As Francine approached the GreenBelt she first noticed a particular smell; she tried to identify it but she couldn't. It was a combination of hot evergreens, grass, wood resin, ferns. It was sweet and wild and penetrated her senses insistently. She breathed it in and out. In and out. She had never tasted anything so beautiful and so transitory, for it seemed to dissipate on her palate as soon as she tried to savor it.
The trail began to rise as she moved under the canopy of the trees. Her toes dug into the dirt and she actually had to use her City hardened leg muscles to climb. It was an unfamiliar sensation to feel the unevenness of the rocks that were seemingly half buried in the ground! Who put them there? A random scuttling off to her left startled her but she continued, resolutely. There were many things unseen yet aware in this place, she felt. She wanted to experience it all.
Up ahead the trail suddenly stopped. Just ended. Nameless bushes, wide round firs and various other "nature" blocked her path. So soon? Francine plunked herself down to the ground. But instead of crying which was what she wanted to do (she had only just entered the fabled GreenBelt and now it's mysteries were being denied to her!), she pulled out a vegetable "nutrition" bar and began to sadly eat it.
"I have two choices," Francine thought. "I can forge ahead and make my own trail, or I can turn back. It's just one o'clock, I still have loads of daylight left. But that way looks so dark. And that way is so overgrown! And that way... oh what am I going to do? I can't leave already."
She sat chewing and contemplating.
After sitting there in the dirt for what seemed like hours, she finally decided to consult her Pocket OracleTM . The Pocket OracleTM was a popular 21st century invention that was designed to make the correct decision for you in any situation, no matter the variables or moisture content. The P.O. as it was known locally, was guaranteed to not only eliminate all of the "wrong" choices, but to pre-determine any future outcomes as well. The P.O. seemed her best chance.
As Francine wound the handle on the smooth metal side and gently extended the feeley cord and she quietly asked, "Which way should I go?"
The P.O. sighed.
"What has taken place in the past is now taking place in the present and will take place in the future, but perhaps at a different rate."
"What?!" Francine yelped. "What kind of answer is that? How does this help me now?"
The P.O. sighed again.
"Turn back. Go home."
End Part Two
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