Short night

A silent forest. At night. It is a bad sign.

Bat’s thought spilled through his breath. His only companion, seemingly useless girl who never had a thought of having to learn to make fire in the light polluted city life, shivering and chattering in the damp released from the soil, took notice of his concern. Sun left them at least an hour ago.

After preparing for while by clearing her throat and sighing audibly, Enkhjin asked what she’d knew was no where the case “Did we find our way out?”

“No.”

“Oh, okay… Does it… Does it look like we will have to wait till the sun rise?” Enkhjin was people smart. And she knew that this man she’d stuck with, a burly countryside man, a horse trekking guide, the only person who came after her when she decided to venture away on her own to see the reindeer she caught a glimpse of closely and got lost, was either her saving grace or another factor of danger. So she made her tone pleading and light and tried to lighten the mood and not become a nuisance. Simply followed his direction, gave him time to hear and observe and asked less questions.

“If we can, yes.” The consistent flat tone of his voice and general reluctance to communicate with her (possibly people in general) had been irking Enkhjin, but she could not risk triggering him. However, what he could have implied stirred her with rage and concern. She shifted on her butt and hugged herself tighter and cleared her throat. Leaning slightly towards his direction she asked:

“If we can?”

“Yes.”

Enkhjin clenched her jaw, blocking the desire to scream at him demanding for more information as to what he meant. Her breath shortened and grew louder in the dark silent forest. Bat took notice of her panic but waited until it got subsided on her own.

“Is there a wild animals in this forest?” she dug in bit further.

Although Bat was not morally corrupt degenerate, part of him enjoyed having her subside her reactions and tailored them according to him. But he decided it was enough as it became clear that the forest was not in its usual night mode.

“Do you hear it?”

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“What?”

“The forest is too silent.”

“So?”

“It should be teaming with nocturnal animals. But… they are doing their best to be unnoticed.”

“Is it because of us?”

“No. As annoying as people can be, we do not strike fear in the whole forest.”

“What do you mean?”

“We have a legend about this forest.” He looked at Enkhjin’s direction and continued “Every now and then, forest spirit wanders around looking for warmth. It hates the cold. So it wants to nest itself in a body’s warmth.”

“And if it finds a warm… thing, what does it do?”

“It nests inside them.”

Enkhjin found herself listening and observing the dark surrounding them with intent. She wanted to hear a sign on natural habitats of forest; bird, squirrel, foxes, and wolfs or any other animals. Alas, she only heard her beating heart, loud and fast. The sign on nothingness in the place she was several hours ago set the eeriness in its place.

“Do you believe in it?”

“Yes.” replied Bat in his brief manner. “We need to make fire.”

Enkhjin’s thought boiled with confusion, fear and concern after hearing her companion believed in a local myth and now wanted to make fire instead of trying to find their way out of the forest and battled inside whether she should throw in the towel and separate ways with him. Before she settled in one thought, Bat got up and started to scrape the ground with his well molded and broken in Russian boot and bowed down to collect twigs and tree barks. She followed the blurred silhouette for a while. No matter the why, she needed to stay with him until that became dangerous.

“Let’s say that the legend is true…”

“It is.” To her comfort, he answered in calm and yet assertive tone.

“Okay, the legend is true and the spirit is looking for warmth. Does that mean fire will draw it closer to us?”

“Fire will draw it closer and keep in inside.” the ruffle of dry twigs fell close to her feet. “We just need to keep it going until sun rises.”

“Okay.”

“Quick. Before it is total silence.”

Enkhjin “saw” Bat working on making a fire. By hearing two twig rubbing together, by smelling a burnt wood and a musty sweat seeping through an old but comfortable deel. He fed the tiny red dot that peeked through the dark curtain of the night with a dry twigs and barks and gently blew on it without scaring it away. Then the crackling a burning wood jumped around and became strong enough to handle what Bat threw on them. Seeing a source of light reflecting on a fellow human comforted her. Whether legend was true or not, to her, thawing against soft blaze of tiny fire seemed safe enough and she had a faith the night would not as bad.

“I will collect woods around. Toss them on it without killing the fire.” said Bat and stood up and fastened his belt and swiped his forehead sweat with his sleeves.

“I will help.”

“Who is going to watch the fire?”

“Oh yes. I will keep it going.”

