“Come Chris, come and see!” called the angelic voice.

He stuttered,”W-w-who are you?”

“Don’t be afraid,” said the voice, “I won’t hurt you.”

“Where are you?” he asked.

She giggled quietly. Chris walked into a clearing and turned around in circles, searching for the owner of the voice, but saw no one. She giggled again. He looked up and saw a beautiful girl sitting on a brance, swinging her legs in the air. She had long, black hair that glistened in the sun and large, violet eyes. She wore a beautiful, white dress that flowed elegantly in the breeze. She climbed down from the tree with ease and slowly walked towards him. Chris stood in the garden motionlessly; he didn’t know what to do.

“I’m guessing that you are wondering how I know your name,” she giggled as she slowly walked in circles around him.

“How do you know that?” asked Chris.

“I just know,” said the girl with a mysterious grin on her face.

He had a puzzled look on his face. She took a small step forward and said, “My name is Layla.” Chris hadn’t moved an inch since he had seen her. Layla thought that he looked like a statue and took a step closer to see if he would move. She stood inches away from him and stared directly into his eyes for a few seconds. She turned around, walked over to a bench, and motioned him to have a seat next to her. He made his way to the bench and sat a foot away from her.

He thought to himself, “How could she possibly know all of this?” He went into a trance of deep thought.

She scooted herself closer to him. “I can hear your thoughts,” she whispered, “you are very interesting.”

He came back and jumped when he realized how close she was to him. “You can hear my thoughts?” Chris said questionably. His eyes widened as he spoke; he felt guilty about thinking that she was a bad person.

Layla laughed quietly. “Don’t worry honey,” she said, “I get it a lot.”

He let out a long sigh. “I’m sorry.”

“Oh don’t be sorry, you haven’t done anything wrong.”

“Why did you call me and what did you want me to see?”

“you are the only one, who stops and listens,” she replied, “And I wanted to show you this place.”

She smiled as he looked around. He very much liked the scenery and wish that he could stay there longer. He looked up at the sky and saw that it was starting to dim. The dark forest looked dangerous and full of wild little creatures. She offered to show him out of the forest and he accepted. They both got up and walked towards the path that he took to get there. When the got to the field, she turned and looked deeply into his eyes.

“Will you come and visit me?” she asked.

“Yes I will,” he answered, “I promise.”

“I guess you should head in before he wonders if something has happened to you,” she said.

“Bye,” they said in unison.

She laughed and walked back into the forest. He wandered across the field and headed towards the orphanage. The man was pacing back and forth when Chris entered. “Where have you been?!” asked the man. Chris told him about his day with Layla with a huge smile on his face. The young man was glad to see that Chris was happy. Sometimes you just have to stop and listen and take in what life has to offer.