The Forest that Makes You See Things that Aren't There

The forest has a way of making you see things that aren’t there. Faces in bark. Arms in branches. Whispers in the wind that sound like secrets you had long forgotten. But the king had commissioned them ages ago and time was running out.

Felix and Kai had put it off for as long as they could, clinging to rumors as excuses and the names of those that never left. But promises to the crown were never broken.

And even though they were twisting their fingers and cinching their breath, they refused to let the other see it. As they stood before the edge of the forest, they released their knotted hands and stepped through.

The air was different from within the forest. It was thick and clinged to moisture. Any light that entered had to sift through snarled tree branches that engulfed the sky, arriving in small pockets .

“You’ve got the elixir, right?” Kai asked in a low voice as they rifled through the woodland.

“What? You know I wouldn’t have left without it!” Felix said, patting the satchel that slung against their waist.

“Yeah… yeah of course, I just… I wanna make sure we’re getting our money's worth for all this.” Kai tipped his head, golden hair slipping from his eyes, and it seemed he had finally emerged from within themself.

Felix squinted at Kai, as though the forest had peeled back something layered inside him. Nonetheless that fear returned, crawling up Kai’s throat, “Felix, what if we don’t make it out of here—”

Felix scoffed in dismissal, “Oh come on, don’t be so dramatic! We’ll be fine.”

And so they trudged forth into the forest that bent like a grin; together and alone in their quest forward.

The leaves crunched loud enough beneath their feet, that the two were able to substitute the sound for conversation. The two of them walked on in silence for miles which piled into hours, hours that seemed like minutes in this twisted forest. And over the course of their long trek, It was as though they were constantly climbing the earth beneath them, the earth that settled on the cusp of a mountain, rising no matter which direction they took.

It wasn’t until they found the waterfall that they stopped for a break. Filling their canteens and wading their fingers through the river that ran off the cliffside, they felt their energies finally synchronize, like gears falling into place.

“…and”, Felix laughed so hard his words hiccupped, “..and the first time I saw you… I thought you were an…” Felix grinned, his voice small, almost lost under the splash of the falls “… an angry elf.” and suddenly the forest was enveloped with laughter. But, then Felix’s face grew still, “I just… I can’t remember…”

Kai wiped his eyes, “Remember what?”

“Remember how old we were?”

Kai attempted the memory himself and failed. “I feel like I should remember this but I can’t” they both poured their panic into their breath but tried their best not to let it seep into their expressions.

“Wait, where’s the…” Kai squinted his eyes, snapped his fingers and stretched out the last ‘e’, trying to pull the word out of him “where’s the elixir?” He finally remembered.

“I’m supposed to have it?”

“ I think so. Maybe just check that bag you have there” Kai gestured to the satchel of which Felix seemed to have noticed for the first time.

Inside was a vial, amber as the gleam of the waterfall's surface. The two had inched their way towards the waterfall's edge, unaware of the loosening gravel beneath. As they held it up to the sun, a shimmer emerged, swirling and unending.

“The king… we’ve got to go.” Kai pivoted towards the forest.

But then–

A splash. The kind that echoed out for miles. Deep. Resonant. Final.

Without even processing, Kai ran to the edge so fast, leaving thought behind him. His heartbeat was pounding harder than the water.

He froze– too afraid of what he might see– until the sound of a voice broke through the roar.

“I’m okay!”

Felix waved from below, flailing and grinning.

Kai exhaled sharply and took the long way down. He found Felix sprawled out across the loam, limbs stretched out like a star.

“You’re okay?” Kai planted himself between Felix and the sun, casting him in a shadow. “Yeah, just could you move? I kinda need the sun to dry off.”

Kai nodded and sat beside him, knees pulled in and watched as his chest rose and fell.

Moments later, Felix sprang up, clothing dry, and stretched his hand out to meet Kai’s. Kai pushed himself off the ground instead.

The forest began to thin.

“You know, I thought I lost you for a second,” Kai laughed. Felix could only respond with a slight grin.

“… I mean that was a really high fall. Are you sure?”

“I’m okay now.” Felix swatted the question away as one does a fly.

They walked side by side again, memories pouring through their conversations like streams of light poured through the trees; the kind of conversation the leaves couldn’t contain.

The boundary of the forest came closer with each step. So close, they were only twenty feet away from the end.

Kai ran.

Felix didn’t.

“Promise to never forget me, Kai.” The setting sun cast a shadow over Felix’s face and his voice trembled like a leaf about to fall.

“What are you doing?! We’re so close, come on!” Kai ran back to take his hand in his, dragging him towards the end of the forest.

“Kai, I can’t. Just promise.”

“What do you mean? Why are you saying this?” They were no less than five feet from the end.

“Promise.”

“Okay. I promise. I promise. Now let’s just go.”

Kai stepped across. But there was no hand in his, and there was no Felix. And he was alone with a satchel on the edge of the forest.

The forest that makes you see things that aren’t there.