At a near run, Miranda led them through the various trees until they were far from the central location in which they were to return. Pausing, she looked to the left and then to the right. “I know it has to be around here somewhere. It just has to be. I know I was going in the right direction.”
“Are you lost, Miranda?” suggested Opal, hoping she’d take the hint.
Seizing the opportunity, Garrett tried to pry his hand out of Miranda’s grasp. To his great dismay, her grip only tightened when she discovered which way to go and began running down the path.
“Ah, here we are. Right there…that is a feather tree. I’m certain of it.” Miranda pointed dead ahead as she spoke.
Opal scanned the tree from trunk to the smallest branch rising towards the sky. Craggy branches reached up in waves toward the sky, bowing out at the sides about eight feet from the roots. Cylindrical leaves shaped like the feathers of a bird hung from small twigs growing from each branch of the tree. The densest collection of leaves concentrated near the top of the tree, while most of the lower branches were mostly bare.
“Good job, Miranda. I think you’re right.” Opal held out her hand. “If you’ll give me the worksheet, I’ll draw the illustration we need.”
“The worksheet?” Miranda glanced down at her left hand. “Oh, right, sorry. I shouldn’t have snatched it away like that earlier. I got carried away.”
Opal smiled and took the sheet. “Don’t worry about it. I could tell how excited you were.”
Miranda blushed, suddenly feeling awkward holding Garrett’s hand, so she finally let it go.
Reaching into her satchel, Opal drew out a pen and began to sketch the feather tree. With confident strokes, she drew the tree mainly from memory, only glancing up for reference a few times. Within a few minutes, the entire tree was carefully outlined in the small space provided on the worksheet.
Returning her pen to the tiny pocket inside her satchel, Opal turned the worksheet over and examined the other two tree types they needed to locate. “It looks like a Venera and Braniaen tree are the other two we need to find.”
Before either of the two girls could say anything, Garrett dashed down the nearest path. “I know where the Venera one is. Follow me!”
This time, Opal couldn’t help but laugh a little. She knew Garrett had no idea which way the Venera tree was. He simply wanted to get away from Miranda again and keep her from touching him.
For the next several minutes, Opal allowed Garrett to lead them blindly through the forest before correcting him. She led the way to the last two remaining trees and helped her group answer the questions and sketch the trees. By the time they returned to the meeting place, they were one of the last groups to arrive due to Garrett’s impromptu detour.
“All right, class. We’re done here at the Cardingriver Forestry Grounds. The next place that we’ll be heading is to the husbandry occupation at the Shrenien Animal Husbandry station on the other side of the forest. If you all will follow me, we will take the academy transporter there,” loudly announced Miss Harrigan to all the chatty students.
The academy transporter arrived to take them to the next location. To Miss Harrigan’s chagrin, the students took their time getting onto the academy transporter and finding their seats. As soon as everyone was seated, the academy transporter lurched forward with a jolt and began making its way down the hill towards the side road that wound around the edge of the forest. The academy transporter turned onto the side road, but ground to a quick halt in front of another transporter.
The transporter was huge, easily twice the size of the academy transporter. Painted entirely green from top to bottom, a small gap on the side held a movable hatch. Two men in green uniforms were collecting waste from the Forestry Grounds’ dump station. One of the men’s backs curved from the weight of the trash crates as he lifted them to carry to the enormous transporter. The other was busy helping order the crates to allow the maximum number of crates to fit inside.
“Ah, this is a good learning opportunity. A cautionary sight if you will.” Miss Harrigan twisted around in her seat near the front of the academy transporter to address the class. “I’m sure you’ve all seen a trash collection truck before, but this is a likely occupation that you could be assigned if you become one of the Undecided.”
Garrett averted his eyes from Miss Harrigan, but he couldn’t stop staring at the men working in front of them. Both had miserable expressions as if they lived a life full of hardship and misery. The man carrying the crates caught Garrett staring at him as he straightened from the load he had just placed in the truck. Looking away from the man, Garrett found himself staring into Opal’s worried face.
With another lurch, the academy transporter continued past the trash collection transporter, driving slightly off the road in order to pass.
Garrett returned to staring out the window. Although the rows and rows of trees passed him by, he couldn’t erase the look of the man who’d caught him staring. None of the occupations shown during his time in his Choosing Class had ever clicked with him. Had it been the same for that man or had he had a Plan and it was simply rejected?
“Garrett…that won’t be you,” assured Opal, resting her hand on Garrett’s shoulder in comfort.
Sighing, Garrett turned to face his friend. “I don’t know, Opal. I really don’t know.”
Not wishing to make his pensive mood any worse, Opal remained quiet until they reached their destination.
The husbandry occupation tour was
