COEXISTENT (An Original Short Story)

At the age of 10, little Victor had been assigned to gather some dry wood that they will need come winter. It was an easy task, and the young one loved being on his own in the depth of the forest. He was not scared at all.

One afternoon, he went home from school much later than usual. Since he still have some time to spare before dinner, he decided to go to the forest for his task. Responsibility is something he values the most.

As the night starts to embrace their little town, Victor hurriedly sprinted across their lawn and headed to the forest. He had to be quick if he didn’t want to stumble on his way home. He started picking up some twigs as he cheerfully sang to himself,

Until he heard something.

“Psst. Psst.”

He listened intently and looked around, half-expecting to see his sister giggling behind a tree. Nothing.

Maybe it was just his imagination. He shrugged it off and continued picking up the twigs, pacing up unconsciously.

“Psst. Psst.”

Again, he let his eyes wander around, still convinced that his sister was playing on him. Fear slowly crept in as he realized that his sister will be staying with their aunt for the night. He knew he had to go home. He clumsily picked up the pile of twigs he have gathered, in all panic and hysteria, eager to get out of this nightmare.

After picking up the last one, the sound came again, louder than ever, suggesting that it came from above the trees. He didn’t want to look up, but his curiosity got the better of him. There, perched on a thick branch of an old tree, was a dark, human-like creature with hairy skin and glowing red eyes. He thought it was poised to attack him, as the creature showed off his dreadful set of pointy teeth.

Without a second thought, Victor dropped everything that he was carrying, and ran off screaming without looking back. He swore to never go back to that forest.

On that same night, a young boy came home feeling frustrated. He couldn’t forgive himself for scaring the creature off. He had been very gentle and friendly, even managed an awkward smile although he was shy. Maybe his mom was right about “stereotyping”, but he wasn’t sure what it exactly meant.

As he laid awake on his comfortable bed of worms, he recounted the incident earlier:

He was gathering up some twigs for dinner when he saw a white creature lurking around their yard. The creature looked weird with its funny skin and ugly eyes. But regardless of what it looked like, he tried to approach the creature. “Maybe he felt guilty for stealing my twigs” he thought, consoling himself.

He wiped his tears, convinced that it wasn’t his fault. After all, he just wanted to have a friend.

~o~

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