Emerald Leaf

Lost Forest

I ran out of the library, leaving the librarian shouting behind me. I think she was telling me not to run in the buildings, but I ignored her, hoping she wouldn't recognize me the next time I walked into the library.

The park–did he get too close to the tree? I wondered what would happen if a human happened to wander in on his own. I didn't know, and I didn't want to find out either.

I headed straight to the tree, my heart beating wildly, my breathing fast and unsteady, and placed a hand on the tree, attempting to catch my breath.

"Did anyone cross over?" I whispered.

Many, so many.

"Anyone just now?"

A blond-haired child.

That was all the confirmation I needed. I waited until the tunnel opened up and I walked in as the tunnel closed behind me, plunging everything into darkness. I walked to the end of the tunnel. Whereas the entrance to the human's world was through light, the entrance to the fairy realm was darkness. The tunnel closed behind me as I stepped into a forest. I thanked the tunnel for safe passage, in the hopes that it would give me safety once more. All the way through the forest, I listened to the plants and the trees.

The plants were never as cruel as the fairies, but not everyone could hear them speak.

The child went this way, I heard, as I saw a little dandelion waving in the wind. I followed the path the plants laid out for me.

Here.

Help him, he is frightened.

I nodded, signifying I had heard all they said. I wasn't about to let anything happen to Kakeru. I followed their voices to a clearing, which held a lake.

Something, someone was holding a lamp, and Kakeru was following it, eyes wide. To me, the one holding the lamp simply seemed like a dark shape, but I knew Kakeru would be seeing someone else; someone he loved, someone he would do anything for. The shadow with the lamp was walking on the lake's water. 'Jesus?' I wondered as I saw Kakeru walk towards it, almost stepping into the water.

It was leading Kakeru straight into the lake.

I ran to Kakeru and grabbed his hand, pulling him back. He turned to look at me. "Aki?" He turned back to the shadow, where the lamp seemed to glow brighter for a second. "Koi. Koi's here too."

I shook my head, my grip tightening on his wrist. "That's not Koi."

Kakeru stared at me, as the light from the lamp flickered. I turned my eyes to it.

"You do not see a loved one as you look upon me?" the shadow asked.

"There is no one I love."

The shape with the lamp laughed and a mist blew over the place. I made sure not to lose hold of Koi, as the light went out and the shadow disappeared, almost as if nothing had ever been there at all.

Kakeru turned to me, panic in his eyes as he stared at the lake he almost walked into. "Where...?"

"Later. We need to get going now." I did not want to run into anything else in this place.

Kakeru nodded and we ran into the forest, as I silently thanked all the plants along the way, who seemed to be sighing in relief. My ankle started hurting somewhere in between, but I ignored the pain, refusing to slow down, even though my ankle screamed.

They're coming, the dandelion warned, as the sound of horse hooves echoed.

Hunters. But they wouldn't catch us.