Andrew and Tim stepped through the fence and into the forest. The trees were tall and the branches were thick, blocking out most of the light. The air was cool and damp, and the only sound was the occasional chirping of birds and the crackle of crushed leaves as they stepped inexpertly into the unknown.

Andrew took a deep breath and smiled. He was finally here, in the forest. He had been dreaming of this moment for ages, well it had only been a day ago, but still, it felt like ages.

Tim looked around nervously. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" he asked. "I mean, what if there's something dangerous in here?"

"Don't worry," Andrew said. "I've been here before. There's nothing to be afraid of, besides, we should hear it coming with all these dead leaves underfoot."

Tim didn't look convinced, but he followed Andrew into the forest. They walked for a while, following a narrow path that wound its way through the trees. The path was overgrown with weeds and moss, and it was clear that no one had been on it in a long time. It wasn’t the path Andrew had forced through the undergrowth the day before, but that didn’t matter. He wasn’t really here for his ball, he was here for the adventure.

After a while they doubled back as the path forked, one path leading deeper into the forest, while the other twisted back the way they had come. Andrew found himself sometimes stopping nervously and listening for, well listening for anything. At these moments, Andrew pretended he knew what he was listening for, but actually he had no idea. He simply hoped Tim would be impressed with his skills.

Finally, after a very circuitous route, they came to a clearing. Near the side of the clearing was the large tree, its branches reaching up to the sky. The day before In his rush to get back to the house Andrew hadn’t really noticed the tree, but today from this new direction, it appeared proud and majestic, as if the forest made way for the tree. As if everything else stepped back and gave it space to grow. It's gnarled roots stuck up from the ground in places, but somehow it had refused to violate the central area in the clearing, sticking to the edge like all the other plants.

"This is it," Andrew said enthusiastically "This is the clearing I told you about."

Tim looked around the clearing. “It's...nice, and… that tree there is massive.” he said. "But what are we supposed to be doing here?"

"I don't know," Andrew said, his shoulders shrugging. "I just thought it would be a good place to start looking for my ball."

They stood in the clearing for a few minutes, just looking around. Then a twig snapped, startling them both, Tim spoke up.

"I think I heard something," he said.

Andrew listened, a nervous feeling creeping into his belly. He could hear a faint rustling sound coming from the trees on the edge of the clearing.

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"It's coming from over there," he said, pointing to a thicket of bushes.

They crept over to the bushes and peered through the leaves. There, hidden in the shadows, was a small animal. Upon closer inspection, they saw It was a rabbit, its fur brown in the gloom.

The rabbit seemed unaware of their presence, then turning in its foraging, saw them and froze. Its eyes were wide with fear.

"Don't be afraid," Andrew crooned softly, mesmerized by how close they had come to it. "We won't hurt you."

The rabbit didn't move, still frozen, nose quivering.

"I'm going to reach out and touch you," Andrew murmured. "But I won't hurt you.” He said it as convincingly as he could. Almost willing the animal to remain still. He had no malice in his heart and he hoped the rabbit had none either.

Andrew slowly reached out with his hand and gently touched the rabbit's fur along its back. The ears pressed back along its body. The rabbit flinched at his touch, but otherwise remained where it was, but it’s little nose was vibrating a million miles an hour.

"See?" Andrew said, a sense of triumph emanating through his core. "I told you I wouldn't hurt you."

As he said that, the rabbit startled in panic this time and turned and sped away, disappearing into the foliage.

“Aww, that was pretty cool, how did you do that? I wish I could have touched it.” said Tim as they watched the rabbit hustle shuffle away.

Andrew stared after where the rabbit had been. He didn’t have much experience with animals, but to touch a wild creature like that had made his heart race. He felt an odd sort of connection to it. Perhaps it was all imagined, but nevertheless he felt elated.

Tim broke into his thoughts, “Come on, let's eat those snack bars. Then we can head back. I doubt the rabbit has your ball."

Andrew snapped back to his mission and acknowledged that it would get dark soon. “We’ve been gone at least an hour and it's getting late. We can crash through the bush that way, a short cut, like I did yesterday, or follow the path we came on, but it will take us longer.” Andrew felt quite proud about how he seemed to know what he was doing, and taking charge like that seemed easy.

Tim shrugged, turned and stepped into the clearing again. He reached for the snack bars, passing one to Andrew and opening one for himself to munch on.

"That was incredible," Tim said with a mouthful of granola bar. “We definitely have to come back tomorrow.” It seemed that Tim was equally enthralled by their close encounter with the rabbit.

"Sure," Andrew agreed, mumbling around a mouthful of snack bar. “We must. Also it’s Saturday tomorrow so we can pack a lunch and show Josh what we did. Maybe he will be able to find the ball.”

After snacking, then giving the clearing one last glance, they clambered through the brambles back to the fence, deciding the shortcut was more prudent as it had become gloomy and overcast.

Stepped through the fence into the open backyard it was even more apparent that the sun was hidden behind cloud, and the late afternoon air was cooling rapidly.

"Well, that was awesome," Tim said, once they reached the porch.

"It sure was," Andrew agreed. "And it's only the beginning. Do you want to come in, or do you have to go?” He hoped Tim would go, because mom was usually grumpy when she woke up. Fortunately, Tim had to go and so they parted ways. Tim waved as he walked down the driveway off to home, while Andrew crept inside and hoped he didn’t wake mom until she had rested properly.

Both boys were excited to explore more of the forest the next day and had agreed to meet midmorning. Tim also confirmed he would message Josh with the details, so they would all arrive together.

Tomorrow promised to be an exciting prospect.