spin. She pulled the left rope steering her to the right, tilting her completely on her side. “Wahoooo! This is the best feeling in the world.” She felt so alive, everything she had been dreaming of was coming true in that one moment, she was flying, and she was free.

  Emily was nearing the other side of the valley, she could see right over the tops of the mountains on the other side, she had never been this far before. 

  As she gazed into the distance something began to emerge through the gap in the mountains. It was little rooftops scattered amongst the trees in the forest, there where tree houses! “I thought I was the only one here,” she gasped in astonishment. Emily began gliding in circles high above this small settlement so she could get a better look. There was nobody to be seen, only the remains of a fire that was still smoldering. “There must be people here!”

   Emily could see a clearing about a mile away from the tree houses. She released the ropes causing her to descend towards the small clearing. Emily got closer and closer, her wheels nearly on the ground, she pulled on the rope to level herself out, then touchdown! Emily had successfully landed.

 Emily hid her flying machine amongst the trees; luckily the tent material was green so it was hard to spot.

 Emily began to think to herself,” I wonder if these people are dangerous and don’t want me there?” She decided she would need some sort of self-protection just in case the worst happened, she decided to create a bow and arrow out of the wood she could find on the ground. She was using a shoelace as a belt, which was good and strong for her bow.

 She slowly crept her way through the forest. Adrenaline was pumping through her body, she was alert, every noise created a reaction, she would freeze and check her surroundings anytime a twig broke or an animal scampered through the trees. Emily was getting close; she could smell the smoke from the smoldering ashes of the fire she saw from above. Emily got within ten meters of the camp. She could not see anybody around; there where pots and bowls made from clay laid out on the floor in a circle, they must not be far to leave their cooking equipment outside. 

  Emily climbed a tree next to the settlement, which allowed her to see what looked like their communal area. The tree was thick with leaves; she would be hard to spot high up amongst the branches. Emily waited and waited, the sun slowly moving across the sky and began to lower itself towards the mountains. It was getting late. Just as Emily began to make her way out of the tree she heard something. Chanting, or singing, she was not sure it was, it was hard to make out. It got louder and louder, then before her very eyes came groups of people marching from the woods in to their camp, they were wearing clothing made from materials found amongst the woodlands, they were very intricately made, with some quite advanced designs. The people where speaking English, they didn’t sound like a tribe they sounded Canadian, like any Canadian she had heard before. “Where have they come from,” Emily thought to herself.

 They arrived with birds and deer slung over their shoulders, they had been hunting.

They didn’t look like bad people, Emily had a feeling it would be safe introducing herself to them. She climbed down from the tree then walked over to them, “Hello,” Emily said nervously. 

 “Who are you?” one of them gasped. “How do you know we are here,” said another, “how did you find us?”

 “I was flying and I saw rooftops in the trees.” Emily said with enthusiasm. “Flying!” one of them cried. “Yes, in my flying machine, I built it myself.” 

 They all looked at each other, looking baffled on where Emily had come from. 

 “It took us three days of hiking from the nearest village to get here, there are no roads, nobody has ever been here before yourself, we where the first people.” Said what looked like someone very important, everybody stopped in silence whilst he spoke. “You may join us for dinner and tell us more about who you are.” Emily took a moment to think about if this was a good idea. She nodded then took a seat around their campfire.

 The sun had set; the only light was the moon and the glow from the campfire, which spookily lit up everyone’s faces. “We are not sure whether it is wise for us to tell you why we are here young miss,” said a slightly chubby man with a long grey beard. “Why on earth not.” Emily said in a disappointed manner. “Well first off, we barely know you, how do we know you are not working for them?” now Emily looked really confused. “I don’t work for anyone, I am here by myself because I like it here, and I’d appreciate it if you would stop making accusations of something I know nothing about.” Emily was annoyed at the lack of information she was being given and the judgment she felt she was receiving from these strangers.

 “Ha ha, can’t you see Eric, this girl is harmless,” the man who looked important said. “My name is Sebastian, It is my fault all of us ended up here in the first place.” “Your fault?” Emily questioned. 

 “Your brilliant plan Sebastian, oh we will be rich he said, we will live in luxury he said… Well this isn’t luxury,” a tall skinny man said in anger. “Just ignore him.” Sebastian spoke in a gentle voice.

 Sebastian began telling their story; “Ten years ago, we were all young and reckless, we were dreamers. We worked in a coal mine amongst the mountains, the days where long, and we saw very little sunlight. We where tired and felt we deserved more for the work we did. “ Sebastian looked sad remembering these times. “Go on,” said Emily. “Well one day we overheard one of our bosses speaking on the phone. There was gold hidden and locked away in one of the tunnels that nobody knew about. They were planning on having it flown out a month after we heard the information. We kept it quite, and amongst us we came up with a plan to get it for ourselves.” “I take it that went well.” Emily chuckled to herself. “No it didn’t, and if you are going to laugh at us we won’t continue the story, oh and sorry but, we will have to kill you. “ “Kill me!” Emily quivered with fear.  The more she knew the more she wanted to get away from these people, her gut feeling was telling her something wasn’t right. “what’s wrong you seem unsettled,” one man said empathetically. Emily was so unsure who to trust, she just wanted to leave. “who are you and what do you want from me,” Emily cried. “hahaha,” laughed the cheif of the group, “oh she is clever,” he said with an untrustworthy smile. “tie her up,” he ordered. “aaggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh help help!” she screamed at the top of her lungs, there was nobody around to hear her but the woodland creatures. One man with a rope dragged her to a tree, she kicked and screamed but nobody responded. “you monsters,” she cried. Emily begun to sing, it was all she knew to do, she sang about the people she knew and trusted and how she wished they could be there with her. “haha she is crazy,” one man said to the others. “I’m not crazy she said I’m terrified!” the poor girl had no option, no power, and no people, only criminals surrounding her, criminal minds who loved the power they had in their hands. Nobody to listen, nobody to empathize with poor Emily.

