Chapter 1 — The Lonely Girl
Long before John ever heard the name Lost Woods of Orlin, a little girl named Lily lived in a small house at the edge of the forest.
Lily loved stories.
She loved listening to birds singing outside her window. She loved watching children run and laugh on the road beyond her house. And more than anything in the world, she wanted to have a friend.
But Lily was seriously ill.
She spent almost her entire life in bed, unable to run through the fields, play games, or join the other children outside. She watched the world through her bedroom window while other children grew up around her.
Whenever she saw them laughing together, she would smile.
But when they disappeared down the road, the smile would fade.
"I wish I had a friend," she often whispered.
It was a simple wish.
But Lily never got the chance to fulfill it.
One winter, her illness became worse.uOne quiet night, while snow covered the ground outside her window, Lily closed her eyes for the last time.
She was still only a child.
Her parents were heartbroken.
Unable to bear the memories of their daughter, they eventually left their little house beside the forest. Years passed. The roof collapsed. The walls cracked. Vines climbed through the windows.
Eventually, the forest swallowed the house.
But Lily never truly left.
Her spirit remained beneath the branches of an enormous old tree that stood near her former home.
And as the years passed, the villagers began telling stories.
They said that a lonely little girl lived deep inside the forest.
They warned their children:
"Never go too far into the Lost Woods of Orlin."
"If you hear a child's voice calling your name, turn around."
"If a little girl asks whether you're lost, don't follow her."
Most adults laughed at the stories.
They called them old grandmother's tales.
But some people remembered children who had wandered too far into the woods and returned frightened, claiming they had met a strange little girl.
No one knew what to believe.
