Chapter One: The Girl Who Listened
Lioren was born with a voice like birdsong soft, curious, full of questions.
As a child she spoke to everything.
To the ants in the garden.
To the wind in the trees.
To the cracks in the sidewalk that she believed led to other worlds.
Her parents smiled,
She's imaginative they said.
She'll grow out of it they said.
She didn't.
At five she told her teacher that the vines behind the school were sad.
At six she cried when a tree was cut down apolog to the stump.
At seven she tried to explain that the fox in her backyard wasn't just watching it was worried.
No one listened.
By eight, the other kids had noticed.
They laughed. Called her names.
Plant freak.
Forest girl.
Plant Mute.
She tried to defend herself.
Tried to explain.
Tried to speak.
But the more she spoke, the less they heard.
So she stopped speaking to people.
And started listening harder to the world.