Whispers of the Forest: A Tale of Transformation

TW: Murder, Poisoning

Pre-Accident

Elijah grew up closeted, mostly by his own doing. He had a small family, two elder sisters, and his mom. He grew up in the southern States, specifically Louisiana. And although he wasn't disliked, he was a scared kid when wearing his own skin.

He owned hundreds of outfits, but he only wore six or seven in public; it was hard for him to see the beauty that he carried in any piece of clothing, no matter the raggedy natured garment.

This sort of headspace kept him secluded from his friends and family during his early teens, and he spent a majority of his time alone, wishing to be the person on the other side of the television. Some nights he'd wish to play the man who found love on the titanic, or maybe he'd be the first man to climb Mount Everest.

Although he tried to keep the daydreaming out of his regular life, it proved impossible, and his constant embarrassing behavior wouldn't reflect back on him; they'd reflect back on Olivia and Harper, his older siblings.

That kid in your mind, the one who would not get any social clues? The one who'd wipe his snot on the table, or say completely inappropriate jokes out of the blue; that was Elijah. Not exactly him, but he was one who'd try much too hard to fit in. It wasn't his fault, he just never knew best.

His sisters were constantly belittled for their brothers ineptitude. It got to the point where they wouldn't be able to go to school without someone making a snarky comment or associating them with him. They became less of themselves, and more of Elijah's sisters And even this was tolerable, but they wish they had a brother. 

A strong, independent person who could be looked up to.

Harper and Olivia were not willing to deal with Elijah's shenanigans, and they developed a scheme.

Hiking was a big part of the family, and, even for how closeted Elijah was, he loved doing it. Anytime his sisters would go he'd go with them. They didn't even need to tell there mother if they were going or not, they would just leave with the reassurance of thinking things would be okay. However, the two sisters had different intentions when they spent all afternoon hiking with only Elijah one afternoon.

They had small talk, but once they reached the top of the trail where the overhang of the hill was, they sat down to enjoy a final meal with him before they went through with it. Although they had the entire hike to think it over, they still decided it was the only choice to end the torment they felt they were experiencing in school. They never tried reasoning it out with him, they just wanted him gone.

Their palms, much sweatier than his, got prepared for what's to come. Did they really even have a choice? Life is cruel, and sometimes tough decisions need to be made.

Before the sun went down, Elijah is plummeting towards the ground floor of the forest below him. Not a single misstep from Harper as she shoved him to the abyss below. 

But Elijah lived on, he had yet to face what was after this life. However, he wasn't truly alive either. He moved into a state of limbo, where, although his heart continued to beat, he wasn't conscious. His eyes were in the back of his head, as he stayed on the ground of the woods. Although the grass was beautiful, he wasn't awake to experience it.

Days continue, and so did Elijah's long-lasting slumber. Not a single person went into the woods to find him, nobody even walked past. Nothing happened anywhere near, so it's almost as if he'd missed nothing. His body clearly recognized this, yet couldn't wake itself up.

Days turn to weeks, but his body hadn't given in. Although the fall was traumatizing, he wouldn't die here. His family had the police called and search teams were out looking for him, but it was no use. The hill was too far from home, and Olivia and Harper were not weak. They wouldn't give up any information.

Harper, mostly, was overwhelmingly resilient. While Olivia would stay in her room, Harper would pretend to be someone who could help. But even this cocky confidence never questioned by anyone.

Pre-Finding

Seasons pass, and Elijah had stayed on the ground of the forest floor, like a sunken boat at the bottom of the Atlantic. The case at this point was hopeless, and Elijah was presumed dead by anyone who knew of the story. But, he wasn't close to. Eight months passed, and, as the sun begins to get hot again, Elijah comes to it.

He opened his eyes to the sight of nothing. And not the nothingness of closed eyes, no, but completely blind to anything. Not even could he perceive the light from the suns rays on him. Not only that, but he couldn't move a bone in his body. He began confused, trying to understand how this could've happened. He had no memory of what led him here, but he did understand he wasn't home; he could hear the rustling of leaves and the movement of creatures around him. He wasn't hungry, nor tired, but truly confused. Unable to scream, he tries to protest this event in his mind. He's left in this white room of his own thoughts for three long, consecutive days.

The days and nights dragged on, and all he thought about is his how exhausting the existence of his own mind is. He tries to focus on the sounds around him, but it's almost impossible to when this might be it; when death may arrive from the horizon.

