The Forest

The damp earth beneath me, the dark sky above me.

The tree-topped forest feels breathtaking from above, but from below, even more exhilarating.

The mud squishes under my toes, the leaves crunching under my heel, the rough bark as I pass my nimble fingers over.

The smell of wet grass, the scent of the leaves, the smell of the persistent animals fills my nose.

The wind moving the branches; the animals hopping from branch to branch, the birds flapping their wings all just quiet down the forest somehow.

The wild blackberries and their sweet yet tart taste, wild strawberries whole in their fruity flavor, the animal meat that I tear into with my teeth, juicy and pleasant to eat.

The small birds chirp their song, the crows caw for dominance, the animals' language is so deep, you can never find the end.

Spending as long as I have in the forest, alone, you find things that you should do, and should not do.

Like going into the forest without being prepared.

My forest is kept inside a wall. I haven't even found the end of the wall. But I know how to get back when I need to.

The forest is filled with blues, greens, and purples. The Grannylions keep quiet until a trespasser gets near.

There are regular animals like Tigers, monkeys, eagles, and whatnot. But there are the Monk, the Prink, the Goglo, the Bun-Bun, and tons more.

I know them all. They are my family, but I must kill them to stay alive and especially not dead.

I wear short legs that are tight so I don't get air resistance, with a small shirt. the forest keeps out the weather, and I skin the animals if it gets cold.

I have a bow and arrow, an Iron knife that I clean well, a light sword that I practice on trees, and a gun that I only have two rounds in, which are about three bullets per round, so six. I used to have eight, but I used them while driving back... I forgot what they're called.

But sooner than later, the gate gets requested to be opened.

I go to the gate entrance, pull on my Wolp-skin cloak (It's bulletproof), and grab my sword, bow and arrow, and Gun for emergencies.

The gate opens and I am right in front. The damp forest steam gets awakened by the warm air outside the wall.

A buggy comes through the steam.

I pull out my sword and show it under my cloak.

the Buggy stops. I call forth my good friend, Guirat the Wolp, (Pronounced (Gui-rat)), and her friends surround me.

A hand shoots out from the side and turns it side to side.

I don't move. A side panel on the buggy opens. A foot, a head, another foot, a body...

The door closes.

The thing took a step forward, and the Wolps growled.

It raised its arms. It was saying something I barely could understand.

I slowly began to understand what Language the thing was speaking. English.

"You and Buggy. Out." I say with a harsh tone.

"We are not leaving. We are trying to figure out your species." the thing said. It wore baggy clothes, bad for hunting.

"Out. What species? Me? I nothing. You weird." I say, scrunching my face, emphasizing it, "Out. Keep secret and no more entries."

"We can't," it said.

"Floshla," I say, the Wolps start to creep around the buggy, surrounding them.

"Fine. If no entries, then no out." I say, shrugging my shoulders.

"What do you mean?" the thing said. I hear the wall door close, but that's a sound that they don't know.

"See. No entries, no out." I say. I hear the buggy doors open and close.

Five things walk beside the first thing. They are terrified.

"Now. If want to live, you learn. If want to learn, make friends. Not me." I say, walking to the buggy. "This trash here. No use in millennia." I say, and I kick it.

I grab my bow and arrow, and step back, counting because I know the blast radius. I shoot the engine.

The things cried out desperately, reaching their hands to it, saying, "How could you?" or "What have you done?!" but I don't care.

"Live, you learn. Learn, make friends. Not me." I say, walking to them.

They all wear the same outfit, baggy beige legs, and long shirts.

Their eyes widen in amazement. Jaws fall at me.

"What. You stupid things need help. If want help, you learn." I say.

"do you have any beginner weapons?" One asked.

"Weapons? Ay, sword." I reply.

"What is your name?" another asked. "Not need know," I say, walking away from the muddled group. I grab my extra swords, but only five, and walk back.

Two Wolps accompany me to the group.

They sit on the ground, cross-legged, talking with each other. I come up behind them, throw the swords in the middle of them, and stand as they look at me, then at the swords then at the Wolps.

"You make these?" one said. I nod.

One stands, holding their arms out, holding a gun.

"I am not going to be taught by a woman," it said. They all ran to him and pleaded with him not to until he shot.

The Wolps didn't flinch, because they knew their fur was bulletproof.

The bullet hit the fur, knocking me back. I remember people get hit by bullets they fall and die. I re-enacted this scene, falling backward, but my cloak covered my body.

"Bro, you shot her!"

"Why?"

"She's dead!"

they start panicking.

