So I went, Grampy. I went with her. I asked her if I could please go tell you first, but she turned away and asked me what I thought you would say. She asked me if I thought you would give me permission to go. And I knew she was right. Sorry, Grampy. I knew you would say no.

She helped me crawl out through the window, and when I took her hand it was so, so cold, like ice. When I felt how cold it was, I looked up at her quickly, surprised and scared, but her face was turned away from me, looking out at the lake. She asked me if I wanted to swim the lake or walk through the woods. The lake would be colder but quicker, and the woods would be dirtier and more difficult but not nearly as wet. She laughed when she said this. I said I didn’t know how to swim, so I’d prefer the woods.

She paused. “You’re going to need to learn how to swim before this is over.” She seemed bothered that I didn’t know how to swim. She started walking with long, even steps, and she didn’t hike through the woods so much as flow through them. I had to run but still couldn’t keep up, and soon she was far ahead of me. I think she forgot I was even with her. I shouted out to her to come back for me, and she did. She even apologized.

“If I’m so important,” I asked, “why do you keep forgetting about me?”

She asked if I wanted to ride on her shoulders. I said she’d forget about me, probably run me into every low limb in the woods. She laughed and said it was true, she might forget, but if I thought her mind wandered, I could always pinch her hard in the shoulder and that would help. I asked her how she could be so forgetful, and she said she had a million things on her mind, quite literally, and that she couldn’t be blamed if she occasionally forgot about one little girl in the middle of the woods.

She crouched down low, which was still high to me, and I climbed up on her back. I felt like a squirrel inching its way up a tall oak tree. When she stood up all the way, it took my breath away, and I grabbed onto her neck. Before I could say anything, she was melting through the woods again, crouching just in time so I didn’t hit any branches, weaving in and out of the shadows. I felt like a shooting star.

Faster and faster she went, until the trees were a blur and we were moving quicker than any normal person could move. It rained for a few moments, and the cold drops soaked me straight through. When we passed through a clearing in the woods, I could see the stars rushing along in their paths above us. I thought I could even hear animals talking to one another, and I could understand them. It was so strange, Grampy. So strange.