The night was cold and dark, she could hear animals, but this time it was not the animals she was used to hearing. There where wolves in the area, wolves hungry for prey and Emily was defenceless and tied to a tree. One man gave her food, he had a spark of empathy in his eye, and he was not like the others. “It will be ok,” he calmly said to her. He kept watch from his tree house for most of the night making sure she was all right. “I didn’t know things could get this bad,” Emily cried to herself. “They knew after tying her up there was no going back, if she escaped she would have them all locked up, Emily knew they were thinking this, she knew she had to fight for her life. For everything she had worked so hard for. “Please help,” she cried, “please let me go, I was only curious, I only wanted to be friends, I wasn’t expecting this. Oh how could I have been so naive? “Emily knew this was bad, she knew she couldn’t escape on her own. She carried on singing. As she did she heard the birds singing in the trees. “It’s working!” the birds could hear her singing and they were reacting to it. Bird song filled the sky. “What’s going on, what is all that noise, “the chief stormed out of his house. “Stop singing, “he shouted at Emily, the birds carried on and they flew in a flock away from the camp, they had seen Emily, they had seen her tied to a tree. They wanted peace, they wanted to help. Emily calmed down as she saw the birds fly in circles above her; it sent shivers down her arms how beautiful it all was. One day she knew it would be fine, she could just sense it, good things where happening all around her. She knew people where out there, and she knew they wanted good in the world. As Emily relaxed so did the men around her, although they had a lot to lose and couldn’t let her escape. “Please untie me, I wont run off” Emily pleaded. “Ok but you will have to stay in the highest tree house where we can keep an eye on you,” said the chief. “Ok” replied Emily. They untied the ropes and watched her climb to the top tree house. This time they gave her some food. “Thank you” Emily said. Each night she would sit and sing herself to sleep, wishing for her friends. Meanwhile in the town of ferine she had walked from people noticed unusual behavior in the wildlife, groups of bears and cougars where forming, they were showing no threat to the locals and where not scared and hiding. The locals noted this behavior. It hadn’t been seen before. Birds circled Emily’s tree house. This could be seen from miles of the village. There where so many, it could possibly be seen from Fernie. Emily gazed across the valley from her tree house, time felt as though it was passing so slowly. “If only I could be free, “ Emily sung to herself. “flying up on a breeze, soaring so high.” “what is she singing... about flying,” one of the men cried. She wished she had never opened her mouth.” I always dreamed of flying,” Emily said. That is how we got here said the men. “shhhhhh” gasped the chief. “ Will you stop giving our game away.” “Game,” Emily said in shock. “You call this a game, your idea of fun is really twisted,” Emily sulked to herself. One dark night, when all where sleeping, Emily grabbed her things. It was cold and eerie. Emily could hear the chief snoring. She unwound the ropes that where holding her and dropped the rope down outside the treehouse and she got it to reach the floor, she climbed down and got to the floor, Emily had to run because she knew it wouldn't be long until she would be found. There was rope hanging from the tree that people would soon see. Emily ran into the darkness of the woods, scared she wouldn't survive long in those conditions. “I just know I can do it”, Emily thought to herself. If I keep motivated just enough it will be ok. She knew people out there where good at heart, she knew it was fear that created people to be cruel, she wished she could tell them everything will be ok. But right now Emily needed to be free, she needed her own space to gather her thoughts and figure out what she wanted to do. She had an old scruffy notebook in her back pocket, she needed a pen, and writing down her thoughts gave her a way of resting her mind and figuring out where to go next. She knew why they were all scared but she couldn't help them, she knew that they were scared for a reason and this could not be changed. But oh how she wished it could, she wished people could come together and talk about their fears so it would all be all right again. As she ran into the forest, demons filled her mind, everywhere she looked she could see darkness and cruelty, the world had turned into a dark place where only evil lurked, people no longer seemed trustworthy, people where no longer there to help, she was terrified, she didn't know which way to turn, she saw faces in the trees glaring at her, all the wildlife seemed to be running from something, they where no longer there to help, its like she knew something that she shouldn’t and that knowing was dark and dangerous. She was scared for her life; she didn't know where to find safety. “I should have never have come here”, she cried, “I never should have left my home the safety of my family”. Emily had lost sight of why she had come here in the first place. Why she had worked so hard to get to where she was. She slept in the hollow of a tree, cold and dark and scared. The cold hit her bones she felt so alone. She couldn't even sing to comfort her anymore, the world seemed so bleak.

