Trek For Survival

"Vonn, do you think we"ve traveled far enough to stop for just a short while? It"s almost mid-morning, and I need to make mom her tea," said Gia, shifting her brother"s weight slightly. Her right shoulder was wet where he had drooled while he slept, but she didn"t mind that as much as she wished her arms hadn"t gone to sleep.

"I suppose we can stop here, but only for an hour or so. I want to keep going until it gets dark. I don"t want to risk being caught by any scouts looking for people fleeing the army."
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"Good, because I need to pee," said Tom, climbing out of the cart slowly.

"Dear, you should wait for someone to help you," said Carla, reaching for his arm.

"I"m fine. It"s my eyes that are broken, not my legs," he said, standing up and stretching.

"Can I have something to eat?" murmured Mikey, sitting up a little and rubbing his face.

"I"ll see what we have," said Gia, setting him down and trying to rub some life into her arms.

He followed his dad over to a bush that was growing next to a tree, and they relieved their bladders together.

"Stay close," cautioned Carla as Mikey moved to look at something at another tree.

"Hand me my bag," said Gia, to her mom as she finally got her hands to start responding. If the stupid pins and needles didn"t make her drop her bag, she would be able to get a fire going pretty quick.

"I"ll get some wood for you," said Vonn, grabbing his axe out of the cart and checking it"s edge before moving towards a felled tree.

"It feels good to be off that cart," said her father, using his walking stick to move around carefully in the small clearing they found themselves.

"Mind helping me up?" asked her mother. "I could use with pee break myself."

"Of course, honey," her father said with a grin, moving over to offer her a hand.

"What are you looking at, Mikey?" Carla asked as she slowly made her way over to the same tree, with Tom holding her arm the whole way.

"There"s a really neat mushroom here, that almost looks like a little man," breathed Mikey.

"Well, best not to touch it. With us being in a magic forest, there"s no telling what we"ll encounter. Best be on the cautious side and not touch anything," she said hitching up her skirts to pee.

"Okay," grumbled Mikey, coming back over to Gia who was trying to get the fire started with her tingling hands.

"Want to show off your fire-making skills?" she challenged him, remembering that he had made one not too long ago. Her hands were tingling so bad she kept dropping the flint.

"Can I?" he asked, excitedly, taking the flint and steel from her.

Sticking his tongue out at an angle, and closing one eye, Mikey began striking the two together like she had shown him. Moving the bits of fiber closer to the sparks he was flinging off, she was able to get it smoking.

"Alright! Quick! Feed it some little slivers of wood!" she urged, cupping the fibers she had shredded from inside some bark, around the glowing sparks.

Mikey grabbed a handful of slivers and stuck them up against the glow, watching as Gia blew gently on them. The fire flared up and they both gave a sigh of delight. Setting the tiny fire onto the waiting bed of wood chips she had brought from back home, they both busied themselves feeding the fire and keeping it from spreading by gently sc.r.a.ping the dead leaves and debris away from it.

"I"ll grab the kettle!" declared Mikey, jumping up to get it from the cart.

Gia glanced over at her parents, partly hidden by the tree, and overheard her mother gasp, then giggle. Rolling her eyes as her mother glanced her way in embarra.s.sment, Gia pretended not to notice them acting like children.

"Is this all the water we have?" asked Mikey, holding up the half-full kettle.

"I guess so. We"ll ask Vonn if there"s a stream around to refill it when he gets back."

"I can go find some!" Mikey announced, puffing out his chest and turning to leave.

"No!" barked Gia, grabbing his arm a little too fast.

His look of surprise brought her up short. She had never raised her voice to him before.

"I"m sorry, but you have to stay close. It isn"t safe for you to leave exploring. There"s bad people back that way, and we don"t know what things live in the forest. They"re probably not going to bother us, since we"re just pa.s.sing through, but it"s best not to risk it."

Mikey still looked a little hurt as he handed her the kettle, and Gia took it gently. She felt horrible for snapping at him like that, and made a promise to herself not to do it again.

