Forest – Change

 
Shanir
Fifty suns gone.
The years run quickly, and the village changes.
So big, and filled with children.

Soon the village will split.
Villages must stay small, so everyone is known.
This is our way.

My sister, Shanir, is in both councils.
Like elder mother before her.
Elder mother left this world two suns ago, and Shanir is sick.
Her days fade.
I whisper to Shanir that we must go climbing together, become children, again.

She laughs, and then the smile turns sad, and fades.
“We lead now, Jaina,” she says.
“Our days belong to the village.”

“Who … Read more

Forest – Hunting Strength

 
Five Days
Light wind to tame the heat, and a clear sky.
A good day.

This is the most important hunt of my life.
It comes to all boys at the age of fourteen suns.

Five of us go to the low country, to hunt Vigla.
We must bring home five spears or knives with Vigla blood.
Five boys, five days, five strikes of blood.

Vigla are strong and wild.
They run on four legs, and walk on two.
When they stand, they are twice the height of a man.

Vigla do not fear us, and have a … Read more

Forest – A Chief’s Heart

 
The Forest: Prologue
The fog in my mind lifts slowly, and I find myself in a young boy’s body.

I hear Jaina’s thoughts louder than my own, and feel his emotions.
His senses are now mine, but he does not hear my thoughts, or feel me.

I am a ghost with no power to act.
The old ones call this “traveling as a witness.”

Will it drive me mad to watch him for a lifetime of years, unable to act?
My answer comes in a few days.
I get lost in Jaina’s thoughts, emotions, and dreams, and forget myself.… Read more