Pando looked like any other forest, full of tall, silver-white trees that shivered and swayed. It was a beautiful place, a green kingdom where the light dappled the mossy floor.

A little fawn named Aspen lived right in the middle of it all. She saw hundreds and hundreds of tree trunks—so many trees! Sometimes, she felt very small among all that green.

One breezy morning, Aspen was nibbling dew-wet clover when she noticed something strange. A little rustle started far off to her left, then whooshed right over her head.

Every single tree trunk, near and far, wore the exact same, shiny, heart-shaped green leaves. And when one leaf shook, they all seemed to shiver at the exact same moment, like they were sharing a secret.

Aspen hurried to find Nestor, the wise old owl who knew everything about the woods. "Nestor," she whispered, "why do all the leaves dance the same dance? Are these trees related?"

Nestor ruffled his dark feathers. "They are more than related, little Aspen. They are all the same! You see a forest, but Pando is truly a single, enormous living thing."

Aspen tilted her head. "But they are so far apart! How can they be one? They have separate trunks and branches!"

"Ah, the secret is under your feet," hooted Nestor. "Pando is connected by one giant root system, a woven underground net that shares water, sunshine, and stories across the whole forest."

Aspen suddenly felt the whole forest around her differently. She wasn't surrounded by hundreds of lonely trees; she was inside one magnificent, massive friend. A whole world connected by invisible lines.

When the sun set, Pando's branches settled down to sleep. The roots below held tight, knitting the forest into a cozy, quiet whole, waiting for the morning light to share another day, together.