She began having dark thoughts where she would have to fight to survive, she only found comfort in thoughts of people whom where nice to her in the past. She had lost sight of the present moment and couldn't see her way back to the light. She felt so bad, “why have I been treated this way? What have I done?” dark thoughts filled her mind, she began to feel like a bad person for thinking these things, “what has happened to me” she cried, this time there was no response from the creatures in the woods, she needed people, she needed kind people to help her find her way. But no longer did she feel worthy of the kindness of those people, the dark thoughts made her feel like a bad person. “I cannot be there for people, “I cannot help them, “she mumble to herself,  she knew she had to heal herself before she could heal them.” I cannot do it by myself,” Emily said unhappily, I need my friends to help me. Emily carried on walking through the woods, still shaken up by the treatment she received, “must be strong,” Emily said to herself, she got to the flying machine, she needed a place to take off, she searched for a clearing in the woods. She walked and walked, she bumped into two backpackers they looked very prepared for the outdoors, well equipped with all the tools for camping. “Hello,” she said in a shy voice. The two backpackers seemed puzzled at first. “What’s a young girl like you doing on your own out here?” one backpacker spoke in surprise. “I know things that I cannot tell anybody” she said scared whilst shaking from the fear of something bad happening to her. “We will look after you,” the other backpacker replied. She watched them talk to each other, hoping it wasn't going to be a repeat of last time she met people. She could trust them; her gut instinct was telling her they are good people who do what is right for others. “It was nice meeting you, but I must keep moving,” The backpacker’s kindness sparked motivation in Emily to push on with her goals. Emily thought of her log cabin and how she wished she was there, the hike was long and she was terrified of bumping into the men in the woods again that tied her up. She walked and walked until she came across her flying machine, which she pushed onto a clearing in the woods, “but how do I get it off the ground here?” She thought to herself. I need a ramp; she started to dig the mud to create a ramp to send her up into the sky. She dug and dug using a log she found nearby.  “I’ve done it” she cried! After a few hours she was so tired and needed sleep, she climbed up into a tree and fell asleep on one of its large branches. The next day would be take off, the night was long and cold, she heard animals scampering through the woods, she was scared of bears or cougars being nearby, she has read in her books that these animals lurked in these areas. It took her a long time to turn off her mind as she was on high alert in fear of predators. 

The next morning, she woke ready to fly, nervous about not knowing how the ramp would work. Emily lined up her bike with the ramp and started pedaling. She peddled and pedaled with all her might, the ramp getting closer, then whoosh, she hit the ramp, she pulled the rope to adjust her wings and that was it she was air bourn. “waaaahooooooooooo” Emily cried. She felt free again, in the sky souring through the valley in the mountains.. She gazed down onto the forest, she could see the rooftops of the tree houses, she felt safe, nobody could reach her up in the air, she was free she was flying. She steered the machine from side to side in giant swooshes left and right… she felt so alive. “Im free, as free as a bird ayayayaayayaaa! she cried. Souring throughout the air, she didn't want to land, “I'm having the time of my life but who can share it with me?” Emily wished she could find someone who could join her, missing her brother who was always with her on her adventures, it made him proud to see her using her mind.

Eventually Emily drifted down to the ground and walked back to her cabin. She wanted to find people, people to share her adventure with. “I wonder where the backpackers came from?” Emily thought to herself, she got out her map of British Columbia and found the nearest settlements where in a small mining town called Fernie. She plotted it was eighteen kilometers away, “not far at all,” she cried. She decided to pack her bag and leave for the town the next day. Emily collected the rainwater from the roof of her cabin into a container. She filled an old beat up water bottle that her brother had given her so she could stay hydrated on the long hike yet to come. She began walking to this small town located on her map she was using as a guide. Emily had taken her compass with her to Canada, she used it on an expedition with school, but now she felt it was getting good use. Emily remembered the survival training done with her school and she was able to put it to good use out here. Emily hiked and hiked, her feet where getting sore and she was running low on water. She looked for the nearest stream on the map and then made her way to it to fill up her water bottle. The water was so fresh and clean looking. She used a couple of chlorine tablets, which she was running low on to sanitize the water so it was safe to drink. She began to see telegraph poles and a big mast on top of a mountain. “Yes I must be near,” she gasped. “yippeee” she said to herself in her mind, a big smile lit up her face as she made her way to the edge of town. 

Emily did miss her cabin, but she was so keen to meet new people that she would settle for any accommodation. As she walked through the trails in the mountains she began to see the rooftops of the houses in the town ahead.  She saw train tracks, she was walking parallel to them, and decided to follow them until she reached the town, the sun was beginning to set, the sky was glowing purple, there was a hazy glow, as the air was dusty, the heat of the summer still filled the air and she could feel that she had caught the sun on her arms. 

 Emily finally reached a road, “yes, I am there!” Emily softly said to herself with excitement.

 

The events that passed in the woods that scared her so much started to fade in her mind as a new adventure lay ahead. 

As Emily walked into the town, she noticed all the different houses, they were all different shapes and sizes, and all had their own character. Emily thought to herself, “this town has so much more personality that the streets back in England, there was so much character and a feeling of friendliness before she even spotted people. She began to walk towards some shops and cafes, there where a few bars on the street, Emily walked into one bar called the Smokey fox, she walked up to the bar and a woman was stood on the other side smiling. “Who is this young lady,” she spoke in a warm welcoming way, “we haven’t seen you around here!” “Hello” Emily replied, “I’m Emily, I have been hiking into town and was living amongst the woods,” the woman looked at her with surprise, “on your own?” the woman replied,” yes” Emily said, I built a small cabin. “Wow you clever girl, and brave!”  “thank you” relied Emily. She thought of the men she met in the woodland, but decided to keep it to herself, as she wanted to stay as safe as possible. “It was lovely meeting you!” Emily quickly responded as she wanted to wrap it up there and then, “yes you too” the lady replied. “My name is Cynthia by the way, hopefully we shall see each other again soon!” “Yes that would be nice” Emily replied. 