"I know you"re scared, Gia, but it"s okay! We"re on an adventure! Whatever lives in these woods is friendly!" he said with a goofy grin, showing the gaps where he had lost some teeth.

Gia laughed and rubbed his head, before turning back to the fire. "Want to see if there"s any stew left? I can heat it over the fire too and we can finish the pot."

"That"s a great idea!" he beamed, jumping up and heading to the cart again.

"Gia, could you help me a moment?" asked her mother from by the tree. "My stockings have fallen and your father can"t see to pull them up right."

Tom"s laugh was sharp and loud, startling a bird above their heads. "I"ve never had a problem taking them off, but now you want them pulled back up! I can"t help having the wrong skill set!"

"Oh, you!" chortled Carla as Gia approached, taking a swipe at his arm that connected but was more of a caress than an actual hit.

"I"ll go back to the cart, since I"m not needed," complained Tom playfully.

"You"re legs look better this morning," commented Gia as she helped her mother with her stockings. "Do they feel any better?"

"I can definitely tell it"s time for my tea. We did bring it, didn"t we?"

"Of course! Let me help you," said Gia, giving her mom her arm for her to hold on to as she walked back to the cart.

"You guys could have gotten so much further away if you hadn"t brought us," said her dad as they got back.

"I told you I wouldn"t leave you!" a.s.serted Gia.

"Such a loving family," said a deep soft voice from behind them.

Gia turned to see a pair of the most beautiful brown eyes she had ever seen in her life, gazing at her from out of the tree branches. It took her a moment to realize they were a part of the tree. The tree was talking to them!

"What a lovely voice," sighed Tom, turning towards the tree with a smile. "Forgive my family for intruding, as we are currently fleeing an army that wishes to kill us for nothing more than having lived in the city they wished to destroy. We wish you no harm; only an opportunity to travel freely to where ever we can set down roots again."

The tree looked at them thoughtfully. Mikey"s face was lit up with delight, as he stared openly at the talking tree. Carla seemed too shocked to respond, and Gia knew that the tree had to prove that they were fully in the Forest of the Lost.

"Is there a problem with us making camp here?" she asked, glancing down at the little fire she had going. The stew pot was starting to warm up enough it didn"t look like a gelatinous mess inside.

"I would only ask that you move the fire a bit away from my roots. They are getting rather warm," said the tree, still looking over the family with curiosity.

"Oh!" exclaimed Gia, jumping towards the fire, now that she could see which roots belonged to the tree. They had blended in with the dirt so well, she hadn"t noticed them before.

"Thank you, that"s much better. There are men who will be heading into the forest?" asked the tree.

"We fled the city, right before the army attacked. We missed them by minutes. If the attack had happened in the light of day, we would have been spotted for sure," explained her father, cordially.

"That is good information to know. There are always disputes going on, but being rooted here, I don"t always find out about it. I tell you what, for the information you have given me, I will give each of you a gift."

"A gift?" whispered Mikey, his look of awe changing to one of immense glee and excitement.

"That is very kind of you," started her mother, no doubt to turn the gift down, but Gia jumped in.

"We would be honored that you see us significant enough to bless with a gift. We would never dare to insult you by refusing," she said, trying to curtsy without falling. It wasn"t a skill she practiced often.

The understanding shined on her mother"s face, and all she could manage to do was nod.

"Such adorable little humans," chuckled the tree, dropping a few stray leaves as the branches over their heads shook gently. "Here is your gift."

Gia took the bundle of leaves gently from the branch that reached out to her, and unwrapped it with Mikey jumping from foot to foot to s.n.a.t.c.h it from her. There were five small wooden pendants, on twine. The wood looked like smooth little b.u.t.tons, with a swirl on two sides. A natural hole in the middle is what the twine was strung through, and she didn"t see a knot, where the twine was tied. It seemed to have grown in a perfect circle.

"If you wear those while you travel over the lands on your journey, none should react to you aggressively. Be careful though, because they can only do so much. If you insult, or attack the ones you meet, they will revert back to their normal opinions of you. When you find the land you wish to set roots on, bury them, and your new home will be blessed. Good luck, little humans."