Eritopia

A Walk in the Forest

Bear went over like a felled oak. One moment he was upright, the next he was on his knees. He got up and picked off some leaves that were sticking to his fur. Then he looked to see what had tripped him.

It was the entrance to a small burrow, now partly destroyed.

'Oh dear,' he said and peered into what was left of it. He called down the hole, 'Is anyone there?'

No reply.

He rubbed his knee as he straightened and brushed himself down.

'You should be more careful,' said a voice behind him.

Startled, Bear turned round to see a crow staring down from a tree at the side of the path. 'Something lives in there,' it said.

Bear looked from the crow to the burrow and back again. 'Sorry, it's my fault, I wasn't looking where I was going. Do you know who they are?'

'No idea,' the crow said.

'Oh. Well, if you see them please apologise. It's just that I was looking for my friend, he's been running off all morning, chasing scents and trails that shouldn't concern him.'

The crow pulled a feather out of its wing and watched it drift to the floor. 'What does he look like?'

Bear held a paw about two feet from the ground. 'He's young, about this high, goes on all fours, with a straight tail, and...'

'Yes?'

'Good teeth.' He didn't like to describe them as sharp.

'Haven't seen anything like that, but something did move a while ago, down there.' The crow pointed a wing down the path.

'Thank you,' said Bear. In his experience crows talked too much, and he didn't want to encourage this one. He set off down the path. The crow flew off its branch and started strutting along beside him.

'Can I ask what you are doing out in the Forest?'

'We're on our way to the Occasion.'

The crow nodded. 'Thought so. Don't see many of your sort out here. You should tell your friend not to wander off from the path, this isn't the Inside you know.'

'I have told him, he takes no notice. It's his first time.'

'Well it could be his last, if he isn't more careful. There are lots of things around here that don't like being disturbed.'

Bear didn't need reminding of the dangers that lurked among the shadows. He called down the path, and a faint echo came back from the depths of the trees.

'I wouldn't do that either,' said the crow.

Bear stopped and listened for movement, but could only hear the wind whispering in the leaves. Some pigeons were cooing in a distant treetop. He sniffed for a scent, but the smell of wet leaves and damp vegetation smothered everything.

Suddenly the crow flew up and wheeled back along the path, squawking as it went. Bear turned again to see Not-Bear, nose to the ground, sniffing next to a bush behind him.

'There you are!' Bear huffed. 'I wish you would do as I tell you. If you go running off every five minutes we'll never get to the Occasion.'

Not-Bear watched the crow disappear into the sky. 'What did he want?' He asked. Then he noticed Bear was scowling and wagging a paw at him.

'Sorry, Bear,' he said.

It was autumn, and the trees were starting to lose their leaves. The rich reds, russets and tans of their decline all made the landscape glow. Bear didn't notice. All he could see were dark spaces between the trees that stretched away on either side of them. He peered into those shady depths and shivered. He didn't like the autumn, and he particularly didn't like being out in the Forest. He much preferred warm summer days lazing on the Inside, doing nothing in particular.