She Found It in the Woods

Margo sighed as she kicked the small pile of leaves in front of her. When her parents told her and her younger siblings a few months ago that they were moving, Margo hadn’t been surprised. Mom had stopped buying many things in bulk at Costco, and Dad had kept dropping praise for Montana. She hadn't been angry either. Because while she wasn’t getting bullied, Margo didn’t have any actual friends either, so it wasn’t like she was leaving anybody behind. She had even hoped that this move would result in some good friendships that would last long into their adulthood.

But now...that hope was nearly gone. Nothing in particular happened for Margo to lose her hope. She hadn’t even stepped inside her new school yet. But her first day would be tomorrow, and for some reason having the long-awaited day be so close was enough for nerves and dread win over Margo. What if her clothes weren’t popular in Montana? What if her voice or how she pronounced words made Margo a laughing stock? What if she accidentally offended someone and everyone hated her for it? What if no one shared her hobbies? What if people thought she was too weird? What if no one was simply interested in being her friend?

Margo groaned as she rubbed her eyes with both hands. She had hoped exploring their backyard would clear her head. But unfortunately, how tomorrow could go wrong was all she could think about.

Which was a pity because their new backyard was much, much bigger than their old one. Margo couldn’t even see the end of it from where she was. It was that big. Granted, most of it was covered with trees, but still. The idea of having a forest in their own backyard had simultaneously made her younger siblings both excited and fearful. Her two brothers would have headed straight for it if it hadn't been for Mom making them unpack their bags. One of her sisters swore several times that she was staying far away from it, and her other sister was...a baby. She probably hasn’t even looked out of the back window yet.

But Margo was already completely unpacked.

And maybe, just maybe, the woods would finally lift her mood.

With fresh determination, Margo entered the woods. The trees that now surrounded her were friendly and didn’t try to crowd her, giving Margo plenty of room to walk through them unbothered. They varied in size, and while a lot of them still had their leaves, many of them were completely bare. Margo looked around in wonder as fallen leaves and sticks crunched beneath her shoes. She was from a city and, as such, didn’t get to really explore woods like this.

Something caught the corner of her eye, so Margo turned her head. When she saw it more clearly, Margo stopped in her tracks. For a moment, nothing went through her mind as she stared. Then what she was seeing hit her, and she smiled.

A treehouse. An actual, legit treehouse was perched on a tree several feet away from her. It was safely perched on thick branches, and while it understandably wasn’t very tall, it was decently wide. Margo walked towards it in awe for a moment before childish glee took over and she ran the rest of the way. When she reached it and looked up at it, she giggled.

Ever since she was a little kid, Margo had always dreamed of having a treehouse like the kids in books. But Dad wasn’t handy with tools and there weren’t any trees to put a treehouse in so Margo thought it would never happened.

Well, look how wrong she was.

Then Margo noticed the boards nailed to the trunk of the tree and wasted no time in climbing up to the treehouse. As she climbed, Margo briefly wondered if the treehouse would be safe to enter. After all, she didn’t know how long their home had been vacant for, let alone the treehouse. But then she realized that the built-in ladder she was climbing was showing no sign of wear and tear, so Margo tossed that concern aside.

She was already at the top anyway.

Being careful not to fall off, Margo pushed the door above her. She was immediately pleased when it easily flipped over, causing a small crash when it landed on the wooden floor. Margo took a deep breath and pulled herself through the opening.

...Margo wasn’t sure what she had been expecting, but for some reason, seeing a mostly empty treehouse whose floor was completely covered with leaves wasn’t it. But as she thought about it, it made sense. The windows were just square-shaped openings, and whoever used this treehouse last would have taken their stuff with them.

She just guessed some trinkets or something like that would have been left beh-

Wait, was that a broom?

Margo walked across the floor, and after brushing some leaves aside, she clearly saw a broom with a wooden handle. She picked it up and noticed that the bristles were still packed together and not strewed about like Margo’s hair right after waking up.

Even a kid like her knew that this was a good broom. A broom for a good treehouse.

And whoever left it here wanted her to take good care of it.

Margo smiled as she pulled her sleeves up and went to work swiping the leaves towards the open door. As she did, Margo started thinking about how she wanted to decorate it. Should she grab stuff from her room or actually save some money to buy some things? Both? Well, Margo could sleep on it and come to a decision tomorrow.

She stopped as she realized that she had completely forgotten about school. And surprisingly, the thought of her first day didn’t scare her anymore.

Margo smiled as she continued to sweep the floor.

After all, if she could finally get her own treehouse, then maybe school wouldn’t be so bad. Heck, she might even make a friend. A friend that she would then invite to this treehouse…wait.

Margo stopped once again with wide eyes.

Once her brothers find out about this, they will definitely want to play in it. Her younger sister might want to as well, and once her baby sister is older, her too.

...They’ll figure something out. This treehouse was wide and spacious. There should be enough room for all of them. Though it might be a good idea if Margo invested in some curtains.