Emily set off back into town to look for a place to live, she wanted a light room, preferably with skylight because she loved to be awoken by the sunlight in the morning. She looked at adds on a billboard outside, one jumped out at her… it seemed perfect, it had a skylight just like she wished for, wooden beams and everything. She quickly rushed to a payphone, she rang the number, the lady answered the phone, she sounded nice, but Emily felt something in the pit off her stomach, something was telling her to be cautious. She was so excited about the house she ignored her intuition, as the picture looked so wonderful. 

  Emily went to see the house, she met the lady who owned it, she came across quite friendly and accommodating, but there was a coldness in her eyes, a lack of warmth and empathy, Emily felt a tingle running down her back, as Emily opened up about where she had been living, the lady cut her off mid conversation and walked away, it made Emily feel small, “Is there something wrong with me?” Emily thought to herself. “Oh well, I’m sure the room will be nice.” 

Emily got taken upstairs to the room in the roof, it was perfect just as she imagined, and it had an old rustic feel and a window in the roof just as she wanted. “Perfect” Emily whispered to herself. 

“I will move in right away”, Emily said with enthusiasm, The lady heard her, she paused for a moment, she carried on walking away from her, “excuse me” Emily cried. “oh what was that dear” the lady replied, “Il move in right away!” Emily repeated, whilst knowing full well the lady heard her the first time around. “OK lovely, whenever you are ready,” the lady replied. 

Emily felt suspicious of this lady; she felt a power come over her that she could not escape when talking to her. The room was too good for her to turn down, so Emily took it, ignoring her feeling about the landlady.

Emily gathered her belongings, there were not very many of them, just a couple of spare pairs of clothes and her notebook and water bottle. 

Emily went into the town to find some work, she came across a small shop that sold outdoor adventure equipment, she saw that they were selling hand gliders, “wow,” Emily paused and looked through the window, “I want to work here” Emily said to herself. Emily went inside, there was a man busy working on patching a broken wing of the hand glider, “Hello, my name is Emily, I am new in town and I am looking for a job,” Emily said nervously to the man, “Hello,” the man replied, “have you had any experience in this field of work?” Emily paused for a moment,”well……. I built my own flying machine,” Emily said with excitement. “hahaha,” the man replied, “a flying machine!” “yes honestly,” Emily replied. “I would have to see proof of that,” he replied. “it is how I got here, I love inventing and I think I would be good at helping out here, I also really want to learn!” ‘OK” the man replied, “you can have a trial day in 2 days time”, Emily tried to contain her enthusiasm. “thank you so much,” she replied, and made her way out of the shop. Emily was so excited; she wanted to learn more about flying.

Emily returned to the house, she had all of her belongings packed. She knocked on the front door, she was waiting for at least ten minutes outside before the landlady came to the door, “my name is sue”, the lady said abruptly, “ok, thank you,” Emily replied, whilst feeling disheartened by her attitude. 

Emily hiked her way upstairs with her belongings, when she got to the top floor, she took a deep breath in, then breathed out with relief, she then put her arms out to the side and fell backwards onto the bed..”aghh..luxury!” she said to herself, whilst gazing up out of the window in the roof. Emily finally felt a sense of safety and homeliness which she had been missing whilst living on her own, because she was now in town she felt a connection to the people around her, she had been missing this feeling and was happy to be able to go and make new friends in town. 

 

Sue came upstairs, and peered into her room, Emily felt uncomfortable, as the lady did not knock. She just walked in. Emily ignored it and thought it must just be a one off, but made her feel a little nervous. Emily began to explain to Sue her story, “I came from England, and wanted to come here and feel the freedom of living in nature away from the city,” Emily then began to enthusiastically explain,” I love flying and I am going to work in the shop in town that sells the hang gliders,” as Emily became enthusiastic about what she was speaking about, the lady just walked away, Emily was in shock, “what have I done?” she thought to herself, it triggered her into a state of fight or flight, like she had just been abandoned, it made Emily feel really small. The lady disappeared downstairs and went down into the basement, where people where strictly forbidden, it was Sues work area, but she did not let on to what she was doing.

Emily felt uncomfortable at what she was hiding from her. She noticed a coldness in the lady’s eyes, she couldn’t feel any warmth, when she stared at her, it was almost like being sucked into a trace where she couldn’t think, because of how intensely the lady was focusing on her, it was like a reptilian stare, with no warmth that you get from normal human connection, something was off, and it made Emily feel really uneasy.

Emily was left feeling really uncomfortable, something didn’t feel right and she felt a sense of anxiety come over her, like her mind was trying to protect her from something, but she could not logically explain what it was.

Emily went downstairs and sat in the kitchen, the lady came in, “I want to lay down the rules,” she sternly said. “No guests, and you are not allowed in the study, or the living room,” Emily was upset as to not being allowed in the living room, it made her feel isolated.

Emily started to worry about whether moving in here was a good idea. The place was beautiful, but something about the landlady gave her shivers down her back, there was something not quite right, the empathetic warmth and connection she got from most people she met was not there, something inside of Emily was screaming danger upon every encounter, but this cold and scary woman was masked with a friendly exterior so Emily could not fully explain what she was feeling, it was confusing. 

“I wonder why I am not allowed downstairs in the study?” Emily thought to herself, “what has this woman got to hide?” Emily became more and more suspicious of this lady, her gut feeling, and every bone in her body was telling her something was not right.

