In the forest
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Yu wakes up. Her senses are awakened by a mixture of fragrances: sap, surrounding plants, fragrant trees and fresh, damp earth. The hairs and pores of her skin contract in the cool, moist air beneath the filicophytes. The pupils of her gentle doe eyes contract and relax as she analyzes all this information.
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She doesn't quite understand what happened. She's lost. Little Naterelli slowly gets to her feet. She rests her hands on the ground. The damp, pasty earth, a little like hardened mud, takes the shape of each of her fingers and palms. As her head rises above the highest ferns, Yu realizes that day is falling. The forest, already dark with its density, is getting darker. The last rays of sunlight struggle to pierce the forest's imposing foliage.
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Yu notices a strange sensation on her hands and face. A tingling sensation that makes you want to scratch yourself. She had previously escaped stinging plants, but she couldn't avoid them under such circumstances. But there's something more urgent.
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She looks right, then left. Nothing. Or rather, no one. The temperature drops and the young child becomes increasingly tense. The birds' cries, which had so far been quite present, gradually faded away. They give way to the hooting of owls, the buzzing of nocturnal insects, the droplets beading on the leaves and crashing to the ground. Many small, gentle sounds that, taken together, can create an anxiety-provoking atmosphere.
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All the same, Yu starts walking as best she can in the direction of ... . "Which way is the city?". There's no way of finding her way in such darkness. The anxiety mounts. Cold too. The child bends over, arms crossed, taking a random direction. Her damp clothes no longer contain body heat. The sleeves of her red cardigan and the front of her cream linen pants are even wet. The cold penetrates the fabric.
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Footsteps approach through the fern thicket. Yu stops. She has no memory of her life before arriving at the Naterelli house. So she doesn't remember being found in the middle of animals, each one different from the next. Nor how she'd ended up like that. She only knows because Leo has told her over and over again about the day they met. Her feet, in mud-covered shoes, don't move a millimeter. Her legs tremble with the cold and fear that grips her.
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Suddenly, she meets the eyes of an animal as big as she is. She can't quite make out the figure staring back at her. Despite this, a feeling of relief takes over. "Could it be a herbivore?" wonders Yu, examining the beast. It's large for the young child, but small enough for an adult. However, its build is slim. Unfortunately, she doesn't have time to examine it any further. A sound like a branch cracking, the supposed herbivore turns its head and runs off. Yu doesn't want to stay put indefinitely either. She resumes her walk.
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Tiredness sets in with the rhythm of her steps. A sudden headache strikes. "Oh no, not that!" worries Yu. As if in instinctive response to this throbbing pain, a veil of humidity forms around her eyelashes. These translucent, yet salty droplets bead and fall until they trickle down her cheeks. Her body temperature begins to rise rapidly. The green of her irises is covered with an ever-increasing amber-gold glow. A vibrant energy, visible to the naked eye, of the same color, gradually appears. Like an aura emanating from a furnace, it begins to undulate in a gentle spiral around her.
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In the absence of her family, she doesn't know how to deal with the situation. The heat that seizes her body and spreads across her skin, like the stings of a million fire ants, becomes unbearable. Her conscience gives way more and more to instinct. Her vision becomes blurred, almost fuzzy. She instantly forgets every step she takes. A tinnitus-like thud settles in her ears. Her sense of touch is gone, all is warmth. Conversely, her sense of smell is heightened. The scent of sap, of every plant, of every change in soil composition, she can smell it all, identify it all and even gauge its distance. So she heads for the mountains, guided by her instincts, in search of freshness to soothe her.
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Her wet clothes became dry after just a few steps. Surprisingly, they didn't burn. The heat continued to rise. Yu's conscience having given way to instinct, she no longer felt the pain as much as the burning sensation gnawing at her.
