She was a discoverer of paths hidden. It started out as an expedition, a very short expedition, I might add, through the evergreens behind the house, standing in stately predictability. But when she got to the end of the little wood, there were several small Christmas tree-like specimens gathered close to a small grassy area. And then, a path. She couldn’t really help it, she needed to follow the path. For where there is an unknown path, there might be sweet surprises.
And surely, the path led into another wood, a young and wildish kind of wood, yet serene and delicate. This wood was not ordered, as the evergreen wood was. The trees, none of which in this section were very large, grew up in a scattered, haphazard fashion, and many branches lay among them, along with brushy types of plants. Yet because the trees were still so small, and the leaves didn’t obscure the sun, it could shine through and make the grass grow on the path in the wood.
She found a clump of bluets on a raised mound where the path seemed to go in two different directions, a splash of blue and white among the brown and green. Violets grew here and there, and further in, she found a place which made her think of Anne Shirley’s Violet Vale. It was close to an outer edge of the little wood beside a field, and there were violets among the brambles, deep purple ones. She didn’t go far beyond that point, the path seemed to have an increased amount of prickly things, and besides, she didn’t even know whether or not it was permissible to be in the little wood at all. Unaware of how far back the owners’ property extended, it could be quite possible that she was indeed trespassing.
Trespassing or no, the next day she was back again, this time with a blanket. She brought with her such materials as she thought she might want, and though she walked in the yard first, looking for a spot where she might settle for a little while, she found nothing there that quite suited. The front yard was too visible to the road. The backyard didn’t have the greatest view. So, she found herself walking with a purpose through the evergreens again, where she followed the path to the crossroad of sorts, and spread out her blanket, hidden away from the neighbors. For now, this fairy-like world was hers. The clump of bluets was still there, and the violets waited.
Twenty-something 