"I swear!" I took a breath as I ran. "I didn't eat it! I swear it was the snake!" I screamed from the heart of the forest.
But the bear kept chasing me.
It's not like I thought it wouldn't. But I had to try.
A creature nearly three meters tall was on my tail—crashing through everything in its path, shaking the earth with every step.
The path it made was so scary and deserted it made me not look back anymore.
Fear took me so far I had no idea where I was anymore, and I wasn't stupid enough to stop and think, I just took whatever root was less shrouded with vines and was passable.
I must've run for an hour straight. The bear never stopped.
The forest grew stranger. Brown trunks turned green.
Oak and pine leaves disappeared and the new trees had flat, disk-shaped foliage- like the pads of swamp frogs, except these weren't floating in ponds, they hung from trees.
The smell in the air was a mix of shit, mold, and rot.
I tripped more than once along the way, slipped in a mudpit, but the energy surging in me kept me going, even when I was scraped and bleeding
But after an hour, something became strange, thesound of the bear disappeared, and the light as well.
I slowed down my legs and halted. Then looked around, my breath short and my legs sour. But fear still made me stand.
The place I was in… was strange.
It was quiet. Quiter than anything I've experienced until now.
There were no sound of chirping, or the squeaks of squirrels. Ther was just, high density of long grass.
I walked with short and slow steps, my hand on every tree I passed by, scared I might trip at any moment and fall.
I wasn't ready to walk back, especially not now when the bear was still there, and I wasn't ready to stay at my place, the silence was to loud and scary.
That's why I walked as cautiously as possible, searching for a sound, chirping voice, or human words. And when I heard a voice, I stopped in my place
The voice of a flow, a quiet flow.
I continued on walking, with each step the sound getting clearer. And at one point, a fait blurred light appeared.
And The scenery I saw was strange.
A glowing creak, beautifully flowing breaking the ground ito to sides, the side I was in, and the other side where many other trees continued to cover the forest.
I walked beside the creak flowing the direction of its flow, for minutes until I encountered A giant clay tablet, standing like a stone, with smooth surface.
At first I thought I was making things in my head, but after staring at the tablet for a few seconds I saw it again. Words.
Words I couldn't understand, carved on the clay, pulsating with blue glow, so beautiful, and so alluring to touch.
And once I touched the word.
A voice talked to my head, soft and lovely voice.
"The Fae are childish race, they get scared too easily. They sniff their powder and subber for days, never minding others, but once they see you scared, they chase you to your demise. But their lord is a never dying lord, and won't hurt a passer if they didn't disturb his sleep. But if he wakes up and you are near, you are either dead or blessed. A man should always look where he steps, and should always think before he talk.
Zelarto."
I stepped back, both of my eyes blinking.
What had just happened felt like a chill.
A man just talked to my head, and my heart was hardly steady now.
I was scared.
I took a deep breath, and once I became better I continued to walk.
Sherly and Alton, never told me about Fae, but from a book I had read, I understood that Kias had many other races than the human, beasts and demons. It said that, but didn't add any details about who they were or how they lived.
I continued to walk eventually.
The only thing I heard was the flowing of the creak.
Until a buzzing sound entered my ear.
I looked to the side, then saw -
'You are kidding me right' I thought
It was as tiny as a child finger, and as glowy as a lamp. It was human in features, with two semi-transparent wings that flabbed fast like a bug.
It had blond shoulder-length hair and green eyes, and it looked sleepily at me.
"Maaan" the tiny creature said, in a just-woke-up tone.
Then it kept its mouth open, as if screaming.
But no sound came.
Or maybe there was a sound.
A sound I couldn't hear.
Because many glowing one finger-sized creatures started to pop from everywhere in the forest.
And I knew I had to run.
I turned around trying to run from where I came, but hundreds of them stacked together preventing me to go there.
I- as fast as possible- ran along the river flowing direction.
Hundreds of the tiny creatures running after me, laughing like an old hag.
"Meal meal meal" they said in a unified voice.
My eyes widened, my heart pound so fast. I didn't know what I had done. I didn't know how dangerous this forest was.
And above all that, I couldn't believe that Sherly and Alton were so easy going that they let their 5-year old boy go wander in the forest with no guardian.
In the first time in this life I thought that those pair were irresponsible.
"Don't die reo," I told myself, my breath short and feverish. "You have just been born, a whole life was in front of, you just have to run with all your might."
And then, as I completed my sentence tens of the glowing creatures flew past me blocking my way.
I turned to go back inside the forest. Running with wide jumps to avoid any vines that might trip me down.
And after a few minutes, I saw hope…
Some light rays, breaking throu some high bushes far away.
