Explanation:

It happened to be very early in the morning when Makoto found himself in the treetops. Many a time had he been wandering through the forest in the morning, and noticed a faint glimmer from above, but he could never tell what it was. He was through being in the dark about it, so he decided to see what it was first hand. The climb hadn't been that hard for a man of his caliber, but it did leave his hands a bit raw. When he finally got to the top, he simply sat and waited for nature to run its course. In the early morning, when the air is a bit cool, the humid mists roll and, and dew forms on many of the leaves and fronds in the canopy. As the sun rises, the air starts to heat up, and the dew rolls down the lush green foliage, and falls downward. This movement of water refracts the early morning sunlight creating a myriad of colors. It was like a rainbow right in front of his eyes, but this pleasant surprise was not what he was waiting for. While pretty, this display didn't glow, it simply looked nice. He was looking for something more. Waiting patiently, he carefully analyzed his surroundings.

As he gazed about, he kept and eye out for any movement. He didn't know what made the mysterious light, it could even be an animal of some sort. He wasn't very informed of what resided in the high treetops. He kind of hoped it would be some pretty bird. Looking downwards, he looked through the different levels of plants. Where he was now was the canopy, the very tops of the trees, where all the leaves and vines weave together to form a thick blanket across the sky. It was a bit daunting to be up this high, but just below him was a strange layer of the forest he had never investigated. Below him were large concave leaves that were very thick and durable. When he had climbed up, he had put pressure on one, and they didn't even budge. They could probably hold a person, so he felt a little safe resting above one. These things he noticed were nice and dandy, but they weren't what he was looking for. The cascade of water a light was still happening, so he focused in on it to past the time. He watched a single drop of water as it fell from a leaf just in front of his face and drifted downward.

The drop fell quickly, down just below him  towards one of the large protective leaves. When it hit the surface, it sent a ripple across the surface of the leaf. This confused Makoto a bit, so he climbed down to check it out. To his surprise, the huge leaves had filled with water, and quite a bit too. They had to be pretty strong to hold that much weight. As Makoto gazed into the water, a smiled crossed his cheeks. Floating in the water were little blobs that looked like clumps of green dirt. As the clumps dissolved in the water, they started to grow brighter in hue. The more Makoto stared at him, the more he figured out what was happening. The green flecks continued to grow brighter until they were actually producing light. They must have been so bioluminescent micro organisms that lived on the leaves. Every morning, the dew would gather and hydrate them, causing them to spread out and become active, producing the light. As the day went on, the water dripped over the edge, or evaporated in the hot air, leaving nothing but dried clumps of green. It was pretty amazing for Makoto to see up close. It was times like these that Makoto truly respected nature for its many mysteries.

[642 words]

The endless noise of the leaves shifting was entrancing. Each leaf made a different noise, and added to the orchestra of nature. And while the noise was pleasant, the sight was breath taking. Makoto was resting on a large rock in a remote region of the jungle. He had never been to this area before, and had to go out of his way to get here. He was quite glad he did. What it appeared to be was an ocean of green. This wasn't some clever simile either. It literally looked like an ocean of green. If you got close enough, you could see that the 'water' consisted of thousands and thousands of leaves. Each one was different, and in constant motion. As they collided with one another, it made a nice sound, very different from the cascading roars of the actual ocean. Makoto was quite curious why and how the leaves were moving the way they did. He had half a mind to jump in and try to swim, but he knew it would be foolish. He had no idea what rested below the green depths. It could be an empty chasm, or it could be quick sand. There were all kinds of possibilities. He was also a bit worried about what caused the movement. Creepy imaged of thousands of exotic insects moving about beneath the surface clouded his mind. He was pretty intimidated, but working up some courage, he scooted to the edge of the rock and peered in.

He saw small streaks of brown beneath the leaves as they moved. Occasionally there would be a gap between two leaves and he'd be able to see through. What he saw was some simple brown dirt, which was not at all what he expected. How in the heck was this sea of leaves functioning? If it was just dirt beneath, there had to be some kind of cool secret. Closing his eyes, he started to think. As he did so, his other senses focused a bit. With his hearing slightly sharpened, he started to hear it. There was a slight moan. Cocking his head, he listened harder. He could hear the moan coming from all around him. Looking around quickly, and mildly startled, he didn't see anything. The noise was very faint, so he wasn't sure what to make of it. The sound of thousands of leaves shifting also served to mask the odd noise. Makoto gave up on his hearing for a bit, and turned once again to sight. Scanning even more carefully, he looked about. This time, he didn't look at the leaves themselves, or their motion. He was looking past the ocean at its surroundings, hoping to find some clue. After rotating his head, and scanning the tree line, he found himself getting a bit dizzy. This confused him, but after a second, his thoughts clicked into place. It was just the hint he needed.

