Lena had always thought of the forest as an ordinary place - full of trees, birds and moss-scented bedding. But on that July afternoon, just after a storm, something strange happened. The sun, shining through the dense canopy, cast golden patches of light on the damp ground, and the wind spoke to the leaves in a whisper. Lena searched around the forest for her dog, Riko. He was a proud sheepdog of five years, a runaway experienced in catching his own tail, and yet he had never strayed that far. Now, however, the paw prints were suddenly disappearing, as if Riko had vanished into thin air. Lena, though she was beginning to feel anxious, walked on, deeper and deeper into the thicket where even the birds were silent. Suddenly she heard... someone whispering. She stopped, gripping the leash tighter. A clearing stretched out all around her, but it looked different than usual - the smell of ozone was in the air, and an old, spreading pine tree grew in the middle, its trunk covered with claw marks. - Is that today? - asked suddenly a shadowy voice somewhere near the ground. Lena became motionless. For a moment she thought it was some kind of joke. But then she saw a red squirrel sitting on a root. She looked at it with great seriousness. - You can hear me, can't you? - asked the squirrel in a human voice, tilting its head. Before Lena had time to answer, a fox emerged from the bushes and an owl flew over their heads. All the animals looked at Lena. The atmosphere thickened with each passing second. - 'You've come at the right time,' said the owl, its voice deep and resonant. - 'Your dog went in where he shouldn't have. You can only save him if you can solve the riddle of the Forest Echo. Lena felt her heart beat faster. The mysterious gazes of animals swirled around her. She knew that this was only the beginning of an extraordinary, dangerous adventure.