The Forest of Aisling: Dream of the Shapeshifter (The Willow Series Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

flashing across my mind, causing me to
tremble.
     
    As we exited the plane I looked around the airport
and caught a glance of the sun coming up outside of the large viewing windows.
    I’m in Ireland, I suddenly realized. 
There wasn’t a lot of activity in the airport, I guess because of the early
hour, but still I lost myself in the clamor of the people who were there. 
The lilting sound of their voices made me smile.  I loved the Irish accent
and thoroughly enjoyed when Dad’s would kick in. Unfortunately that was usually
when he was mad at me about something.
    “What time is it, Dad?”
    “Hm, about six-thirty in the morning, I think.
Need to change my watch,” he said, glancing at the ancient timepiece hanging on
his wrist, the one I gave him for Father’s Day when I was six.
    “Over this way, Wils.”  We hurried to the
baggage claim, grabbed our bags and made our way to the car rental
counter.  After Dad finished filling out all the paperwork we went to the
parking lot, jumped into our rental, and headed to Killarney.
     “That is really weird, having the driver sit
on the right side,” I said as I fidgeted with my seat belt.
    “Eh, you get used to it.  I’ll let you drive
later so you can get a feel for it.” 
    I wasn’t sure I wanted to but nodded.  As we
drove along I noticed the sky was pink and orange and covered with billowy
swift-moving clouds.  The air had a damp chill to it so I pulled up my
hoodie and zipped it closed. “You know where you’re going, right?” I asked,
throwing my pack in the back seat.
    “Of course. I did live here, you know, even though
it’s been years since I’ve been back.  Some places just don’t change that
much.”
    “Just like some people, right?” I had no idea what
possessed me to say that and judging by his expression neither did Dad.
    “How
far away is Grandma and Grandpa’s house?” I wiped my foggy breath off the
window with the sleeve of my hoodie and watched the landscape flash by.
    “About ninety miles, but we won’t be staying
there.  I’ve booked us a hotel nearby.” 
    “Oh, will we be seeing Grandpa today?” I hesitated
to even look but slowly turned my head to see his reaction to my
question.  Nothing–no reaction and no response. 
    As we drove along I noticed how beautiful the
Irish countryside was.  Mom had told me to take it all in, that she’d
never experienced any place quite like Ireland and I was seeing firsthand what
she meant.  I quickly lost myself in the verdant green landscape. The
rolling grass-covered hills, the blue sky, the lakes scattered throughout, were
all breathtaking; along with the buildings, cottages, castles, and houses that
looked as though they’d been there forever. Living in New Mexico, we didn’t see
much territory like this.   Sure, we have our lush areas, but it’s an
arid climate and has a desert feel to it, completely opposite of the scene that
was racing by my window.
    I must have snapped a hundred pictures in a matter
of a few minutes.  I quickly sent one to Mom with a message that we were
on our way to the hotel and we’d call her once we got there.   Dad
pointed out some special sights along the way and promised me we’d come back to
take a closer look. 
    One in particular he told me about was Killarney
National Park, that it was home to a wide variety of wildlife, castles, lakes,
and that we’d go there and explore.  I was becoming so excited I could
barely speak.  I even forgot why we were there; the beauty and excitement
of the place took me over.
    After driving for a couple of hours we pulled up
to our hotel.  It was one of those hotel chains that you can find anywhere
which kind of disappointed me, especially after seeing all the unique inns on
the drive.  But I figured we wouldn’t be spending much time there anyway.
    “Ok, Wils, let’s go check in, then we’ll come get
our suitcases.”
    We quickly got our key and found our room on the
fourth floor.  I loved