"I know," says a strong, American voice. The type of voice he heard everywhere in his area. Not too country, but enough where you could tell it's southern.

"It's going to be okay, you will not be here for much longer."

Elijah doesn't question the voices presence, thinking it might be a hallucination of some sort. It's sort of comforting to him, even, having something speaking, even if he can't speak back. He wonders if the squirrels around him gained a voice of reasoning and were trying to tell him something.

"I want to tell you, Elijah, you are here for a reason. You will be okay. We will escape this life together."

Elijah, although unable to laugh, finds this obscenely humorous. What kind of adventure does this voice want? This isn't a fairytale, it's my life, Elijah thought. He questioned the voice in his head; why? Why put me here? I would've been okay in my life, or whatever life I was leading, what could you have saved me from? I'd rather be dead right now rather than living this pitiful existence!

Another three days pass before the voice returns.

"You will soon be found, and you shan't ever tell another about this place Elijah."

As this is said, it's like he was brought back to the surface of the ocean he was drowning in. He could finally see where he was! He was stuck in a gloomy, moist forest. The trees, the birds pecking at their own nests he had been stuck listening to for hours on end; the ants that would sometimes crawl on his skin.

"Everything you once had you will regain. As soon as you are physically able, you must return here without question. If you do not, you will miss out on a life full of wonder that is so obscenely beautiful that you couldn't imagine anything more perfect. Nobody else can do this but you, Elijah. I give you the choice, but you will want to come back."

This became a dilemma for Elijah. He's only a teenager, why him? Not only this, but who would stop him if he decided not to? And, who was this speaker? Was it the forest itself? Is he a prophet sent by God, and fate will lead him back here?

The silence drags for a while. He stayed on the ground broken, forced to enjoy the grass that covers the floor of the place. A few minutes after, and he already missed the whiskey-tinged voice that was just in his ear.

The suns beams spray through the leaves of the greenery, leaving a glare in his eyes, but not stopping him from enjoying his time. Six hours later, he is discovered by oncoming hikers. 

Post-Finding

Elijah's story went nationwide. People became fascinated with what had taken place that day he was found, and how he could've gotten there. 

The two sisters were never even suspected, let alone questioned.

Elijah hadn't told a soul about what had truly transpired. He was scared of challenging the forest, scared that it could've been a God of some sort and he was chosen for some deathly prophecy. The media led him to believe this, seen as everyone thought an act of their deity took place to keep him alive. He didn't want to disobey it, if he truly was the person for whatever job it wanted once he returned.  

The following months, he was stuck in hospital, but through physical therapy he was making excellent work and was starting to be able to move once again. His mother, although old, was there for him always, lucky he was alive. 

Pre-Poisoning

Years pass. Elijah's life became one with only physical therapy and being stuck in the hospital. His mother passed away not long before he was able to leave, making him alone most of his time in the white-celled hellhole. This made Harper his legal guardian, being that she was in her early 20's. Elijah was soon to become an adult himself, and within a couple months would be graduating through online-schooling.

He became forever in Harper's mercy, due to her constant assistance to him once he returned home. She would pay for his computer, his phone, and any needs he needed met. Elijah was always appreciative of this.

It was hard to tell why Harper did this. Possibly she felt bad years after what happened? Or maybe she wanted to get on Elijah's good side, in case his memory comes back to him? I mean, really, how the hell did he survive that fall? It was incredibly high, and she had thought it through enough to where there should've been no place for an accident.

Elijah returned to his family life, able to continue where he left. Although he could tell his relationship with Olivia seemed strained, he felt close to Harper once home. It was harder to live when he was not able to go long distances alone, but was grateful for not being like how he was in the woodlands. He had even gotten an online-computer job, which put him at a financial advantage to his two sisters.

Although his day life was very fortunate, his night life is where the true punishment of what occurred in those forest-ridden months would come out. Since he had gotten back home to his bed, he'd have the same reoccurring, nightmarish dreams.

They were extremely vivid, as if he were lucid in them; but don't think he was in control, because he wasn't. The dreams would depict him, and millions of other people-type-creatures flying through space. They would fly in one long tunnel like pack. Imagine swarms of flies, but instead of being scattered in an area they were tightly packed in a tube fashion. Or schools of fish in the sea travelling. What made it stranger, is that they had no function. They didn't do work, they didn't help. They just floated through space, as if they were just display for alien species to witness. And the scary part wasn't the dreams themselves, it was quite relaxing for him, ironically enough. But how long the dreams felt like they lasted. Sometimes they felt like they went on for days, and then sometimes for months. It made him feel as if he played a character during waking hours, and his real livelihood came when he was unconscious. He thought maybe this was some sort of warning from God, telling him to avoid the forest.

