The End - Part 1

I always find it amazing how two people meet.

~~~

The country is so empty.

I feel alone despite the life that surrounds me. I miss my friends. I miss my old life.

~~~

Weeks have passed.

I'm still alone but I feel some force pulling me towards the forest that lies behind our house.

~~~

The forest has become my friend. I have come to love exploring the millions of hidden paths.

No matter where I go, the forest always takes me back home.

The forest animals don't fear me. I call and they will come.

I hear the forest, every bird, every rustle and every breath of every animal. I am glad the forest called to me. I feel like I belong for the first time in my life.

~~~

The way the forest speaks is like nothing I had heard before. The gentle whisper of the wind through the trees and the calls of the animals were so strong I could have sworn they were talking to me. I feel as though I have become part of the forest.

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The voice of the forest is always there. Calling me deeper.

~~~

A long weekend has arrived. Three days with my forest.

~~~

I went deeper into the forest, following the call.

~~~

As I stood on the cliff, a heavy mist fell around me, I didn't know where it came from.

The mist brought a strange silence over the entire forest, I had always been able to hear the sounds of the forest and the deep silence of the mist scared me.

The mist cleared around me.

The forest was not there. I didn't know where I was.

The man wasn't there before.

I don't know how he got there. He must have come with the mist. He was tall; his skin was almost white yet dark as well.

I was scared but I couldn't cry out. I wanted to run but my legs wouldn't move.

He reached towards me, fist clenched, I backed away.

His fist turned down as if to drop something, to give me something.

I didn't think, I just reached out and caught the rough little fabric bag that fell from his hand. Then he spoke.

"Take this in water. You have changed too much to remain here as you are".

His voice sent a chill through my body. His accent was one I couldn't place. He spoke with all the voices of the world, all the voices of the past.

I didn't know what he meant. All I could do was nod.

The mist was back, and he was gone.