Two Forks

Two Forks - Part 1?

So many colours.

It's amazing how this forest has so much of the same colour, but it somehow looks so colourful. Dark green bushes and shrubs, light pink flowers scattered here and there, with mushrooms of varying brown colours growing on fallen long-dead trees. The live trees; mainly dark brown with a coarse texture, like rough sandpaper, but some trees are white and as smooth as freshly shaven legs. The distant gentle gushing sound of a river winding through the dense national parklands intertwines with the echo of birds creating the beautiful ambiance that is Two Forks. At night, the stars are like snowflakes of silver, sprinkled across the night sky. Walking through the forest at night is like trying to leave from a terrible nightclub; the room is almost pitch black, filled with smoke from the smoke machines, there are few lights which shine right into your eyes, and you always end up walking into more than one person or thing on your way out. No? So you haven't experienced that before? No of course not; I haven't either.... Anyway, what I mean is, at night, the forest floor is almost pitch black other than the moonlight that shines through the treetops, which are engulfed by mist, so it's very difficult to make your way through without running into something.

Some people say that nature is so inviting and welcoming, it's like giving a loved one a hug – but who hugs nature? How do you hug a leaf? Can you caress a mushroom? Anyways, back to being a ranger I suppose. It's difficult to be serious and be an adult every day when my job is, to put it simply, be alone in the wilderness, looking for new things, and I rarely ever find anything. Humour may not be everyone's coping mechanism, but it's certainly mine! Sorry, I should introduce myself, shouldn't I? My name is Delilah Drake and I'm one of four rangers here at Two Forks National Park. My job is to come here to Thorofare Lookout every day, or almost every day, to make sure that my sector of Two Forks is kept in perfect condition. Or at least as perfect as it can be with us people coming here to visit all the time. It used to be better, you know. There weren't tracks that hikers or visitors have made by trampling plant-life and the like. And there obviously wasn't that ugly grey concrete carpark out the front or the rubbish that is left here daily by kids or sometimes annoyingly childish adults. It's called Two Forks National Park, not three forks, two spoons and plastic packaging national waste dump, so don't leave your plastic cutlery or food waste around here after having a picnic, party, or even a public pageant; please put your rubbish in the bin!

So you've come here after the flower, right? You do know that no one has seen the Montaigne Flower for years – it's the rarest flower in the world! Even though there is barely any chance of finding it here, so many people still visit Two Forks hoping to find it behind a rock, or in a cave or even up a tree! Idiots. The last time it was found, it was seen growing in the back right quadrant of this park, but its exact location has never been revealed – It may not even be there anymore! I say it's like trying to find a bride in a brothel. Don't tell the other lookouts that I said that... Anyway, why don't we get to this tour that you are paying me for! Or maybe – look, because you are such a great listener, maybe I could take you to this cave I found the other day that I haven't had a chance to explore. I promise you it'll be worth it; the creek flows down into the left side of the cave and I'm pretty sure that I saw fireflies in there! Trust me, it'll be beautiful.

Alright, here we are! The cave is just down to the left behind those dangling vines. Come on!

"Wait a minute, are they what I think they are!?"

If you mean; are they Montaigne Flowers, then yes, they are.

"So many colours. But... wha.. how? I didn't even know glowing Montaigne Flowers existed!"

I was the one who found it all those years ago, and I've been taking all of what's known to be left of Montaigne Flowers, and storing them here. You'd be surprised how many different variations I've made down here, just by cross pollination.

"Okay, then why have you kept this all a secret?"

You see, they are very useful in making a poison of sorts; A bioweapon to be precise.

"Wait, why are you even telling me all this? I'll go and tell law enforcement what you've done and you'll be charged for endangering an almost extinct plant."

Who said you'll be getting out of here alive?