by Samuel J Fox
I glance up quickly to see if she’s looking at me again. This time she looks directly at me, and she smiles slightly showing a dimple in one cheek. We seem to lock onto to each other for eternity, until I decide to pull away.
You didn’t even smile at her Felix!
My thoughts were so dedicated just to see if she was looking at me I completely forgot to smile. She smiled at a guy in class only to be greeted with a face like a slapped ass.
I look up again but this time her heads back in her book. My heart sinks a little, so I decide to continue with my work.
“Ms. Specklebridge!” I hear Jessy say from the back of the classroom.
“Yes Jessy?” She replies, raising her eyes but not her head.
“May I be excused to fill my bottle with some water please?”
“Yes, you may Jessy,” she says. “But this time if you take ten minutes to get some water I’ll be sending a styfal with a letter to your parents again.”
Styfal’s are similar to stick insects, but they’re a lot bigger and quicker. They carry mail to everyone’s houses during the night so no one accidently steps on one.
Jessy pushes himself away from his desk, causing his hoofs to scratch against the floor. He begins to walk through the aisle of desks past mine. As he walks past my desk, he pretends to buckle over and drops his water bottle on top of my work, drenching everything including my notebook.
“Woah, watch it Felix!” Jessy shouts loudly. “Tuck your hoofs back in so you don’t trip anyone else over!”
I frantically pick my notebook and sheets and wave them in the air to dry them.
“I didn’t trip you up Jessy,” I shout back. “You tripped over your own hoofs and threw your water on me!”
“You calling me a liar big ears?” Jessy’s face is directly in front of mine.
“Both of you sit down!” Ms. Specklebridge shouts. “Jessy go get your water and Felix tuck in your feet, don’t want anyone breaking their necks today do we?”
A wave of embarrassment flushes through me and I sit back down.
Jessy kneels to pick up his water bottle he threw on the floor to gain attention.
“At least your notebook full of your pathetic drawings are clean now,” Jessy whispers. “It’s alright Felix, I forgive you, no harm done!” He speaks much louder this time.
He leaves walks out of the room high-fiving one of his friends.
“You okay buddy?” Hurk asks from behind.
I open up my notebook to see the drawing of my mum I recently finished soaked through, now completely ruined. Colours run down the page and lines blur into each other.
“Yeah, I’m good thanks,” I sigh.
+++
After school, Hurk and I begin to walk the same route home that we’ve walked every day since we first started. Through the market, past the square fountain, past Hurks house and then my house. But today Hurk leads me down a different path, towards a woodland forest, immersed with Oakland trees, which aligns directly along the great lake.
Birds fly over every so often; gliding along the peaceful riverbank, so low that their wings brush along the water, creating ripples that approach the riverbank we walk along.
The path becomes more jagged as we indulge deeper into the unknown. A rock catches the underside of my hoof causing me to buckle, only to regain balance by holding onto a loose branch above. The voices of the forest, as my mum use to call it, start to come alive, as if it can sense us. Distant echoes of the wind and the creaking of branches seem to heighten in sound as we continue forward.
I watch as a flying Wobber-mong jumps from branch to branch above. Weird little creatures, alike monkeys but with giant scaly wings and droopy noses. Named Wobber-mong from their distinct ‘wobber-wobber’ noise they make during hunting season.
The wind swiftly flies through the branches of the trees causing them to gently rustle. Distance buzzing can be heard in the distance, like a constant ring that switches from one ear to the other. The forest starts to become darker as we hike deeper.
I begin to wonder why Hurk has taken us this way.
“Hurk.” I say curiously, still unsure where we are and why. “I like exploring and everything, but where are we heading? Also, it’s hard to walk along here, rocks keep jabbing into my hoofs.”
Hurk stops in his tracks and turns.
“Come on you scaredy-cat,” he laughs. “I just wanted to show you something I found on the way to school the other day, plus I found another way home too.”
