Esmeralda woke, to find warm sunlight on her bed. She jumped up, ready for a new day to begin. She could already hear her mother getting breakfast ready. She put on her dress, then went into the kitchen, inhaling the nice smell of breakfast.
"Where's Ferdinand?" Esmeralda asked.
"Outside," her mother replied, not looking up from making her pancakes.
Esmeralda went outside, to see Ferdinand holding a bow and arrow. He was aiming it at something.
Esmeralda became frightened. What if he was going to shoot a bird, or something? She rushed towards Ferdinand, and grabbed his arm. "Don't shoot," she whispered.
"What? Why not? I'm not hitting an animal or anything, just want to practice my aim with my bow and arrow. Do you like it? I made it myself!" he held up a big carved bow.
Esmeralda sighed in relief. "Yes, that's good," she said. "But, do not shoot anything with your bow and arrow. Never! Promise me that! Now!" Esmeralda said it sharply.
Ferdinand looked surprised, but he promised not to shoot any sort of animal or bird.
"Good." Esmeralda looked more relaxed. "Now, do you want to come into the woods? It's so nice and peaceful in there!"
"No wolves, or anything like that?" Ferdinand asked.
Esmeralda laughed. "Nothing like that!"
"Okay, good. Well, let's go then." Ferdinand started to march up to the woods, Esmeralda following behind him.

They went deeper into the forest, Esmeralda picking up bunches of flowers one at a time.
"Um, maybe we should go back now? Wait - we're not lost, right?" said Ferdinand.
"No - well, I don't think so," said Esmeralda, sniffing one of the blue flowers she had just picked.
"Esmeralda! Be serious! We're actually not lost, right?" asked Ferdinand anxiously, glancing around the woods.
Esmeralda looked up and laughed. "No Ferdinand. We're not. I recognise this part of the forest."
"What? How can you recognise a part of the forest? All these trees look the same!"
Esmeralda shrugged. "I don't know how I do myself." She laughed again. "But I know that we have to go this way."
"Okay," Ferdinand said.
Suddenly, it seemed like it was getting darker.
"Quickly! Let's get back home!" Ferdinand cried. As he started to run the way Esmeralda had pointed the way back home, a plant from the ground grabbed his foot and he tripped. The plant was alive!
Ferdinand struggled, but the plant was still curled around his foot.
Esmeralda stared, not knowing what to do, but just thinking, Let go of him. Please. Let go, let go!The plant seemed to obey her. It let Ferdinand's foot go free, and Esmeralda helped him to his feet.
"How on earth did it....?" Ferdinand began, but Esmeralda said, "Come on! Let's go!" They started to run back home. When they were just outside the door, Ferdinand said, "That plant seemed to let go of me suddenly. But it was so weird that it just came alive!"
Esmeralda said nothing, but they went inside.
Ferdinand explained all that had happened to mother, but Esmeralda said nothing.
"Why Esmeralda, do you always go into that wood? You don't know that it might be dangerous! And you took Ferdinand into it? I'm surprised at you, Esmeralda," said her mother, frowning.
"It doesn't matter," snapped Esmeralda.
Her mother looked surprised. Esmeralda didn't normally act like this, she was usually a quiet, good girl. But today....
Esmeralda went outside and sat under a tree, thinking.

Suddenly, her father appeared. He smiled at his daughter. "What wrong?" he asked.
"Nothing," answered Esmeralda, but after a few seconds silence, she blurted out, "Father, it is like I can control the plants!"
"What?" her father looked confused. "Explain please, what happened."
Esmeralda told all what had happened.
"I see," said her father. "That is..... strange."
"Father, but how can I do it? And Ferdinand doesn't know. I feel like I shouldn't tell him," said Esmeralda.
Her father smiled. "You're choice." Then he stood up and walked away.
Esmeralda sighed, but got up and went inside. She felt exhausted, for some reason, and decided to have a nap. She curled up on her bed, and soon she was asleep.

****

She woke up. Everything seemed to be dark, and dusty, for some reason. She got up from her bed then screamed so terribly. Her house was.... broken down.
The door was off its hinges, her pictures she had drawn scattered on the floor, crumpled, the boards out of place on the floor, and the kitchen looked worse.
But Esmeralda wasn't worrying about that. She could not find her family, and Ferdinand.
"Mother! Father! Ferdinand!" she called. "Where are you?" She searched the whole broken down place until she gave up, and cried bitterly for some time. Where were they? Where were they? Those thoughts swirled around her mind. Where were they?