When Mia heard the door open, she looked down, and she saw a raccoon, and it was talking to her.

I wondered if our little gift would be enough to help you find your way here.

I'm so glad to see it worked, said the raccoon.

Mia shook her head as she wondered if she was imagining things.

Um, excuse me?

Do you speak English?

You are a raccoon, are you not? asked Mia.

Ah yes, I know it must seem unusual, and most kids are a little confused at first, but come on inside, miss.

There's someone very important you need to meet.

Mia put the glowing gemstone in her pocket and followed the raccoon inside the doorway.

And when they walked inside, she looked up and saw that the tree trunk appeared to be hollow

with a huge spiral staircase that twisted upwards all the way to the top of the tree.

And as they started walking up the stairs, Mia felt like she was climbing up to the top of a giant lighthouse or something.

And when they finally got to the end of the stairs,

they stopped at another doorway at the very top and walked outside.

And when they got outside, they found themselves standing on a huge tree branch overlooking

the entire forest.

They could see for miles in every direction.

But soon, Mia realized that she and the raccoon were not standing alone out on that tree branch.

Mia heard the voice of an old woman.

Greetings, my dear. I'm so glad you found your way to my house. Hopefully the compass and my

best glowing gemstone were enough to guide you here. Oh yes, said Mia, but can you tell me what this is

...