The winding path leads to the back of the garden, to where the wood and the dense tangle of vegetation begin. Branches obstruct our path and leave red scratches on our bare feet. As we pass, we carefully hold back the prickly brambles with their still green, unripe berries. The rhombic paving stones laid at regular intervals spare our feet from the boggy ground. We jump from one greened stone to another. It’s quite a journey to our destination, a place far away from the ordinary world.  

The little house has a slightly pointed roof; in the front are a window and a door. It is almost the same shape as a grown-up’s house but this one is made of tree trunks and is much smaller because it only has one room. Six children at most fit into that room. We do everything in that one space: cook, eat, play and sleep. We do things outside too. The adjacent woodland is a source of wood, which we use to make all kinds of constructions; that’s our work. Next to the little house is a small pond. A rope attached to a bucket enables us to draw water out of the pond to clean the house, cook and do the washing-up. The pond is rather dangerous. We once feared that one of our group had drowned in it, when she stayed away in the wood for longer than expected. The wood is a profusion of flowers, plants, herbs, insects and soil and we turn these raw materials into imaginary meals. The area around the house smells sweetly of damp branches, leaves and moss. Apart from our shouts and howls, it is so quiet there that you can hear the branches crack and the woodpecker hammer on a tree. There are many different species of bird hidden in the trees and each produces its own music.    

Even if our destination is only a short distance from the street, once we are playing in the little house the ordinary world seems a million miles away. Even if our activities are very similar to those at home, here we are in charge and we decide how things are done. It is our world, our perfect world. Occasionally we quarrel but it is usually quickly forgotten. We each decide what our particular role will be and we all enjoy ourselves. Time doesn’t exist here; we play from morning to evening, until the bell rings summoning us to the other world. Time to go home.