“It better be close.” Suddenly I buckle over a wobbly rock that has seemed to be pulled from its bedding, scraping my elbow on the floor. “My hoofs aren’t made for this kind of terrain!” I laugh to myself, trying to hold in my uneven breaths.
I never understood why we never walked to school together, yet we always walk home with each other. Maybe it’s because he knows I’ll be late most days, I don’t blame him. I’ve known Hurk for the entirety of my life, since we were foals, our mums were best friends and so are we.
“I heard Jessy said something to you before you got to class today?”
“How do you know that?” I ask. “Did he say something?”
Hurk bends a large branch until it snaps to allow us passage through the forest. “No just word of the tongue around school.”
Probably Jessy’s little buddies that stood behind him whimpering in the shadows.
“Sparky sorted it,” I say. “He’s not worth it anyway, it doesn’t bother me anymore.”
“Why won’t you let me say something to him?” Hurk says. “He doesn’t scare me and neither do his pals. I’ll teach him to pick on someone his own size instead. Sonya told me he’s really a big wimp, even she could pin him to the floor if she tried.”
Sonya used to data Jessy, until he broke up with her because she was to boring for him.
In retrospect Hurk is quite a tall Centaur, he seems about the same height as Jessy.
“Thanks,” I reply. “But I’ve told you before I’d rather you not get involved, anyway we’re in our last year of school so we won’t be seeing him much longer.”
“I’ll show him what a real Centaur can do to wimps like him,” Hurk says as he ducks under a log a few feet off the floor, resting on another fallen tree.
“Careful Hurk, cobweb ahead!” I quickly say as I see the faint outline of the silky lining hanging in mid-air.
Hurk doesn’t hear me until it’s too late and walks straight into the cobweb head first, he instantly starts squirming, slapping his face and jumping in the air like a jumping frog. Hurk spits and screams spinning his entire body around, his hand fly in my direction, one slapping me in the face.
“Watch it Hurk!” I laugh.
Finally, he slowly comes to a standstill breathing heavily. Hurk slaps his hand across the back of his neck, and stares at his palm to check. We both look at each other and begin laugh uncontrollably, and then continue to walk further into the forest.
“Come on, you bloody idiot,” I say.
+++
I feel a faint tickling sensation run along my arm, a shiny green bug scurries along me, its tiny legs move in unison as it approaches my hand. It suddenly stops and two long sharp spears appear from its head, they both slice down piercing into my arm. I scream and shake my arm vigorously, smacking the bug away from me. “Giant snot ball bit me!”
“Hurry up bug-boy,” Hurk says. “We’re nearly there.”
In the distance, I spot a stony stairway leading higher up into the forest. The moss infested stairs bend around a corner at the top, but it’s so far away for me to tell what’s up there.
I march up the stairs, following Hurk from a few steps behind. As we slowly approach the top of the dense stairway, the voices of the forest begin to sing even louder.
A hornet the size of a small dog appears from ahead of us, as it whisks past, the high pitch buzz startles me causing me to duck in avoidance of it. It’s scaly gold and white skin fly further away, crashing into the bushes
back into the dense forest.
I’m too busy to notice that Hurk has stopped in his path, causing me to crash into him nearly knocking us both over.
“Sorry,” I mutter, but as I lift my head to see what Hurk has led me too, I begin to feel frozen to where I stand.
So, this is what Hurk wanted to show me.
5
‘I follow one branch to see where it ends, and that’s when I spot something.’
We emerge from the woodlands into a large area of clearance, surrounded by tall dense trees. But one stands out in the middle of the clearance. It is unlike the rest, much larger and stands taller than the tress around us. Its pale bark reflects the brief amount of sunlight squeezing through the gaps of foliage above. The branches twist and turn up into the air, interconnecting with each other as it rises. The thick branches are bare, yet no leaves lay on the ground below. The plain, yet beautiful white tree stands on its own, unique and untouched.
As we approach the white tree I spot a centipede, the size of both my arms. It begins to crawl up the base of the tree, circling higher and higher until it can no longer be seen. I cringe a little.