Emily decided to get some sleep, as her first day of work was tomorrow and she wanted to be up fresh and ready. 

For some reason it took Emily quite a while to get to sleep, every noise was making her jump, and she felt a sense of danger living with this lady, but there was no outward evidence to make her feel she was not safe, it was just an intuitive response to her. 

Eventually after, a lot of effort Emily fell asleep. 

 

“tweet tweet, tweet tweet”, Emily rubbed her eyes and looked up to see a little bird sat on the ledge of her window, “thank you for waking me,” Emily said with a smile. Emily stretched her arms out wide then stepped of her bed and up to the window. It was a calm sunny day, with a gentle breeze, Emily smiled and scurried downstairs to get a drink, the landlady glared at Emily, she felt a cold shiver run down her back, “something is really up here”, Emily thought to her self. Quicky she gulped down her glass of orange juice and she scampered upstairs. 

She quickly changed into her clothes and then set off, out to work.

As she strolled down the road the sun shone brightly through the valley in the mountains and the breeze softly brushed through Emily’s hair, she took a deep breath in as she arrived for her first day at work, “right, im ready,” she positively said to herself as she reached for the door handle of the shop. 

As she entered the shop, she saw different parts to paragliders, she was so happy and so excited. “Emily could you take this to the post office?” her boss called, “yes of course” she replied. Emily took the package and left the shop, as she walked down the street, she felt a tingling feeling in her body, she suddenly felt like she was getting bigger and smaller…. “what is happening to me she cried?” she closed her eyes, everything went dark, then suddenly she had a vision. It was her land lady, she was shouting at the men she saw in the woods, “what is this, what could it mean, and what did they put in my coffee?” she thought to herself, she opened her eyes, she was back in the street, but this time it really was dark. “are you ok miss?” a tall man said to her. Emily looked baffled for a moment, “oh… um… I think so.” Emily said in shock. “well we don’t want you getting cold out here, you should be heading home!” “Ok sir, and thankyou,” Emily replied. She walked down the road back to the house where she was staying, she was curious about what had happened to her, and what that vision meant, it felt so real! She got home and climbed back into bed, wondering what the vision meant, she didn’t feel safe around her land lady at all.  Emily posted the package and returned to work, she could not focus at all, everything she felt in her vision felt so real, it must have had meaning. “I must have been thinking this for a reason”, Emily thought to herself. Emily sat there folding the kite material for the gliders, she knew there was a lot of responsibility to her job, as people could be hurt if things where not well maintained in the shop. When the end of the day came she felt it was not a safe place to be, living with this lady, Emily felt like she was in danger staying in that house. As she walked past the thrift store on the high street, she saw a tent bag, Emily was frightened, but she needed space to think and feel free, she had ten dollars in her pocket from her day in the shop, she lay it under the other items left outside the store, and walked towards the forest with her new canvas tent. She walked up a really steep hill, she put the handles of the tent over her shoulders like a backpack it was very heavy, she walked along a path with a steep drop to the side of it, she got to the top and pitched her tent, it looked across the mountain range, Emily had a few candles in her bag which she put in her tent, she lay In the tent and gazed at the view, she watched the birds sore across the sky, they flew with such unity, and harmony, she thought it was beautiful. She knew that there was an intricate balance between her scientific and logical thoughts and the intuitive flow she could see in nature, back in the city she just couldn’t bridge the gap between these two aspects of herself, she felt there was an emptiness, or a hollowness to the workings of the city, it was not a true representation of the science she loved, she loved the mystery of the patterns in nature. She knew a lawyer was not her soul purpose, she knew she was meant for something deeper than that, but she still wasn’t quite sure what this was. As she gazed across the valley, she felt shivers run up her arms, she felt free, she felt at home. This was who she was, this is where she was meant to be. She lay back and looked up at the canvas above her. Suddenly she heard footsteps, Emily froze, she felt like a rabbit in the headlights. “Are you ok, miss,” “Ummm, yes, I’m ok, who are you?” Emily replied. “I’m the deputy Sargent, from the town, you have been reported missing.” “But I’m not messing I’m here, and if you wouldn’t mind I would like to enjoy my camping trip!” Emily replied in a frustrated tone. “As long as you are ok.” He responded. “Yes I’m fine, and thank you for showing concern.” Emily said. “Why does this always happen to me?” Emily thought to herself. Emily lay back and went to sleep, she kept the tent doors open so she could gaze across the valley and see the stars in the sky. Emily slept so peacefully out in nature, the next day she awoke, the sky was beautiful, it was bright pink, and the cloud formations looked like castles, it felt like a message. Like a message from the city. She did miss her friends, and she knew she was still connected to them. Emily waved at the castles, in the hope that her friends would get the message. Emily zipped up her tent, and tied a lace around the zips, she felt she could trust the people in the town to keep the tent safe whilst she worked in the shop, the feel of the town is that everyone looked out for each other. There where lovely coffee shops and art galleries, before work, she had time to drink a cup of tea in one of the tea shops she was really fond of. It had a mystical feel to it. Like nothing she had back in London. Everyone felt free to be their authentic selves here. Emily did not feel like a robot like she did in London, she felt she could express her creativity freely in this town. After she had her tea, she walked into the nearest bookshop, she was curious to know what her visions where telling her, she bought a story written by a neuroscientist. When she was at work in the shop, Emily secretly read this book whilst sorting the flying gear for customers. It was fascinating, there is a science in every aspect of nature, and Emily’s curiosity drove her to put these pieces together.