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Suddenly... A fresh smell. As she inhales, very fine particles of icy water tickle the pilus of her nostrils. Without missing a beat, she multiplies her steps with ferocious determination. Her eyes, submerged in tear fluid, harden and show a steely determination. No more information gets through. Not even olfactory information other than this freshness. Like a gladiator entering the arena, his spirit unwavering as he fights for survival. She moves forward and is only a few meters from the mountain.
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Yu slows down as she reaches the foot of the prominent rock formation. She moves her head forward as if to pick up the scents and their data. Guided by them, she moves along the rock wall. She slows down even more as the cold intensifies. Like a natural light or torch, thanks to the energy emanating from her, she illuminates her path radiantly. It also helps her instincts to discover a thin opening through the stone. Not without difficulty, she slips inside, feeling the damp, icy walls.
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Once inside, she arrives in a sort of antechamber. Her blazing energy reverberates against the walls and rocky vault. In front of her lies a dark corridor, with no source of light. By instinct, she makes her way along it, cautiously. The moisture in the stone tries to combat Yu's strange warmth, but eventually dries up on contact. Along the walls, the troglobitic insects hide and/or flee when the light arrives, and you can almost hear their little noises. But all the girl hears from the forest is a buzzing sound accompanied by a fine whistling. She can't even hear the sound of the soles of her shoes hitting the ground at every step.
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It only takes a few strides for the fine particles entering Yu's nostrils to grow larger. The young girl hurries on, exhausted and at her wits' end. After a seemingly interminable moment, she arrives at a huge cavity that could well be in the heart of the mountain. Arriving at the coldest spot, her instincts give way to her conscience.
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Although exhausted, Yu tries to figure out where she is. She examines her surroundings, and the light produced by her strange illness helps her to see more clearly. Ice. Everywhere. The ground she's stopped on even sends her a near-perfect reflection. The child advances towards a huge rock of crystal-clear ice. She places her hand on it, with no real ulterior motive or idea. "Magic?!" gasps Yu. Indeed, a phenomenal amount of energy seems to reside in this icy element. It may even be ice created by magic. The young Naterelli catches a glimpse of a shape in the block of ice. Unfortunately, after all her adventure and illness, Yu collapses from exhaustion. Yet the spiral of warmth continues to emanate from her.
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At daybreak the next day :
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- Yu. . . ! Yu, you're... Yu!" shouts Léo.
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Léo runs to the sleeping child. His complexion is crimson, his forehead is dripping with sweat and he's very worried. He assesses her condition with the little light he has. A three-leaf plant, with turquoise phosphorescent features, planted in a terrarium with a handle. She doesn't seem to be hurt, nothing on her face or hands. He places his light source on the floor, bending down in a somewhat hurried manner. The sound of glass hitting wet rock echoes and bounces off the cave vault. Accompanied by drops of water trickling and falling. But Leo doesn't care.
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He carefully and gently grasps one of Yu's wrists and turns her towards him. He passes one arm under her upper back and the other under her knees. He grips the lamp with the hand closest to the ground. He stands up, working every muscle in his body. Without question, he sets off again. The look of concern still written all over his face.
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Without too much effort, he passed the corridor and antechamber that Yu had walked through the day before, but found himself blocked in front of the rift that was too narrow for two people. He has no choice. He had to find a solution, or leave the girl behind while he went in search of help.
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The idea of leaving Yu alone for even a moment more makes him grit his teeth.
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- Out of the question! he thinks aloud, his gaze suddenly motivated.
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He puts his younger sister down as gently as possible. He takes off his jacket and roughly balls it up, wedging it under Yu's head. He smiles tenderly, his eyes full of conflicting emotions. He stands up and turns around. He steps forward and stares fiercely into the breach. A bit like looking his worst enemy in the eye. Then he closes his eyelids. He inhales deeply, so that you can hear the air flowing in through his nose. And spits out all the air from his lungs in one slow, fluid breath.
