Introduction: A Trail of Flowers

                                    

                                          
You look down, noticing how small and fragile you appear to yourself. You're eight again, you conclude. You wear your white sundress, decorated with large yellow sunflowers. Your dress was once paired with white sandals, but you chose to slip them off and leave them on the porch. 
                          
Looking back, you see the new house you moved to with your mother. Something catches your attention as you glance in front of you. You look up ahead, seeing a glimpse of a large shadow as it slips through the trees. Curiosity fills your mind with questions and you decide to follow behind it. 
                          
Glancing back at your mother, you see her still weaving her Easter basket. She doesn't seem to realize that you wandered away. You can't blame her, for basket weaving requires a large amount of concentration. So much concentration, you lost interest in your own basket and determined that it wasn't worth it. Looking ahead, you spot the shadow's tail and continue forward. Something stops you in your tracks. 
                          
You glance at your feet, frightened from the sight. You had almost stepped on a poor, innocent white flower. The yellow center popping out of the middle. Looking in front of the flower, you start to notice the long trail of them. One in front of the other, like a path leading you into the forest. A smile spreads wide across your face. Stepping to the side, as to not accidentally crush any flowers, you follow the path into the dense forest. 
                          
Once you make your way through the line of trees, you discover that the trail of flowers lead to the area where you saw the shadow. You conclude that, the shadow you saw somehow made the trail of flowers. With the thought of finding that shadow, you happily continue onward. 
                          
Before you realize it, you're lead by the flowers to a large, opened area of the forest. The towering trees circle the flat land. When scanning the new surroundings, that's when you see it. Something tall is faced away from you, but you can tell it's doing something to the tree in front of it. 
                          
You stare at its back in amazement. It seems to be made out of wood, almost completely blending in with the trees around it. It's textured, rough body perfectly replicating the bark of a tree. 
                          
Glancing down, you see that you were right about the flowers leading to the creature. It's feet are surrounded by the same plant that you followed here. You step closer, wondering if it can feel your presence. After a short moment, you take a few other steps, getting closer and closer to the large, wooden creature. 
                          
To you, he seems to resemble a tall, human-ish shaped tree. And what you thought was a swishing cat tail, is actually a short vine protruding from the lower part of its back. But it still counts as a tail, because it's in the same place a tail would be, and it moves exactly like a cat's tail would. 
                          
You stretch yourself up as far as you can, attempting to take a closer look at his head. From what you can see, he has long buck horns that are also made out of wood. Small, spring leaves decorate his large horns as moss protrudes from certain areas. 
                          
You trot closer, reaching your hand out to feel if his body really does have bark on it. While stretching your hand out, you realize the zigzag shape of its legs. It reminds you of a dog's back legs, from the way it stands, to the way it moves. 
                          
It freezes at your soft touch. Your hand grazes down the side of its calf, your mouth agape in astonishment. It shifts ever so slightly, feeling your hand as it gingerly slides down it's leg. It's entire body is completely made out of wood, you conclude with amazement. Your eyes scan it's leg, looking down at its feet in confusion. It doesn't have feet, so you're questioning how it can stand. 
                          
You notice it's leg move away from your hand. You quickly pull back in surprise, staring up with wide eyes. Your eyes flick back to its legs. You gasp at the sight. It doesn't have feet, it has roots all around the base of each leg. Looking back up, you finally see it's front side. 
                          
You start thinking, it must be a boy because it doesn't have the same shape your mother has. He has a well built chest, two chiseled out pecks and the rest of his body is well chiseled out too. But you, being only eight, are more interested in his face. 
                          
You step back, watching as he very slowly squats down to your height. He moves gently, as to not scare you. He watches you with curious eyes, getting down to your short stature and staying still as you examine him. He examines you as well, realizing that you're no threat to him, mostly because of how tiny you are compared to him. 
                          
Glancing behind the creature, you see the small gash around the midsection of the tree. Something tells you he was in the process of fixing it, until you had so rudely interrupted. 
                          
You stare back at him. His face is a little frightening, but you shuffle closer nonetheless. Where you thought you'd see human resembling facial features, is the skull of a buck. Except, just like the rest of him, his face is made out of wood. It's as bumpy and uneven as his body. 
                          
His eyes scare you the most, or lack of eyes. Hollowed out eye sockets gaze back at you, dark and ominous. You wonder if he can see you, or see at all. His teeth should scare you as well, you note, them being rather sharp for deer teeth. They look more like a dog's teeth than deer teeth. His neck is a normal human looking neck, except for also being made out of wood. 
                          
You gently lift your hand, wanting to pet the bridge of his nose like you do with a puppy. He doesn't move, watching your hand with a soft gaze. He smiles to himself, realizing how gentle you're trying to be with him as you hover your hand over his nose. You have a feeling that the creature seems to sense your timidness. 
                          
He closes the gap between your hand and his nose, gingerly resting it on your palm. The bark rubs against your hand, but you barely notice. You're too interested in the creature to care about your delicate skin. 
                          
The creature moves slightly, causing you to jump. He stops, waiting for you to start petting his nose again before he continues. He shifts his right hand towards you. You take your hand off of his nose, looking down at his long fingers in confusion. He unfurls his pointer finger, pointing it to your face. You observe his finger with wonder, watching as a beautiful, yellow flower blooms from his fingertip. 
                          
You smile, mouth agape while you blink rapidly. He moves his arm closer to you, coaxing you to take it. You go to grab it, but quickly pull your hand away. He cocks his head, wondering why your face dropped so suddenly, and why you won't take his gift. 
                          
The way he tilts his head reminds you of a confused puppy, so you decide to explain. "I would take it." You start in a soft whisper as you play with the hem of your dress. "But if I pluck it, it'll die." 
                          
You smile sorrowfully at him, clasping your hands together as you shift around. His eyes widen at your words. How a child as young as you can understand death, saddens the creature. 
                          
With a slow, understanding nod, he retracts his hand. He lowers his finger to the ground, somehow making the flower move from his finger onto the grass. 
                          
"Wow." You breath out in awe, staring wide eyed at him. His shoulders bounce, nose huffing out air, as if he is laughing at your amazed expression. You're so interesting to him, from the way you react to the way you look. He feels as if he's seen you somewhere before, but it seems so long ago. It's odd to him how you're so petite, so shy, and yet don't appear to be frightened by his outward form.
                          
You laugh with him, still amazed by his actions. He gets out of his squatting position, slowly standing to his full height. You watch with realization of how tall he is. "You're..." You knit your brows, staring up at him as you think of what to call this creature. 
                          
"Lofty." You comment with wide eyes. It's a word you learned from your mother. You forgot what the word truly means, but she always described it as "another word for big or" some other word you can't remember at the moment. 
                          
A giggle escapes your lips as you think of the word. You have found a good name for your new friend.