Emily knew the day was going to be long, she had her notebook tucked into her back, she wanted to try and decipher the meaning of her vision. She thought this lady must have something to do with the reason these men where in the woods, too terrified to re integrate with the people in the town, “how could she have scared them that much?” Emily thought to herself. Emily was always interested in nature, when she was working on computers she would get very agitated, but she knew that there was a lot going on that she did not yet know about, in the technology around her. She was curious to know how it all connected, much like nature. “There must be something bigger going on.” Emily thought to herself. “somehow these men feel controlled in some way,” Emily pondered. “I just don’t know how they could have flown out there without any intent on returning, they seemed to want to live in luxury, and the way they are living is far from that.” Emily really wanted to help these men, she knew they did her wrong, but she also knew they must have been suffering to have needed to do something so drastic to her. 

 This day at work allowed the staff to test out some of the new products, Emily was so excited, she was actually being given the opportunity to fly a hang glider, for real, by herself. Emily and the staff drove to the top of one of the closest mountains, they had all the flying gear in the back. When they got to the top of the mountain they constructed the wings of the gliders, they put the framework together, Emily was strapped into what felt like a sling. Emily got one big push off the mountain and she was up in the air, hovering for a few seconds, then she swept forward on a current of warm air, this enabled her to stay high up in the sky for a long time. Her body acted as a pendulum, and the bar she was holding enabled her to move the wings and steer her where she wanted to go. It was so precise, and she felt she had so much control and agility in the air. She swooped over the town of Fernie, looking down on all the rooftops, it looked so small within the vast mountain range in British Columbia. Emily felt she could stay up there forever. She was so content flying through the clouds, and seeing the peaks of the mountains. She could see golden eagles circling below her, she was flying above the predators of the sky, she felt unstoppable.

Emily could see her tent, it was still zipped up and safe, she felt very secure in this town, like she was truly free to be her authentic self. Back in the city, Emily felt she had to cut herself off from her adventurous spirit and her creativity, she was expected to only be analytical and judgmental when at home, as that is what her job would have entailed if she had not got away. 

Emily was waved down by the staff members, her time was up, it was time to return to the shop and pack away the gliders. Landing the gliders could be a little scary, especially if the wind was up, luckily it was calm day, Emily felt she had a lot of control over her glider as she descended towards the fields below her, her glider had big chunky wheels, these hit the ground and absorbed a lot of impact. She was unstrapped from the glider. “thanks guy! That was amazing,” Emily said with excitement. “It’s our pleasure,” replied Emily’s manager. They made their way back to the shop, and put the gliders away in their storage boxes. “Bye, see you tomorrow!” Emily waved goodbye to the staff. She set off back to her tent. She was so happy and content. When she arrived at her tent she fell asleep almost straight away. It had been a long day.

 

Emily did not know what to do about her knowledge of the men in the woods, she knew they were still out there, and she couldn’t help but feel sorry for them and their situation, despite what they did to her. She knew there must have been a reason, she knew they must have been scared of something.

