Prologue

As Alex walked along the sidewalk home from school, he kicked a rock, running to catch up to it every time.  By the time he reached Meadows Lane, he started walking and gave up on kicking his rock.  Alex loved school and was a great student, but that particular day, he had failed his math test.  He had studied for weeks and was eager to show his parents his “A,” but not until that afternoon when he got the results back, when the bright red “F” appeared in front of his eyes, was he disappointed.

Alex, along with Mia, his twin, was a perfectionist.  If he didn’t get something right, he would do it over and over again until it was perfect, but that didn’t happen much because usually he got everything right on his first try.  That’s just how Alex was.  He had to be perfect or he wouldn’t understand why there was a use for him in the world.  His teachers and sports coaches would always tell him that people are in the world to improve, but Alex wouldn’t listen.  

Alex wasn’t in a great mood for the rest of the day and he certainly wasn’t ready to arrive home, to see his parents’ reaction to his failing grade.  Alex’s parents weren’t the nice, helpful type.  They were strange.  Almost like they weren’t ready to be parents, or maybe they only wanted one kid, but either way, they weren’t the warm and fuzzy parents that Alex and Mia needed to get through their life in an ordinary way, without having obstacles in their way.  No hugs, no kisses, NO CARE.  It was like his parents had their own private world.  Or maybe Alex himself was in his own private world.

Alex couldn’t think of anywhere else to go, so he wandered into the woods.  He loved to hear the chirping of the birds from the treetops above as he immersed himself in the forest.  All the trees were familiar to him.  They all looked the same, except for one.  It was shorter and fatter than all the others.  It had a special glow and sparkle around it that made it stand out, but besides that, it stood out to Alex because it was different and left out from the other trees.  Alex felt connected by that string of similarity.  He visited it very often.  He called it the “SPECIAL TREE”