I sit up, and I laugh like I never had before. The Wolps did their own imitation of the laugh and laughed with me. I point at them, still laughing.

"Should see face!" I say, gasping for air. Smiling at them.

I recognize the voice. It was the first thing that came and spoke to me.

"My name-"

"Don't. I do not need attach to you." I say, "ok?"

"What do we call you? As in Nickname?" the things asked.

"An old Name I used to use." I say, "Parrish. Kiki Parish."

They look at me confused. One lights up with an idea.

"You're Kiki Parish!" it exclaims, "How did you survive this long?"

"Yes. I am Kiki." I say, confused.

"Was she the warrior scientist?" one said. "yes!" the first one said.

"What does that mean?" I ask.

"this much time alone out here." The first thing said, "She must've forgotten most English." "But learn so much," I say, smiling.

"How about this, Kiki, We teach you English, and whatever you want, and you teach us how to hunt, gather, and speak whatever language." The first thing said.

I think.

"Sleep now. Dark-up sleep, light-up awake. Sleep now. Ask when the light starts, awake, go to big umm..." I try and think of the word, "big tree! big and tall tree. Has colors of many. Go at foot."

"Ok. Go to the tall, big, and colorful tree at first light." The first thing said, "Call me Frank."

"I say, no name," I say. "Not name. Nickname." was the first thing said.

I nod and walk away. I tell the Wolps to defend them, and I go back to my tree.

The light blue wood compliments the light purple moss for my bed.

I wash my face with water and mushroom, then eat ham and fruit. I sit by the moss, grab the warm wolf skin, and fall asleep.

The morning wakes me up pleasantly, as I have.

I eat my mushrooms and a treat of strawberries that I grew myself.

I wait on the tree for them. After thirty minutes after sun-up, I finally hear talking.

"Is this it?"

"Yeah. it must be"

I hear the Wolps howl.

I grab my cloak, sword, bow and arrow, and my gun. If they get too restless.

I expertly hop down, using the tree branches, and the vines. Thye watch me go back and forth in amazement.

"You have to do that if you want to get up on big tall tree," I say.

"What should we start with?" Frank said.

"I teach hunt. And that where I get nicknames for each of you" I say, "Still have sword?"

"Yes."

"Come," I say, bounding deep into the forest.

they follow, slowly.

I find a wild bun-bun. A huge bunny with horns and small ears, drinking from a pool.

"I show, you watch," I say.

"Monkey sees, Monkey do." one laughs.

"Shh," I say.

I get out my sword, and I creep right behind it.

I walk underneath it, find the heart, and I stab it.

I grab my knife, open the chest, and slash the heart. I get out of the way of the blood.

"Bun-buns easy kill. Must sacrifice sword until wash." I say, "You try. I watch. One at a time. Help gather meat. Scatter along the water."

They help me and soon, five bun-buns start eating at the waterline.

"Go. One to each his own. No fight" I say.

They creep under the bun-buns, and they struggle.

"Stab and pull out!" I say to one.

"Push!" I say to another.

I got nicknames for three of them.

"You are so bloody, man!" Frank teases one. "You," I say, pointing to him, "You now Bloody."

"I know I am bloody." the guy said.

"No. You nickname Bloody." I say.

"You." I point to another, "You call Wreck."

"Me?" Wreck asked. "yes. You wreck the heart. Heart be good meat."

"And you." I point to the last one, "You be Pushy. You weak."

"Me?" Pushy said.

"Oof dude. that must suck." Frank said. "And you be call Oof," I say, pointing to Frank.

"What?!" Frank exclaimed.

All of them laughed.

"Now. I teach two things. One: get up tree. Two: get down tree." I say.

"Alright!" Frank said.

We walk to the big tree.

"Find nook with hand and trust nook. Find nook with foot and trust nook. All way up. I know way. Follow." I say.

"I have chalk so we know how to get up there. Put it on your hands and feet." Bloody said.

"Good. Give. Need wipe off after know way." I say, "Wolves smart."

I show them how to get up, and they finally, after an hour, trust the nooks. I name Nook because he was the first one to get the hang of it. Then after another hour, They get to the top.

"Sit on stump. Eat berry. Not white berry. That heal, but hurt when not hurt." I say.

"Alright. Can I talk with them in private?" Frank said.

"Take off boot. Now. All you. Take off boot. Need be grounded with Earth." I say.

They all take off their boots.

"Give boot. We keep making cloth." I say, confiscating the boots into my hidden spot.

"Can I speak with them in private? Is there like a nook that we can go into?" Frank asked.

"Yes. Follow." I say, climbing a branch up.