Bat walked in around in a visible radius of the fire’s flame hunching down and leaning back up and collected wood in the pocket he created from the hem of his deel by hoisting it up. Enkhjin made sure the fire was alive and that she could still see or hear Bat’s existence. She would look at the fire and stare at Bat with a burning reflection of flame in her eyes not much moving her head. As subtle as one can be, she wanted hide that she’s looking at his distancing friend.

She cleared her throat again, a sign that Bat would be hearing from her, said “I need more wood here. The fire is almost dying.” A silence. “Bataa, the wood is gone. I need more.” She cleared her throat again for the “more”came out in a shattered crack. “Bataa…” A silence. She did not want to be the loud one in a silent crowd. But there was no choice. ““BATAA!!” It was not a loud shriek yet contrasting against the mute forest, it seemed like a loud speaker. “BA…”

“Stop it!” He walked in from her side and dropped a heavy batch of well needed dead woods. After swiping off the residue of wood from his deel he fed the fire in urgency but was careful to respect its delicacy. “I am sorry. I should have let you know I was going a bit further. Lucky I came in time.” As the fire flame grew stronger enough for him to see Enkhjin, she had cried silently. Her damp face reflected light and shone a bit brighter. “Eeh… I am sorry. ”

“No, it is okay. I am just so happy you came back.” She stuttered under her shortened breath. “I was so scared you left and the fire was dying so I could hold it in when you came back.” She stammered in acute shortness and but did her best to subside its affect.

“Calm down. We’ll go in the morning. Just gotta keep the fire going.”

Bat had collected some dried grass to sit on to insulate them from the growing dampness of the soil. They laid them under and sat. As the midnight approached, the chill of the forest grew stronger. And sleepiness inside them crawled up to their eyelids. Enkhjin jerked into reality as Bat ruffled around the feed to the fire. Looking at sleepy Enkhjin and lessening wood inventory, Bat said “Go collect wood.”

“Sure! I will keep me awake”

“Don’t go further that you can see the fire.”

“Yes, of course. ” She scrambled through the ground, digging and kicking dirt to scrape up what came loose. Bat had clearly swept through their surrounding and she had to venture bit further than he did. Always looking back at the fire and the yellow outline of Bat silhouette sitting by it, she made sure not to wander off. The thorns and barbs of dried twigs poked into her arms as she collected more that she had to trip several trips to Bat and back.

“It is good for a while.”

“Just a few more left there.” she pointed at the somewhere midst the deep dark nothingness that was the forest.

“Okay.”

She ventured into where she had thought she found a good bulk of dry dead twigs. Encouraged by the sense of the usefulness, she wanted to collect as much inventory as possible for her companion. She heard but feeding the fire and it crackling stronger behind her. With this comfort she continued to walk into the deep of the forest. As she was satisfied with the weight of the painful dig of thorns digging into her arms, she took a turn. The flame of the fire shone through the slither of the array of thick woods, but she felt comfortable enough to walk back. When she took a few step, a dark shape of a head peak behind a tree with such intent and curiosity as if it knew Enkhjin was walking towards it. Enkhjin stood frozen on her track with her steadfast step breaking and cracking what is under her feet. The fire, a sign of comfort and safety, was behind it. And whatever it was, it walked away from the tree and stood looking at Enkhjin. It’s legs where shaking and it hugged itself and shivered. Enkhjin realized what she was looking at. The entity of the legend; how it wanted warmth. Its body contrasting against the large fire outlined skinny arms, raggedy gown torn and hanging, its feet bared on the damp soil. Although she could not see its face, she knew it stared at her warm body with zeal and greed. Her body tensed up and got stuck on the ground with her mind rushing to think what to do, her voice stifled in her throat. She knew had to do something or it will. She dropped her treasure leaving only one in her hands and braced her body and held a twig like a baseball player. “Leave!” It kept staring at her. It rushed away from her to the fire Bat burned without looking back at her. Enkhjin realized it was looking at Bat and his fire. It ran to the fire and knelt near the fire with its body looking at Bat’s direction who jerked away. The entity of the legend looked at the fire without acknowledging his existence. Enkhjin sneaked out of the forest, keeping her movement light on her feet still holding the twig she reserved for self defense. Bat leaning back on his hands saw her and brought her index finger on his mouth. The thing kept its eyes on the burning fire with tunnel vision, leaned forward to it that it almost burned its face. As it thawed at the fireflame, it closed its eyes and groaned out a gutty sigh. Bat moved away with slow and steady and drifted away from the flame and got close to Enkhjin. They stare at the entity from behind.

