It probably wasn't the best idea to go into the woods to find his lost soccer ball. Especially not at night. Unfortunately, it was too late to turn back, as Keyne had been walking for about five minutes now. He had lost sight of the edge of the woods, but he wasn't as worried as most beans in his position would be.
Twigs and leaves crunched under his paws as he made his way through the abundance of oak trees. Keyne hadn't been this far into the woods before, and his excitement was building up. As he walked farther into the dark woods, the humming of cicadas became louder and louder. The forest was noisier than he thought it would be; crunching, crackling, shuffling. Above anything else, Keyne could hear his heartbeat thumping in his ears. He didn't know why he was getting so nervous all of the sudden. A bad feeling bubbled up inside his chest. It was the feeling you get when you know something was going to happen. Keyne ignored it and kept walking, the only thing to light his path was the full moon's beams shining through the scattered leaves.
He was getting used to the sound of the cicadas, so the next thing he heard made him stop in his tracks. A crunching, similar to the noise of the dry leaves beneath him, but a faster sound, as if there was something running. It couldn't have been more than ten feet to his left, and it was getting louder and closer by the second. Keyne's feet felt glued to the ground as his wide eyes stared in the direction of the sound. Closer and closer and---
Suddenly, a squirrel popped out from behind the tree. A sigh of relief escaped Keyne's mouth as he regained mobility. He had to admit; that had spooked him quite a bit. It wasn't usual for him to be this timid and on edge, so the feeling was new to him. After calming himself down a bit, he continued on his hunt for the soccer ball. It had been about ten minutes now, and he was starting to doubt whether or not he would find it.
Just when he was about to turn back around, Keyne spotted a black and white object about five feet ahead of him. He scurried toward it and knelt down to pick it up. After wiping off a smudge of dirt, he got back on his feet and was about to turn back towards his house before he saw the sight in front of him.
It was a large clearing, about an acre large, in an almost perfect oval. In the center of the clearing was a large willow tree, its branches gently brushing the grassy ground beneath it. But the most peculiar thing about the area was it's copious amount of fireflies. They twinkled through the air, blinking on and off while lighting up the clearing. There were more than Keyne had ever seen before.
His jaw dropped as he walked toward the large willow. The little flickers of light cleared his path as he slowly shuffled across the grass. As his steps took him closer and closer toward the willow, he heard a voice. It was far away and hard to understand, but it was definitely there.
"K--N-!"
It was impossible to understand.
"KE-N-"
It kept calling and Keyne kept searching for the source of the voice. Suddenly, the voice was loud and clear, yet still keeping its distance.
"KEYNE!"
It was his mother, Red, he finally realized. She was most likely worried sick, as he had been gone for about twenty minutes by now. Keyne had decided that it was time to go back, as his mother was looking for him. After another good look around the clearing, he smiled, satisfied with his discovery. Turning on his heels, he headed towards the direction of his mother's voice, knowing this wasn't going to be the last he saw of this magical place.