I was finally closer to the original forest.
I ran faster, I contracted all my legs' muscles with all my might, and jumped into the bushes.
And I was right…
The sun was behind the bushes, the beautiful, shiny sun.
I smiled, me feet were ready to touch the ground.
But…
They didn't touch it.
I looked under me, to see a rocky cliff… so rocky I knew I wouldn't make it alive.
Then I heard the laughs of the creatures, laughing so high.
"Always look where you step," said the creatures and then I understood.
These creatures, were The Fae.
'Damn… dying at just five years!'
I shut my eyes.
****
I always ran away | A dream of the past
****
"Wake up," a strange voice stirred my consciousness. "The school will be closing soon."
The moment I heard that sentence, I opened my eyes and sat up straight. My hands were resting on the pages of a book laid on a table.
Across from me stood a woman—as always, cloaked in shadow, entirely dark, like a living silhouette.
Her eyes were brown, filled with a strange pain. They carried a thousand untold
stories… filled with hatred, though not directed at me, but at the book. I was reading.
There was nothing strange about the book itself—it was just a literature textbook.
But I knew the librarian.
And I could see the resentment in her eyes every time she looked at the books Even though she was a writer, a novelist, a passionate reader- there was something in books she had come to despise.
"Cindy, it's five o'clock," she said, tapping the glass face of her wristwatch with her index finger. "I can't stay any longer."
I looked around. The lights were off. Only the sunset's glow seeped through the library windows.
Yes, I hated school—but it had a vast library.
My phone wasn't anything fancy, and the home internet was restricted to prevent "the spread of contact among prostitutes."
We weren't treated like humans there.
We were slaves.
"I'm sorry, Miss Mary. I'll pack my things now," I said, placing a bookmark in the book.
I closed it, slung my bag over my shoulder, and walked briskly to return the book to its shelf.
"You can take it with you," Mary said as the book's spine met the shelf.
I stopped in place, staring at the shadowy figure looking back at me- eyes full of hatred not meant for me.
"But be careful. Books are monsters," she said.
"You don't consume them—they consume you. Each one a world without end.
Conflicting opinions. Strange ideas that play with the mind. And once they've got you, the book becomes dearer to you than many things, and then you realize you can't put it down. You stop keeping company with those you should. You might lose someone you love… your children… your family… And one day, you'll regret it."
At that moment, I didn't understand.
"Stare at books too long… and they'll destroy you." That's how she ended her sentence.
I looked at the book again.
Not like I was going to get anything out of it—my home never quieted down. And at night, the noise only got worse. No one respected a reader's mind. The big aunt was the only one who could read and write at home and she hated the fact that I could too.
I pushed the book onto its shelf.
"Thank you. I'll finish it tomorrow."
Miss Mary blinked, looking puzzled.
And maybe just as I reached the door, she said softly: "What is the library to you?"
I paused, looked back at the shelves, and after a few moments of thought, replied: "An escape."
*** *** ***
"Your face isn't bad, kid. You'll grow up to be handsome."
I opened my eyes. A pair of crimson eyes stared down at me—disgusting eyes. Not evil, just… disturbed.
"Why the long face? You should be happy—you survived a miracle," the girl smiled.
Her smile was a strange mix of mischief and perversity.
Riam was the first person I saw when I woke up. And the moment I tried to sit up, pain surged through my back.
I was in a bad time. My head was foggy, and my body was in pain
"Don't try," she said, pressing my forehead back to the ground.
"You're covered in bruises. Your thigh's sprained. Your ankle's twisted.
I patched up your scrapes, but I don't have anything for the deeper bruising right now."
Riam's smile faded. Her eyes sharpened:
"Tough luck, running into an old bear like that. Then into the forest of fae. That's real bad luck."
"Now I have to make sure the bear doesn't see you. But don't worry. All you need to do now… is rest."
She placed her hand over my eyes. Just before they closed, I noticed it was slightly dark around us—
Morning and noon must've already passed.
"I keep on running" I was foggy, and my eyes were heavy. "Nothing have changed"
Tears started flow.
I didn't even understand what or why I was talking.
"I'm still running away. I didn't even think of opposing…"
In my past life, in my current life, I kept on running away, I kept on hiding, my solution was alway to run, to hide, to ignore the stare… the bear and the fae were no exception… I knew how to use magic, I knew to manifest it… why didn't I at least use it…
"I'm hopeless, I'm coward," my eyes flowed and so my words. "I don't deserve a new opportu-"
Riam pressed my lips.
And her other hand veiled my eyes
"Don't worry. Just go back to sleep"
I closed my eyes.
The pain and exhaustion overwhelmed me. And I decided to let myself drift into slumbers.