At any rate, I wanted to start with the section of the Enchanted Forest that I knew.

The Enchanted Forest comes in two parts, the Outer Forest and the Deep Woods. Most people don't realize that. The Outer Forest is relatively safe if you know what you're doing, and I'd gathered herbs there a few times. I'd never gone more than an hour's walk from our cottage, and nothing particularly interesting had ever happened, but I'd always known that something might. The way things were going, I was pretty sure that this time something would.

I felt the little tingle on my skin that marks the border between the ordinary woods, where our cottage was, and the Enchanted Forest. Some people have trouble getting in and out of the Enchanted Forest, but I never did. I was feeling exalted and adventurous, and maybe a little scared. I mean, for years I'd watched all those princes and heroes and so on go into the forest, and now it was my turn. I looked back over my shoulder to see if Mother was watching. The cottage was gone.

That shook me. You just don't expect the place you've lived in for sixteen years to vanish like that. I looked around. The trees were huge-much larger than the ones by our cottage. I couldn't reach more than a quarter of the way around the trunk of the smallest one. The ground was covered with dark green moss that ran right up the bases of the trees and stopped short. I could see a couple of bushes, including one that had three different colors of flowers on it. Everything felt very dark and green and alive, and none of it looked familiar at all.

I shivered. This wasn't the Outer Forest. This was the Deep Woods.

I waited for a couple of minutes, but nothing happened. Somehow, I wasn't reassured. Being lost in the Enchanted Forest does not do much for one's peace of mind.

After a while I started walking again. I felt much less adventurous and considerably more scared.