“What should we do?” Enkhjin whispered.

“Run.”

“Where?” Bat stared forward in silence.

“I think we should…” the creature shifted closer to the fire and sat on its butt and hugged its knees closer. “keep the fire going.”

“Do it!” Bat claimed authoritatively and jolted back into the forest leaving her and the creature alone. Enkhjin jerked after him and but something stopped her from running. She looked at him as morphed into the dark of the forest and looked back at her new companion. It had kept starting and thawing against the fire oblivious towards the noise and rumble of someone running away. Enkhjin crawled backwards still locking eyes on the creature preparing to strike and jolt away if it attacked her. But it did not budge even when she scrambled the ground, breaking twigs and leaves on the way. Enkhjin walked backwards and got behind a first tree she came in contact with and peeked her head. As scary and un-human it seemed, the apparent calm and serenity it occupied looking at the fire before made the creature one to behold on eye on. At that moment, rather than a horrible creature that came out of a legend that involved killing and spilled gutter it looked like a child taken in a by magic trick. Sometime even people get enthralled by the aura of fire and spend long time staring at its glamour until it burn itself away. Something about looking at a camp fire burning calms the storm and becomes the single of focus of mind helping one to take a break midst a continues … long dreary night. But can a legend creature feel like humans do. If it can, what does that mean “it” is? She could not register her thoughts to herself but her mind was rushing with fear, curiosity and the desire to take in what was not a normal occurrence is one’s daily life. The creature took more time staring at a dying fire and start to display panic and nervousness. It started to growl and moan gutturally and to jump around it begging and encouraging the fire to keep going. Enkhjin realized she has spent a precious time that she was supposed to be straying as far as possible from it looking at it. And if she ran now, she would risk getting caught by it and becoming it next heat source. So decided to take another risk. She would feed the fire.

She took a step out from behind the tree and walked with intent towards to nervous creature. It stopped its panic and laid eyes on Enkhjin who had stared back at it.

“Fire… wood…” Enkhjin uttered as to explain her desire for the peace and leaned forward stretching her arm which hold a long skinny twig towards the fire which had spared it dying flames. It danced on a top of dark twigs with red shiny cracks indicating the time was cutting short. Under the heavy gutty breath of the creature staring at her, she meddled with the flame with the tip of the twig and held it up as it started by burn. “Warm…” she pleaded with the thing who shifted its furious gaze away from Enkhjin. She walked even closer and broke the twig into pieces and piled on top of the residual fire. As the fire start to come back to strength, it sat down near it again and hugged its knees again. Enkhjin threw in the nearby woods which Bat had spared and strengthened the fire to size where its flame felt stronger. The flame reflected off of the creature face which lit on humanly features. Unclear of its true existence, Enkhjin asked “Warm?”

“Warm…” the creature retorted back.

“More?” The creature stayed silent. The only thing it knew was a warmth of fire, no concern for future or the past, just a current existence of a burning.

Enkhjin collected back the woods she had dropped earlier and piled near the fire. Judging by the size, it cannot last long enough until the sun rise; she would have travel dozens of times for wood. And was that safe?

Seeing how the creature only cared for the fire, Enkhjin decided to buy time for her run away as far as possible from it. If death runs faster than her, then let it. She threw all the woods, twigs dried everything onto the burning and it grew stonger and warmer. The creature closed its eyes still and sat in place. The sound of cackling woods became roar of a burning flame which grew taller. When she had nothing left in her reach to douse into the fire, Enkhjin jolted into the direction she saw Bat ran and between the dancing flame of fire, the creature left staring at Enkhjin running into the woods. She ran through the dark forest as the flame can no longer illuminate her way and relied on her vision slowly getting used to the dark. As she got out of the forest and saw a light camp fire somewhere in distance, with glee and joy she rushed to it. Although it was not her friends people helped her calm down and fed her. Enkhjin look back at the forest now teeming with a fire spreading in every direction felt like the creature was dancing in glee for the comfort.