Elijah's mind was churned with conflicting emotions as the months passed. He became less optimistic and open like he was when he left the hospital, and became more closed-in and insecure. He had less confidence in his online work, and started to pull away from Harper and their relationship, even though he loved it.

This became prime opportunity for her to do what she had been waiting for; she began poisoning the meals she'd make for Him.

Post-Poisoning

Time continued normally for everyone but Elijah. He had turned into a man, but his physical imparities had gotten worse. He went from being able to move and work most of the day, to being barely able to get out of bed to reach his computer. 

He started pulling more away from Harper, and began to spend more time thinking about his purpose and if the forest was the only option. Maybe it's what he needs, maybe he should trust the promise it had given him; 

"You will be okay. We will escape this life together."

He wouldn't forget those words.

He became not only physically ill, but mentally. The dreams began to to seep into his already fading reality; there would be points throughout the day where he would go into a trance between reality and the dreams that once only occupied his unconscious. The swarm made him less and less scared, though, as he became unconsciously accepting of it.

Elijah started to feel the only way out of his physical torment was by becoming one of those fish that explored the galaxy, forever. He didn't know how, nor why, but he knew once he joined that hive he always dreamt of, he'd never leave. It'd be an eternal adventure through the universe, the nothingness and the everything that made what he would float through; with people just like him. 

Maybe this was it, God was building an army of unconscious, non-sapient creatures to be his little puppets that don't never stop. We would be his fish, his bees, the colony of ants that doesn't know what they're doing, but they still do things because it's their evolutionary job. 

They don't think about their existence, they just simply exist.

He stopped talking, he wouldn't do his job, he couldn't leave his bed. He'd stare at the ceiling and daydream, the same way he did when he was young; but now he imagined a more grandiose type living.

He loved putting on a show in the visions, instead of being the main character. He'd be a rock on Everest, instead of the man climbing them. 

Harper could tell his physical condition was near death after some weeks of the poisoning. Through vigorous consideration and discussion with herself, she had come up with the final part of her scheme; bury him in the same place he should've died when he was young.

Elijah's consciousness became so impaired that he can not tell what was truly going on in the reality around him, and reacted to nothing anymore except for the occasional spoon-feeding from Harper.

He enjoyed what his life starts to become, where he doesn't have to worry about the small insignificant parts of survival and can just be an amalgamation that explores the skies without thought. He wanted to become an art display for any aliens in the observable universe to watch him explore. 

And although he "enjoyed" it, it's hard to tell if he could experience those kinds of complex emotions anymore. He had become just a body of flesh, instead of living soul, it seemed.

Harper took advantage of this when she brought him back to the forest. Instead of needing to tie him down or keep him quiet, she could lay him down next to the grave she dug without issue. She was pleased at the fact the forest didn't seem to get much attraction anyways, made everything all the more smooth for her. 

She questioned if she may have been destined for this, and if the fall was a test of her strength; if she would have truly persevered or not through an act. 

She wanted to be that unapologetic, strong, independent person that Elijah could never be.

Before sundown arrived, his body is thrown into the newly made casket, and he's buried. Not a bit of remorse on Harpers face as she leaves his body there to rot. Her hands, only sweated from the work now.

Time moved, yet, Elijah didn't pass. His heart continued to beat, and, even without oxygen, his legacy hasn't ended. 

This seemed to be the forests doing. But Elijah didn't care. He cared as much as an ant cares about world politics; the only thing that mattered in Elijah's mind is the swarm he once dreamt of, and is now his only conscious experience.

Elijah's mind, in those moments of buried silence, became the reality the forest made for him. And he not only wanted it, but sought it out.

And why can't he be happy with just that? Why are schools of fish happy and he can't be? Why is he not allowed to be happy with a meaningless, eternal existence? Can he not experience a life of happiness without striving for some sort of meaning?

He wanted to be that boy again. That daydreaming, uncaring, imagination filled boy.

Elijah wasn't ascended from the ground into this life, no. He was left buried, but left to fully encapsulate the reality that was now bestowed upon him. And he was allowed to be happy. He didn't need a meaningful existence to thrive, he could suffice the purpose that was handed to him, and be happy with just that.