“You brought me all this way,” I shout over to Hurk who seems to be inspecting the tree. “Just to see a big tree?”
Hurk remains silent and continues to feel around the tree.
I run my hands along the bark feeling the small bumps, the tree looks smooth but it feels like sandpaper to touch. I follow the tree around, stepping over boulders and logs which surround it.
Sun rays shine through the weave of branches above, with a few clouds that can just about be seen through the thick branches. I follow one branch to see where it ends, and that’s when I spot something, a figure which looks to be kneeling in the branches above. I stand back not taking my eyes of the dark figure, it’s unclear what it is from so far down, but it looks surreal. For a moment, it turns and I see a ray of sunshine beam from where it lifts its arm.
“Felix, I got it!”
The words from Hurk startle me and I quickly look at him, “Got what?” I ask.
“The entrance!” Hurk replies. “I’ve been looking for an entrance into the tree.”
An entrance.
I look back up into the branches above, but the figure is gone.
Hurk stands there, holding what looks like the tree bark, which now appears to be a hidden door. Whoever designed this entrance put a lot of thought and effort into it. I walk into the heart of the tree, ducking under the small door which has been so cleverly hidden. The hollow tree runs vertically upwards for what seems like miles into the sky, yet the color is more shaded brown from the inside.
The smell of damp and dusk fills the hidden room, whoever designed this room obviously hasn’t been back to visit in a very long time.
“Hollow Trees,”
I stare at Hurk blankly as he says those two words.
“Sorry I forgot that you tend not to listen during class. Hollow Trees are one of the rarest known trees in existence, hence why they look entirely different to all the other trees we passed.” Hurk speaks with passion, like he’s known about these trees for years. “They were used as hidey holes back when Centaurs and Minotaur’s decided they would no longer work as one.”
My dad partly spoke about the time when Minotaur’s worked alongside Centaurs, but he tends to avoid this topic because it was around the time my mum died following the last Hideout. My mum was a part of the last group that were sent to retrieve the stone, which consisted of Centaurs and Minotaur’s. Once a great team, now forgotten. My mum’s death brought my family closer and made us stronger, we now look after each other more than ever. It took my dad a long time to become involved with anyone else, but then he met Monni who already had his daughter Pell, and it all just seems to work.
I feel around the inside of the tree, “Pretty small though, isn’t it?” I ask.
“Yeah, I thought so too,” Hurk stretches both arms outwards and begins pacing back and forth. “Guess you could fit a few Centaurs in here.”
I jab him in the stomach, “What are you doing, yoga?” I laugh. “Stretching out your little muscles,” I say in a whiny tone hoping to irritate him a little. He jabs me back and swings his arm attempting to slab the back of my neck. I duck and gently slap his face.
“Bring it yoga horse!” I laugh as I dodge his next few attempts at slapping me.
Hurk lunges forward to get reach of me, but as he does his foot is held in place. Confused, we both look down at his ankle to see a three-fingered hand holding Hurks ankle tight, rotting nails curl around his thick ankle. The nails so long that they begin to curl at the end.
Hurk wriggles his leg in attempt to free himself, but the hand stays in place not letting go. I step forward to help but suddenly another hand appears from the ground beneath and tightly grips around my back leg, pinning me in place.
“Hurk!” I shout. I watch as another two hands burst out from the ground and grab his legs from behind. Each hand has three fingers like the first. “Care to explain what the hell is going on!”
Hurk reaches down and fiercely punches the hand holding his front ankle. Another hand appears, this one looks old and injured, blisters oozing out green goo cover the hand.
“I don’t know what’s going on Felix!” Hurk shouts while punching the hand which holds him in place. I do the same.
“This didn’t happen yesterday. Somebody, somebody please, someone help us!”
But no one comes.
By now there must be at least two hands holding each one of our legs in place. The grip tightens so much that it begins to cut off the blood supply and go numb, I scream in agony.
