Aster stared at the clock willing time to go just a bit faster. Of course, the hands refused his demands purely out of spite as they remained seemingly immobile. He had finished is book an hour ago and didn't enjoy it enough to reread. If he had brought his phone, laptop, another book, or even if someone just came into the lodge, he wouldn't be losing his mind over boredom. Just twenty more minutes and Aster would be freed from his shift at the lodge. It had been an impossibly uneventful day with only 3 groups checking in and only one person buying something. And she just bought fish bait and wouldn't even hold a conversation with him. The camp had a lot of people it being the weekend and all, but no one seemed to need anything from him. Aster decided he should do something fun after his shift ended.

Finally, the minute hand dragged its way up to the twelve and Aster shot up from his chair. He loved working the lodge when people came in, but it was beyond boring without them. Springing from his chair, Aster headed out the front door and made sure to close it behind him. The unfiltered afternoon light caused him to squint. A soft breeze tousled his hair and rustled the leaves. Some of the golden stars even floated gently to the ground. On his way back to his house, he enjoyed the scenery. It was familiar in a way that exuded warmth and comfort. Like his mother's hugs. Aster knew every curve and every tree that lined the way. After all, he had spent the majority of his life here. Which was part of the reason he was so conflicted about whether he should leave or not. Aster shook the thoughts out of his head to ponder later. He still had time to decide. And, why didn't these thoughts come to entertain him when he was bored?

Once he reached home, he went to check in with his mom. He gave her a sheepish smile when he stuck his head in. In return, he was granted a chuckle, a knowing smile, and a gesture to go ahead and leave. Lately, his mom had been drowning in work if the papers covering the surface of her desk were any indication. Some stuck up council changed a whole bunch of rules for camps all at once and it was hard for Shelly to keep up with them while they were already slightly understaffed. Normally, Aster would help a bit however he could, but today, he just wanted to go outside. He would make sure to help her tomorrow.

After a short snack of peanut butter crackers, Aster got ready to leave. His notebook and a light jacket were the only things he really needed to get as he always carried water and anything else he regularly needed with him. He was planning to go deep in the forest today. Following the paths, Aster headed to the part of camp furthest into the forest. It was where an imaginary line separated the camp from the national park part of the property. Although they were allowed to go into the national park side as rangers, they weren't the ones in charge of taking care of it. In fact, the caretakers lived all the way on the other side of the property.

His long walk was uneventful, but Luan didn't mind as his goal was the destination. And as always, the walk was beyond worth it. Aster was standing several feet from a steep precipice. Trees seemed to stretch infinitely all in front of him like an ocean of leaves. The red and yellow palette was vibrant despite it being a show of the leaves dying as they clung to their branches. It amazed him how much nature seemed to take control of the entire space even when he knew the closest city was under an hour's drive away. He wondered if the whole world would ever look like this again or if humanity would pillage nature to everything's extinction.

Settling himself against a tree, Aster pulled his mind's wandering's into a solid design. His left hand slid across a page of his notebook. A strong and stubborn creature grew onto the page, ignoring the blue lines for words trying to imprison it. Its skin was made of a mix of darker bark with delicate swirls of lighter bark emanating up from its feet and down from its face. The grace exuded from the lines gave the creature a magical feeling that brought it more purpose than just any strong brute. Leaves elegantly arched a path from its brow down its back but would be green instead of the sunset colors around Aster. Perhaps its eyes could be an autumn color. Aster felt pleased with his dryad despite his illustration being slightly askew and covered in poorly erased pencil marks. He moved onto stats and decided to give his dryad more magical based powers than physical despite its appearance. It would let it maintain its intrigue when placed against some of the other dryad's he had created for his fantasy world.

Aster had been homeschooled through high school so his mother could keep her dream of being a park ranger. One of the classes he took was an online coding course. He was immediately hooked. Coding was amazing in a way Aster had only ever associated with nature. From that day onwards, Aster learned all he could about coding. Recently, he had finally felt proficient enough to try and make a more complicated game. However, he kept running into things he didn't know how to do and he knew he couldn't make a career out of his low-level skills. Hence, Aster considered going to college to learn what he couldn't learn by himself. The problem was that he loved nature and the camp just as much as he loved coding. He was having trouble choosing between the two. At least he had until January before he would have to submit any applications. Then, he'd have even some more time before his final decision.

As Aster finished filling in the dryad's stats, his walkie talkie crackled to life. Aster was required to keep it on him at all times as a safety precaution.

"Hey Shelly, multiple campers have spotted a teen going off the path. No one has reported losing their kid, though. Over." Evan's slightly gruff voice came in after a slight burst of static.

"I read you. They probably already came back, but I'd like you and Mary to check with all the campers just in case. Over" Shelly replied. A lot of campers seemed to think it was no issue to go off the path. It irked Aster as he always made a point to clearly explain the danger of getting lost and the disrespect of nature it entailed to every group that checked in. Pressing the button on top, he offered to help check some of the campsites. The other rangers wouldn't finish before dark on their own and it would be best to at least start searching before they lost light if possible. It also seemed like he was spending more time thinking about college than world-building, anyways.

An hour later, the sun was setting and Aster had made it through all his campsites. He told the others his results and then went to make dinner. The other rangers returned as he finished making spaghetti. All the campers were accounted for. Apparently, one of the people who saw the teen described Aster. They laughed about having spent all that time looking for him. Evan was kind of embarrassed that he hadn't originally asked for a description. As they were quick eaters, they had soon finished the meal, put away the remains, and filled the dishwasher.

They went out for their nightly ritual of a campfire. Though in a couple of months, they'd probably start staying indoors instead to avoid the cold. Everyone's days had been the same as before (besides the false lost kid alarm). Unlike normal, Aster was soon not really paying attention to the conversation. He felt strangely unsettled. Maybe he had felt a bit antsy at the fire the last few nights, but it was more noticeable that night. Aster just couldn't put his finger on why. Instead of listening to his family, he stared into the darkness surrounding them. Although, his wary gaze didn't catch anything out of the ordinary. When a hand brushed his arm, he startled a tiny bit.

"Honey, you look a little out of it, are you feeling alright?" Shelly asked him with a concerned expression.

"I'm fine, though I feel like something's a bit off." Aster didn't want to worry his mom when nothing was wrong but also didn't want to lie to her. And, she had always given him peace of mind and advice when he needed it.

"You're certainly out of it considering you didn't even notice Evan and Mary put out the fire and say goodnight. I think you just need a bit of rest," she stated with her always bright smile.

"That's probably best, thanks, mom." Aster smiled back at her. Mary always said that he had the same bright smile as his mom, but he found that hard to believe as her's widened even further.

They headed into the house, but Aster paused right before heading inside. His gaze was pulled to something just illuminated by the light of the house. A body leaning against the trunk of a tree seeming like it had always belonged there. It reminded him of one of his dryads, completely one with the scene around it. That was, of course, before his mother pulled him inside when she noticed his hesitating. Aster hurriedly said good night to her and practically ran upstairs to his room and to his window. The being was no longer there. Rubbing his eyes, Aster did his best to write it off as a tired imagination. But, what if?