A flat platform with tables and chairs is there. Metal. covered with moss and plants.

"I no like here. I never touch. You may touch, but I no touch. It has more need now." I say.

They sit down at the table and I go back to the main tree.

I grab my axe, walk up a big branch, and start to chop down a flat surface. After I did that, I go back to the main tree, and they weren't done, so I did more.

Until I had more flat surfaces than needed. I built up walls around them and grabbed soft moss and wolf fur and I made small rooms, each of them filled with a low table, bed with blanket, and a door.

Some I built storage. Shelves, cabinets, and even a lazy Suzan.

When they were done talking I walked down and said, "Why take long? I remember English more. I build room. One each. I show now." I say, gesturing up. They follow me to their different rooms, and Frank sits me down in mine and teaches me more English.

"I understand English. I know no how to speak or place words."

"Alright. Do you know what a book is?"

"Yes. It's light paper with ink on it. It has story."

"Do you know Math?"

"Yes. Do still use decimal and percent?"

"Decimals and percentages?" Frank asks.

"Yes. exactly. Multiply and division easy."

"Here is a list of all the things we come up with in English." Frank said, handing me a piece of paper filled with words, "Tell me what they mean."

After a while of explaining, talking, and asking, I finally got through talking.

"I'm done. Go to sleep. Your room is upstairs." I say.

"You said a full sentence!" Frank said excitedly.

"Yes. Good? Go to Sleep." I said, "I remember."

I walk down into the main tree.

I find the others sitting down at the table.

"Now. Up here you can stay up late, but make no noise. Down there, you have to sleep and make no noise. Snoring and tossing are fine, but you have to sleep. If you can't sleep, then make no noise until you fall asleep." I say, walking to the berry plants. "And no eating berries. They smell the juices running down your cheeks..."

"You remember a lot of words!" One of them said. Two I haven't nicknamed.

"Yes. I do." I said, "Your nickname is Remembrance. I didn't want to say Captain Obvious." everyone chuckled, "So go to your rooms now, and sleep. If you have a hard time sleeping, come down here, and do not eat anything else, but only eat a midshine berry. It looks like a blackberry but there are white specks on it."

They nod and go up to sleep. I look down at the forest and then up at the sky.

I grab my horn, which I only use once every night, and I waited about thirty minutes when everything was still, and I blew into it.

I hear paws slamming with all their might on the floor. But I blow for a long time. Then I stop. I run from the edge, grab one midshine berry, go to my room, lay down on my bed, and eat it.

I fall asleep in seconds.

Morning comes, and I wake up with a start. I hate those nights...

I walk to the others' rooms and find them all sleeping.

I grab my morning horn, and I blow it up above the forest. I hear the wind picking back up, the scuttling of animals, and the flapping of birds.

I hear groaning. I call on my excellent friend Persha the eagle and her friends to help me wake them.

I place one in each room, and I yell, "NOW!" all the eagles squawked and flew around the room to wake the scaredy cats out of their beds.

They all come running down into the main tree, with the eagles at the tails.

I laugh, and they look at me.

"Come here Persha," I call. Persha comes and sits on my shoulder. She caws with breaks in between.

"Is she laughing?" one of the six said.

"Yes. She is." I chuckle. "Goodbye, Persha! Thank you." I say in eagle, as she flew away.

Frank checks his wrist. A black band is around it. I never noticed it.

"We'd better get going. Thank you, Kiki. They are going to open the doors soon to let us out."

"Oh. Ok-okay." I said, "Visit please?"

"Yeah. 100%." All of them said.

We climb down the tree and to the gate entrance.

"Goodbye, Kiki."

Each one said goodbye.

Bloody, Remembrance, Nook, Wreck, and Pushy.

Then Frank.

"Goodbye, Kiki." He said. "Goodbye, Frank," I reply.

"If you can come here again, please do. I would love the visit." I say.

"I will," Frank promised.

He leans over to me and kisses me on the cheek.

The gate door opens, and creeks. They walk out.

The door slams behind them.

"Goodbye."

Free. Again.

Just another morning. Back to my routine. Relaxing underneath the sun. I run up the trees and climb my way up to the top of the trees. I see buildings of all sorts. Towering above my forest.

I look behind me, and I see trees. Thousands of acres. On top of mountains.

I think I like it underneath the tree roof.

But I slowly forget this experience.

The time in the forest is fast, but you don't age. Outside their time is slow. But still fast.

And when they come again... I probably would forget it all. As I did happen a few years ago. Which started with just appreciating the earth and looking at what's around you.

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