I search around the dusty room, scanning the floor for something to help us get free. Nothing but shards of wood and stones lay beneath us, and that’s when I see a large stick behind Hurk.
“Hurk hand me that stick behind you, quickly!” I shout.
He turns his head to see where the stick is and attempts to bend his body around to reach for it. Stretching as far as he can, he brushes the stick with his fingers but can’t manage to get hold.
“It’s too far Felix!” He reaches around again, straining his entire body to grab it.
“You have to reach for it Hurk!” I scream in pain as I try my hardest to pull away from the hands holding me still like a statue. Hurk reaches around, this time bending his legs. His arm strains so far, he begins to growl in pain, this time he reaches it. As he begins to pick up the stick, another three-fingered hand appears out from the ground and holds his arm in place. Hurk cries so loud it begins to deafen me.
My heart starts to pound heavily, and I realise that we need to get out of here quickly. Otherwise we’ll be stuck in the middle of these woods for however long it takes for someone to notice we’re missing.
“Hurk!” I shout over the agonizing screaming. “Are you alright?” I kick as hard as I can but the hands don’t budge.
Hurk stops and I hear his breathing increase rapidly, he starts panting like a tired dog.
“Felix, we have to do something quick, it hurts man, it hurts!”
“It’ll be fine Hurk, just give me a minute,” I say. “I’ll figure something out.
Water, that could loosen the grip or even scare the hands away. But I don’t have water on me, I decide to spit on the hand in hope that it might help in some way, hoping the hands crawl back into the holes where they came from.
I collect all the saliva I can manage but my mouth is dry from the screaming.
Slowly, a long slimy thread drops from my mouth onto the hand beneath. Nothing seems to happen and I’ve run out of ideas and Hurk seems to be in a lot more pain than I am. There must be a way to force these hands to let go.
Then suddenly I hear rustling coming from outside the tree, the door opens.
6
‘The quicker someone retrieves the Kunzite stone, the more danger we’ll be in.’
The door flies open in a sudden flash, it slams into the inside o
f the hollow tree causing bits of bark to come flying away. Bright sunlight fills the room, blinding me as it does. Suddenly without warning the room bursts into a frenzy of high pitch screeching. I feel so defenseless, unable to see and hear. I cover my ears until the ringing stops.
I feel the grip around my ankles loosen. I use every last bit of force to run, run away from this trap. Still blinded by the light I run straight into the wall of the hollow tree and slump down to the floor. As I regain my sight I watch as the ghastly hands squirm in the sunlight. They become engulfed by orange and red flames, sizzling in the sunlight. The hands slowly retract back into the soil beneath.
I look over to the other side of the tree and see Hurk also slumped against the wall, sweat running down his cheeks, soaking his chin. He stares at me in disbelief, shocked by the sudden disappearance of the hands.
We both look to the doorway to see who heard us from the outside. There standing tall, now covering most of the entrance from the midday sun, the school guard.
“You,” I stare at him in a daze. “How did you know we were here?”
I glare as the guard wipes of the wood chips and dust from his sleeves. He wears a baggy shirt which is buttoned only half way up, most guards that come through Barndale wear golden chest plates with the Kings symbol of a horse shoe engraved at the front.
He looks at me, then to Hurk, “I followed you two princesses into the forest,” he rests his hands on his chubby waists. He bears a tattoo on the back of his hand, but I’m unable to make out what it is. “Haven’t seen anyone enter the Willow Forest in what feels like decade boy. Lost ya a while back, have been wandering the forest for an hour until I heard you two screaming like babies.”
“But how did you know how to stop them?” I ask.
“The hands?” the guard questions, the wrinkles on his forehead raised. “Sunlight, boy, what you walked into was a trap. A trap set up way back when the Centaurs and Minotaur’s fought one another. Minotaur’s used these Willow trees as hidden passages. If you both look in the far corner under all that mud, there’s a hidden hatch, which leads to an underground tunnel system. But I’d avoid going down there, pretty dark place.” He slaps his widespread hand on the wall of the tree and sighs.