Chapter 2

It's been four years since that woman had showed up and left Lumae in the care of the townspeople. She had grown to be a beautiful girl with extremely long, dark hair and the prettiest caribbean blue eyes. She didn't really grow up with one specific person, but rather with the entire town, she was family to everyone and everyone treated her like their own. Sometimes she'd stay over at a friend's, sometimes she'd choose where she wanted to stay at random, so everyone always knew to prepare an extra plate of dinner, just incase she showed up. But most nights she'd stay at grandpa Will's place, where she had been born, mostly because of his delicious wild berry pie that he baked every Saterday morning.

The townspeople had also decided a few weeks ago that, when she started school, that they'll all pitch in, in some way, wether it be clothing, school utilities, or basically anything else, they'll all help in providing for her. Another thing everyone had agreed on only a few days after she was born, was that Lumae would one day need a propper surname of her own, so they all decided on the town's name as her last, Moonshaddow, which was clearly befitting of her since it seemed like the entire town was hers.

Somehow she even managed to have the entire town's heart on her little pinky, she couldn't manage to make any type of enemy even if she tried, since she was one of the kindest, most generous and loving children this town had ever seen. She even tried helping injured animals who clearly couldn't be helped and even cried for them when they passed, no matter how much someone tried to explain to her that it was the poor creature's time to go. But even with her kind side, came a wild side, she explored every nook and cranny that she knew she didn't see yet, sometimes even wandering a little too close the forest by herself, which got her into a lot of trouble, but everyone knew that she just had a curiousity of the world and despite her age and her eagerness to explore, the girl was also smart, she could babble on about everything she'd learned on her own for days on end, sometimes even leaving some people astonished by what she'd discovered.

One night as the girl was busy exploring again, nobody noticed how she accidentally wandered into the forest, she was so mesmerized by whatever she'd found that she didn't even notice herself. She had drifted further and further, not noticing the townspeople calling out to her, as she was wandering around, she found a pretty blue flower and bent down to pick it. As she came back up, she saw an entire trail of those flowers and followed it, picking each one as she went along the trail, she was just starting to realize that she couldn't carry any more flowers when she noticed a wolf with hazelnut fur, sniffing a bush. Lumae seemed interested in knowing what the wolf was smelling and stepped a little forward, to try and see, but as she stepped forward, she stepped onto a branch, causing the wolf to turn it's focus on her. At first the wolf growled and was instantly alerted, but the girl wasn't frightened at all, instead she smiled and even went as far as to wave to the creature. She wanted to go and pet it, but just as she was about to go closer, one of the townspeople found her, rushing towards her and picking her up, scaring the poor wolf, who didn't seem to want to harm anyone, away. The person took Lumae back to grandpa Will, where she once again got a scolding for wandering off too far, saying that she could go explore anywhere in town, but not yet in the forest, for it is too dangerous to go out there at such a young age, but the girl couldn't understand what was so dangerous about something so beautiful, but she understood that the people were scared, so she tried her best to obide by the rules.

A few days after her encounter with the wolf a woman appeared in the town, saying that she was a phytologist and had to study some plants nearby, she said she'd sometimes come through town to make a few pit stops to get more supplies, but other than that she'd be camping in the forest. The townspeople of course welcomed her with open arms and over a few weeks' time she managed to build their trust, bringing flowers to the children, telling them all about different types of plants, which definitely got Lumae's attention, she was always the first to go to the woman with excitement radiating from her body and the woman always gave Lumae the same pretty blue flower that she had seen in the forest the day she met that wolf, saying that the colour of the flower reminded her of Lumae's eyes.

The woman had this routine for about 5 months, coming through town, buying supplies and interacting with the children, but she said that she had to go back home soon, so she can share her findings of the plant she had studied. All the children in town instantly got upset that she had to leave, but she reassured them that she might return someday, though that day may be far away, she said that she'd never forget this town and with that, she gave each child their goodbye flower and headed on out. Leaving the children waiting for her return, but Lumae, instead of waiting, decided on something else, she wanted to cherish the last gift that she had received and decided to plant it and take care of it, to one day show the woman how long this flower lasted.