"Richard! Put that away, you should be seeing this," said his mom, Lisa, in a sharp voice from the front seat.

Richard glanced up and looked out his window, but all he saw were yet more trees. They were maybe bigger than usual, but still just trees. He shifted around in his seat, lifting up his knees to rest propped up on the driver's seat in front of him.

"Put the game down. You can have it again when we leave the park," said his dad. It wasn't a big deal, his concentration was broken and he didn't feel like going back to the anti-grav race now. He'd finished all the maps he had loaded anyway, and now that he'd moved around some he didn't feel like grinding for better scores. Maybe tonight he could download some new courses if he could get online at the hotel.

Richard slid his device into a pocket of his backpack, then he fidgeted with the strap of his backpack, getting it to lay just so, and then twisting and winding it into little patterns and shapes.

"Richard, look at these trees!" His mother pointed out the window with enthusiasm.

Richard glanced up briefly, his eyes skimming the trees before returning to his bag. "Yeah, they're big."

His father, Mark, shot Lisa an understanding smile, then adjusted the mirror to look at Mark. "You know, these trees are some of the oldest and tallest living things on Earth."

Richard glanced outside again. "I think you said that last night."

"Yep," Mark continued, ignoring Richard's sarcasm. "Some of them have been around for over a thousand years, way before our time."

Richard's fingers tapped impatiently on his thigh. "I know, Dad."

Lisa leaned forward in her seat, her voice gentle. "And they've seen so much history, Rich. Imagine all the changes they've witnessed, the stories they could tell."

Richard's eyes darted between his parents, letting himself get distracted. "Stories?"

Mark nodded. "Absolutely. They've been through storms, fires, and the passage of time. They've stood strong through it all."

Richard's gaze shifted to the trees lining the road. He paused, almost as if he were really looking at them for the first time. "I guess that's kinda cool."

A hint of wonder crossed Richard's face, and his fingers still tapping a rhythm on his knee. "I guess I never really thought about trees that way."

Lisa's voice softened. "It's easy to overlook things when we're busy, but sometimes taking a moment to appreciate nature's wonders can be really rewarding."

Even though he rolled his eyes at that, Richard kept watching the passing trees. The sunlight played across his face, casting fleeting shadows that seemed to mirror the thoughts swirling in his mind. He hardly noticed how thick the glowing mist was. He saw it everywhere, and he was already used to how much brighter it was out here close to the ocean. Back home in Wyoming, you could almost forget it existed, sometimes.

Stolen story; please report.

"You know, Richard," his dad said, "this forest reminds me of all sorts of stories. When I was a kid reading about Robin Hood, I imagined a forest a lot like this. Huge trees like pillars, open spaces underneath. I can't help but think of all the adventures that live in places like this."

Richard's brow furrowed in thought, as he sat up to look out the window better. He didn't even notice his hair brushing the roof of the car. "That was in England. I don't think the Indians had the same sorts of adventures."

His dad shook his head, and he adjusted his mirror to see the road again. "Native Americans, Richard. And why not? People are people, and they tell all sorts of stories. Maybe we can find a book when we get to the gift shop."

Richard's fingers resumed their tapping, this time more in tune with the rhythm of the tires as they bumped along the road. "Sounds good."

"And you know," his mom said. She'd gotten a little booklet ahead of this trip, and she was reading out of it now. "These trees are not just individuals – they're part of a community. Their roots interconnect underground, and they support each other."

Richard's eyebrows lifted, intrigued. "They help each other?"

"Exactly," She said. "When one tree is in trouble, the others send nutrients through the root system to help it out. It's like they're looking out for each other."

Richard's tapping fingers slowed again, his attention now fully engaged in the conversation. "That's... actually kinda amazing."

Lisa's smile was warm. "Nature has a way of showing us how interconnected everything is, how we're all part of something much bigger."

As the car wound its way further into the forest, Richard's perspective shifted. The trees he had initially dismissed as "just trees" began to transform into something more. They were no longer just a backdrop but a living, breathing entity, full of stories and secrets.

The car reached a turnoff, and following a sign directing them deeper into the park Richard's dad kept driving through the winding roads. The views were spectacular, with tall rocky mountains and deep canyons stretching into view at every turn, even if they didn't quite catch Richard's interest the way the giant redwoods did. Looking at the top of them, he could see the way the mist lifted up with the trees, and in his imagination, he could see it pouring out each branch and needle as the tree lifted the glowing fog into the air.

"Here we go!" announced Mark. "This is why we didn't get a van or SUV."

The car took a little turn and they were confronted with a truly massive trunk falling across the road. It lay there like a castle wall. Richard could see where the roots flared into the air, while the rest of the log stretched off out of sight in the underbrush. Someone had cut a wide hole through the log, maybe fifteen feet tall. As worried as his dad had been about a big car, there was plenty of room for them to drive beneath it. Richard's mind went blank as they passed through, not because of the deep shadows or the sheer mass of the old log.

No, inside the log, written where he could see the words plainly, was writing made of luminescent blue. It almost looked like a neon sign set inside the wood somehow. His dad was driving slowly, but the writing was behind them before Richard could comprehend what he'd just read.

"Did you see that!" he exclaimed.

"See what?" his mom said.

"The writing, on the tree!" he said. "The lights!"

His mom frowned and turned back to look at him, but Richard was too busy looking behind them to notice. "I didn't see anything, you mean the shadows?"

"No, can we go through again?" asked Richard.

Mark and Lisa glanced at each other, then his dad shrugged and they pulled to the side. They took a little loop around the log meant for bigger trucks and went to the tunnel again.

There, in big letters as clear as anything, Richard read "You're not crazy. The lights are real, and we can help."

He missed the phone number, but just seeing the blue letters set in the tunnel had set Richard's mind aflame.