 Emily thought long and hard about what could be scaring them so much. She was listening to her intellect, but her heart was screaming at her, it was saying her landlady knew something that she didn’t want anybody to know, something top secret. Possibly something hidden away in her cellar. Emily kept thinking to herself, “how am I supposed to figure this out, and how am I going to get people to listen if this is just a hunch?” Emily was both frightened, but motivated, she wanted to find out a way to solve this, but first, she needed to recover what happened to her, she knew she could not fully focus on the task ahead when she was still fearing for her own safety. Emily could sense the energy in the town, everyone was scared, everyone knew something, but they were all too scared to speak about it. The best way for Emily to think clearly was to fly, she felt safe and free flying above the trees, she didn’t feel caught up in what was going on the land. Everything made so much more sense up there. Emily thought to herself, she knew all the gliders where patcked away, her only other option was her flying machine. “Where did I put it?” Emily pondered for herself..... “Oh here it is” she could see the green colored wings in the distance. “I cannot fly it with as much precision as the gliders in the shop, but I love seeing my inventions come to life!” Emily took her flying machine and pushed it to the top of the hill. It was hard work; Emily was glad she had packed those flapjacks in her pocket, she needed that energy to get her to the top of the hill. Emily put on her helmet, then sat on the seat of her flying machine, she knew she needed to focus on getting it air born, any focus she had on things going wrong would not help her. She could feel the fear of the men in the woods, she could feel they feared her, and her escape from them, it was making her very nervous about flying. “I don’t know if this is a good idea”, Emily thought to herself. But Emily was brave, she did not want to feel trapped by the fear and anger she felt from what she had been through, Emily began pedaling, she looked across the horizon, she looked past the mountains, off in the distance, she could see the faint outline of a castle, it was the clouds! “wow, this is so cool!”  Emily focused on the castles, it was like they were pulling her through the air, the air from the ground was heating up over the hot springs in the forest below, she felt it under the wings of her flying machine.” This is so much fun!” Emily thought to herself, I feel so free. “I wonder if birds feel the same as I do,” Emily thought to herself, “do they know they are flying,” Emily could see the way they all flew together, like they were all working as a team. Emily could see the patterns they were making in the sky, like they were following a current, it wasn’t the breeze, it was something more, Emily directed her focus on where the birds where going, it was like she fell into the same flow of movement that the birds where taking. “But how is this possible?” Emily said to herself. As Emily focused her gaze, the birds flew down into a clearing in the woods, she pulled the ropes to lower the rear edges of the wings, the flying machine levelled out, and her wheels touched the ground. “Where am I?” Emily thought to herself. “I have never been here before,” she looked up to see a tall twisty tree, “Wow, this is beautiful!” Emily thought long and hard, she didn’t want to be stuck in the town any more, she knew too much about what had taken place, she felt her knowledge would only get her into trouble. Emily could see branches beginning very low to the ground, the spiraling up and up towards the canopy of the tree, “How can I not climb this tree, it is like a natural ladder!” Emily pushed her flying machine into the undergrowth so it couldn’t be seen. She walked to the tree and then began to climb. She climbed for a long time, she had never seen a tree so tall. “I could live here!” Emily thought to herself, “Oh how am I going to get the wood cut neatly to build this. She knew the men she had seen in the woods had tools for building, she was not sure where they could be, but she had a feeling, that deep down, they really wanted to help Emily, it was like they could feel that it was safe. Emily sat in the tree and gazed across the valley, she was so high up, she could see all the other tree tops below, she could see the birds flying from their branches. The sun was setting; it was so beautiful. She could see the clouds floating through the currents in the sky, she could see them swirling past the leaves in the very top branches of the tree. It felt magical. “I don’t want to be anywhere else right now, right now I feel completely free!” As Emily sat and looked across the valley, something didn’t feel right, something was sending shivers down her back, she was terrified! All the birds flew from the trees, the clouds in the distance started to change shape, like a vortex, it was where the castle formations where before. “I must be dreaming,” Emily put her hands on her face, “No, I’m definitely awake, I need to talk to someone about this!” Emily decided to fall asleep in one of the high up branches in the tree, she knew there where predators, like bears in the woodland below, she needed to stay safe. She knew she would have to build a canopy up in the tree to stay safe. But she was so tired, a golden eagle flew to the end of the branch closest to her. Emily backed away, but then she realized, it wasn’t dangerous, it looked at her, stared deep into her eyes. Then it looked at the branch, “I think it is safe to sleep here,” Emily intuitively thought. The eagle perched on the branch above her, then almost like a statue it stared back across the sky towards the clouds which where spinning like a vortex. Emily felt safe, she led down on the branch, she had read in one of her anthropology books at home in England, that we have evolved from monkeys, and monkeys keep their hands tightly gripped on the branches of the tree even when they are sleeping. Emily had experimented with things at home, at home she would fall asleep holding onto a rock, and in the morning it would still be firmly in her hand, “it must be true!” Emily lead down on the branch and held on tight. The next day Emily woke up still holding the branch. “Wow” Emily thought to herself. “But I need to stay dry, and I need a place to work,” Emily knew she had to build a house in the tree to stay safe. Emily climbed down from her branch, she climbed back down to the clearing in the woods, she went and gathered bits of wood off of the ground to build her tree house, she walked for miles to find the right kind of branches and logs to build her tree house, she found some fallen trees about three hundred meters from where she was going to build her new home. she dragged the trees across the forest floor. she needed tools so she could cut the wood into thin slices. To make the walls of her tree house. She needed to find something to use, as she walked through the woodland, she came to a very old and run down looking shed, inside the shed there where old and rusty tools, it looked like nobody had been in the shed for a long time, like these thing had just been left there, she knew it was dangerous to use anything that had rust on it, if she cut herself whist making the tree houses she might get really ill. She tried to find something to clean up the rusty tools in the shed. She had seen a tub of paraffin, it must have been used to fuel a fire by someone, it was also covered in rust. She opened up the tin and poured the paraffin on an old bit of cloth from her pocket, she began polishing the blades of the saw, she managed to remove all the rust. “Perfect,” Emily thought to herself. She carried it back to the forest clearing. She managed to work out how thick she needed each plank of wood for her tree house, she carefully took each bit of wood and tied them together with her rope. She took the other and of the rope and she climbed up the branches of the tree with it, she wove it over the branch of the tree, she then climbed back down to the ground, she wrapped the rope around one of the low down branches, and then began to pull on the rope, the branch created resistance, to stop the rope sliding back the other way, Emily pulled with all her strength, she managed to hoist the planks of wood all the way to the branch she was sleeping on. It took her many times to get the wood all the way to where she wanted to build her house. She found a place in the tree where the branches formed a circle. Almost like the legs of a spider around the outside of the tree. There were perfect for laying out the floor of her canopy, Emily began to lay out the slats of wood across these branches, she had to build a few extra rungs for the floor to be built upon, as she lay down the planks of wood she was exhausted, she needed to sleep, she curled up on the small amount of flooring she had put down, there was a circling of louds above her head, but she could see clearly the stars through the clearing in the center, it was almost like a port hole looking out into space, Emily dreamed of flying amongst the stars. That night Emily had the strangest dream, she dreamed she was flying, she dreamed she was a bird, but this time her surroundings looked completely different. There where tall structures put in place, made out of copper, she couldn’t figure out what it meant, it was like, everything was connected. Emily remembered her dream so vividly, she felt it had some kind of meaning, like the whole universe was speaking to her. Emily awoke, as she did the golden eagle flew from her tree. It glided in formations in the sky, almost as if it were dancing. She could see that it was like the eagle was riding a wave, A wave that was controlling the flow of movement that the bird was taking. “This is so cool!” Emily thought to herself. She decided not to rush into her day like she was used to doing, she needed time to take in her surroundings and understand its workings at a deeper level. She needed to trust her intuition. The intellectual script she had been following her whole life in London was not working for her, It was making her sad, she was not allowing herself the freedom to think and feel for herself, to think and feel what was true for her. Nobody ever could see how she thought back in London, they could not understand how she linked information together the way she did, they couldn’t find it in the text books that they read from, so she never got listened to. Emily knew that if the world was to carry on that way we would all be unhappy. She saw the way animals moved in nature and she realized that that is how nature is supposed to be. We are not machines. Yet everybody seemed to treat each other like one in the city. She wanted a lifestyle where she would not be exploited. She wanted to feel free. That is why she was in nature, where she felt totally free.