Using his new idea as a confidence booster, he took a leap of faith and stepped out into the swirling leaves. It was surprisingly deep, about a foot and a half or so. As he walked further, it became deeper and deeper, seeming to stop when it was waist deep. From the center of the area, he could see the complete treeline, and it became more obvious what was happening. The trees were in a very particular arrangement. They spiraled in a line inward, towards the open area where the green ocean was. The howling must have been the wind guided by the treeline. Whenever a leaf fell in the surround area, the wind carried it through the spirals and deposited it in the center. Also due to the wind, the leaves never stopped moving, and kept swirling about like a large body of water. It was very interesting to witness and experience. While standing in the middle of the area, Makoto felt a chill on the back of his neck. Then he heard a loud roar as something approached from all sides. It was a strong burst of wind, tearing through the forest as it was guided by the spiral. As it reached the center, it swept the leaves about strongly, and suddenly they burst upwards in a tall spout, all around Makoto. Looking up, all he could see was green. The leaves road the wind, and circled endlessly around him in a magnificent green cyclone. It was an enigma to him how the trees had grown in such a fashion, but he didn't really care why it happened. He was just thrilled that he had found such a wonderful place. Smiling, Makoto made a mental note of the location, and then he headed on to the next adventure.

[789 words]

It was the dead of night, and to say he wasn't the least bit worried would be a lie. Makoto generally wasn't afraid of the dark, and even on this day, it wasn't the darkness that worried him. There were no noises at the moment that would scare him. He wasn't getting poked and prodded by strange things. He didn't smell blood, or anything like that. What scared him was the flame he could see in the distance. It had an eerie green hue, and it was in a direction where he knew people didn't live. He was in a rather dangerous part of the forest that most wouldn't dare to occupy, especially at night. The only reason he was here was because he knew the safe paths by heart, since he grew up in the area. One missed step, and you risked stepping on an ant nest. While normally, that wouldn't sound like a big deal, these weren't ordinary ants. They are called bullet ants, and they are indigenous to the region. They don't really attack large things to eat them, so they aren't dangerous in the same sense as the army ant. The reason they were scary is that their bite actually feels like being shot by a bullet. It is how they got their name. Makoto had been bitten 3 times in his life, and that was way more than enough, so he made sure to remember the paths. The problem was, the eerie light was throwing off his groove. What in the heck even made green fire? It certainly didn't sound natural. His face paled when he thought of old ghost stories of will-o-wisps. He really did not want to be dealing with any ghosts.

Makoto gulped, as if swallowing his fears, and then slowly began moving forward. He placed each foot in a specific spot. Over the years, the paths he had taken had worn a narrow groove into the dirt that marked where he had to go. This groove also increased the chance of tripping if you put your foot in wrong. With each step, he inched closer to the green fire, which as he got closer, came into focus. It was coming from the 'ground', but based on its location, there wouldn't be any ground to speak of. He couldn't see it in the darkness, but Makoto knew there was a swamp that started about 20 feet in front of him. The fire was coming from the water's surface. A chill went down his spine. What if it really was a ghost? Could it be the spirit of an unlucky traveler who had met his demise in the swamp? Despite the chilling thoughts, Makoto had to find out what it was. His curiosity far outweighed his fear. Taking a reckless step forward, he felt a clump of dirt crumble beneath his feet. He instantly froze in his tracks. There definitely should not have been any soft dirt in his math. His heart skipped a beat when he felt hundreds of little legs crawling up his pant leg. In the past couple months, the ants must have migrated their nest a bit, and he had stepped right on it. He was extremely careful to keep absolutely still. As he did so, as if spurred on by his fear, the flame started to move.

At first it flickered a bit. Makoto couldn't really move, so he just focused on the strange light. As the flickering continued, the interval where the flame flickered out increased, until suddenly, the flame vanished. A moment later, it reappeared about a foot closer. A cold sweat rolled down his cheek as this happened. Thoughts of specters and wraiths started to really freak him out. Within moments, the flame flickered out once more. There was a pause, and suddenly, it appeared again, but this time, another 5 feet closer. The gaps was closing quickly, as the flame repeatedly vanished, and appeared closer to Makoto. He could feel his mouth getting dry, and his palms started to sweat as well. Not to mention his legs were now covered in ants. The green flame kept coming, but it eventually stopped, just a foot or two away from the edge of the swap. As it sat there, Makoto heard a distinct hissing noise coming from it. This really set his mind into motion. Hissing. The noise was very strange. It sounded like when steam squeezed out of a pipe at a bath house or something. The next thing he noticed was the smell. Something absolutely reeked, and it was coming from the direction of the swamp. Now, of course swamps smelled, but this was not the normal smell, this was worse. That's when he figured it out. The swamp was above some natural gas deposit, and it was leaking out and getting ignited. Suddenly, the flame grew, and there was a low roaring noise. Makoto was no longer worried about the ants, as he turned around and took off at a dead sprint. Just as he had predicted, a huge explosion occurred in the air above the swamp as the gasses forced their way out, and caught fire. Nature was sometimes very scary. Once he was in the clear, he quickly began brushing down his legs. Using a small light, he inspected what was on him. To his relief, they were just regular black ants that had taken residence on the path. With a relieved sigh, Makoto set off to find a place to sleep.

[920 words]