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He opens his deep violet eyes again. There's a calm that makes you forget you're breathing. He adopts a stance that heralds a movement as clean and swift as it is powerful. He focuses his energy on a piece of rock protruding into the opening. Then, with clenched fist, he strikes! All that remains of this piece is the sound of the stone falling to the ground in pieces.
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No time to rejoice, he repeats the same movement to widen the passage. Only when he reaches the end does he stop. He returns to the young child, clearing the passageway of the bulky pieces. He lets nothing distract him, neither the pain nor the beauty of the sunlit forest. He takes Yu in his arms and returns to the family home.
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Three days later, Yu finally wakes up. Her eyes still closed, she feels the support on which she's lying. She immediately notices the softness of the sheets, which she recognizes so well. She sniffs the air to make sure she's not mistaken. The sweet scent of the flowers along the window and the full-bodied smell of the wood on her ceiling. This is it. "My room," she thinks, smiling slightly.
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- Yu! exclaims Leo, leaning over the bed.
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- Take it easy, Angeline tells him. Their mother.
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- Oops, sorry Yu, apologizes Léo, embarrassed by his clumsiness.
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Angeline Naterelli smiles at him. Her face is almost forbiddingly gentle. Her long, wavy blond hair, with reflections that only the twinkling of stars can match, rests all along her delicate back. She stands with her tall frame beside the window. The brightness of the day illuminates her eyes, which are a light gray with hints of violet. She looks in Yu's direction, trying to conceal her impatience and concern. This is betrayed by the salty drop that forms at the corner of her eye.
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Yu tries to open her eyes. However, the sunlight immediately burns her retina. The result is a silent grimace forming on her little face. It's then that her adoptive mother reads the features on her face and draws the curtains. The curtains, in a caramel-chocolate color and very fine fabric, filter the sun's rays.
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Young Naterelli tries a second time. The green of her eyes, with golden touches, lights up the faces of her two visitors. Her first thought is not how she got home, but rather what happened after she found herself alone in the forest.
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- Yu! Léo blurts out, unable to contain himself.
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Angeline looks at him a little displeased, but immediately smiles. The joy of their little pup waking up at last is too great to contain. The teenager looks apologetically at his mother and then back at his younger sister.
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- Yu! You're finally awake! How do you feel? Does anything hurt? Can I get you anything? Water? he asks excitedly.
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- Leo, how do you expect Yu to be able to answer all your questions at once? ask his mother in a gentle voice. The smile still inscribed on her soft-skinned face is dazzlingly white.
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- I'm sorry, Yu. begins her older brother. He moves to her side: I was worried, if you only knew. But now that you're awake, everything will be better, won't it?
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Before she can answer, the young child notices the stripes on her big brother's hands. Concern forms on her face. Her brows furrow and her eyes moisten.
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Léo follows her with his gaze and immediately straightens up, hiding his hands behind his back.
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- It's nothing, he says. I scratched myself a little. Tomorrow there'll be nothing," he says, a bead of sweat forming on his liar's forehead.
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- You're lying, big brother. You don't know how to lie, she says before coughing her throat dry.
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Yu looks at her adoptive mom, her eyes clearing the haze of vivid emotion in the corners.
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- It's okay, Yu, your brother didn't totally lie. Tomorrow there'll be almost nothing left. I'll ask Rhita to bring you up some breakfast. In the meantime, my little Yu, don't talk too much, okay? announces Angeline, with tenderness at the tip of her lips, before leaving the room.
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Yu nods in agreement. She and her brother look into each other's eyes and hug.
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Suddenly, a powerful heartbeat hits Yu's ribcage! A violent sensation of foreboding is felt in every cell of her body. Unfortunately, Yu has never experienced this before, so he doesn't know what it refers to. One thing's for sure, something happened the night of her forest adventure.
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She couldn't be more right. She doesn't know it yet, but her illness has caused much of the ice to melt. As a result, two eyes stand out on the irregular shape. They are a deep ocean blue with lighter shades, illuminated by a pale blue glow that would make anyone shudder.163Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdY3DrK08mJ