Emily slowly climbed down from her canopy in the sky, she made her way down to the ground, slowly lowering herself from branch to branch. She just held on and dangled her feet. “you can’t do this in the city” Emily said to herself. Emily was quite a good gymnast, as a girl she used to attend gymnastics classes, she felt at one with the tree. We are all trees you see, in chopping down a tree you are really hurting yourself, Emily could feel this, she knew her dream meant something, she knew that we were connected to everything in nature, people just didn’t seem to be able to see this back home, it was more like they were interested in tearing one and other down than working together to make the world a nicer place. Emily decided it was wise to be in a nicer place. 

  Emily wanted to complete her tree house. She wanted to make it as homely as possible, she went into the woodland to gather ferns to line the roof with. She wanted it to remain water proof, she found reeds of grass which kept the roof water tight and helped the water run off towards the ground. Whilst the fern acted as insulation. Emily was constructing her new home, she wouldn’t have to be pushed and pulled around by the things she could understand where happening in the town, she couldn’t be around people and keep her knowledge to herself, it was making her un happy. Emily knew it was a good idea to write down her thoughts. She knew it was a good Idea to keep a record of them. If she did it would enable her to understand things so much more, she also felt that by putting her information on paper, it seemed to express it into the universe somehow. It seemed to enable this information to be heard and seen by everyone, whether they were aware of this or not. She realized that this could be used as a manipulative tool, but it could also be used in her favor. She knew that the things that had happened to her where not known in nature, she had held onto her emotions which stopped the information being heard by all the things that surrounded her. She knew she had to feel what happened to her, if she did, then the universe would believe her, she needed space to do this, she needed a place, away from the noise, and distraction and lifestyle of the people around her. She needed to find a way to sit with how she felt, to sit with the sadness that she felt about the things that happened in the city, and the things that happened in woods. Emily was frightened, and she knew it was that fear that kept her attached to people that did not believe in her, and people who made her scared. Emily needed to change her beliefs about what life was really all about. It was not what she had been taught to believe by the people back in London, it was not what society was telling everyone to believe. Yet she was still coming from a place of feeling she needed to do more and be more and work harder, she needed to change these thought patterns if she wanted to truly be happy. 

 Emily gave herself time to look after herself again, and time to just be herself, she was tired of trying to be everything for everyone else, she needed time to look after her. It had felt like her whole childhood she was not truly allowed to be herself, she always had to fit in with other people’s ideas of what they wanted her to be, she never felt like she was really seen for just being her true self. She always felt she had to hide who she really was, the things that she was most passionate about. It was like everyone around her was trying to mold her into something, rather than just letting her be her. She felt like she had to keep that aspect locked away, she didn’t want people to see the real girl that she was because she felt it was an embarrassment to her father, and family, the only person she felt she could truly be happy around was her brother, he knew the quirky nature of her personality, and it was something to be celebrated, but she just could not see it. Emily was a free spirit, she was creative, and she liked science, but she could not work the way she was forced to work by her father, she could not fit the mold that he intended for her to live, she knew she needed to follow her intuition, and her heart and not what other people’s minds wanted her to be. She was not fit to be a lawyer, yet that is the only thing her father seemed to see in her. There was so much more to her, that she felt was squashed and not accepted, that is why she needed to get away to be free, she needed to learn to love her real self, and it was very hard to do that back in London. That is why everything made so much more sense in nature, she felt aligned with her true nature, which could not be found in England.

 Emily decided to start listening to everything she felt, she began to pay attention to the tiny details of the forest, the way things moved, the way things worked, it felt like this natural flow of energy didn’t exist within the city, it felt like something was stopping this from occurring. She could still feel it though, the pull of the city, she could feel the emotions felt by those within the city back home, like she was still connected to them in some way. It was like she could still feel and hear her father telling her to go to her room. It felt like no matter where she went she was not able to escape the feeling of being trapped, the feeling of being controlled in some way. She still felt surrounded by people that wanted to cause her harm, and she kept being almost a magnet to people who continued to treat her in the same way. Even when there was nobody around, she could feel their presence, even when she was surrounded by nice people, she could still feel them there. Emily knew that the power was in her hands to change this, but she knew it was going to take a lot of work, and she knew it didn’t come from anything she was doing, it had to be what she really was as a person, just her, as herself. Emily began to realize how much her thoughts where changing her environment. She would focus on animals, nature and the weather and see how it moved, the flow of things changed depending on where she had her mind set. She felt she could direct the flow of energy, the flow of the wildlife that surrounded her. She struggled to feel this way in the city. She could now observe how the biology of nature moved in ripples around her, she could see the importance she played by just existing, by just observing her environment. She was used to moving at such an extreme pace, but she realized that the harder she worked the less she seemed to accomplish, when she took the time to just sit and observe her surroundings she was able to make changes that she never thought where possible. Emily started to focus on small tasks like cooking and organizing, she mindfully focused on everything she was doing, she could sense each