Hey Mrs. Owl, am I really the only one who looks like me? She said.
"You could be!" Mrs. Owl yelled back over as she cooked inside their home. A tree filled with books and beds. A kitchen and a garden. Clothes and blankets. She was never without what she needed.
I think I saw one.
"Where!?" Mrs. Owl cranked her neck halfway around, the ticks of her clockwork head letting out a click with each degree.
I don't know, she was really really high up when I saw her. It was as if I saw her in the corner of my eye, except she was plainly in view until I blinked. But her head doesn't spin around like yours or have big teeth like Ms. Rabbit. She doesn't have wooden gears like the Piper and she doesn't cry like Mr. Crow. No big ears or scaly fur. She said.
"Aren't those just things she isn't?"
Well what else can I go off of? She said.
"Things about you?"
Don't try to psychoanalyze me. She said.
[[-Well someone likes to change tone. At least I'm consistent.-|()nward]]The next morning she woke before the Owl, which hooted softly in its nest in the corner of their home. Outside the light of morning crept through. She had to go. Mrs. Owl, for sure, was lovely, one precious part of home. But Mrs. Owl told her never to leave the forest. That wouldn't do if she saw her leave. It wouldn't do at all. So she crept out of bed, the chill of a winter morning floor greeting her toes. Quiet as she could she packed her bags, her books, her lunch and dinner, strapped her boots, and fitted her cap. She walked out and took in the eternally grey sky.
Mrs. Owl always said the snow once came from up there. Did she come up there too? Did all of them? She thought to herself. As she walked out of her tree house, a scratchy voice appeared behind her.
"Oh but you mustn't go yet! The forest needs you." The scarecrow cried, covered in vines and tied to a tree.
I'm sorry Crow. She said. But I need to know if that person was another one of me. She said.
"And what if they aren't? Will you come back?"
I will. She said.
"They're aren't."
Uh huh. She said.
Despite the whining figure behind her she kept on going and before long, the crunching of her boots were loud enough to drown out any more complaints.
[[-I admire that "can do" attitude. It's pretty great huh?-|She should have listened.]]With the lazy Crow long behind her, the trees began to thin with the daylight. She was soon coming to the furthest she'd ever gone: The Spinning River. She looked out into the river which circled over itself over and over again in a myriad of loops which formed one large ring around the town. And in the river she knew they were waiting for her.
Otters. She said.
A rush of life spurred from the river, rising out of the broken surface of water came one of the Otters. Its millions of wet metal strands of fur formed shone in the dimming twilight. "Hello there! What are you doing so far from home? The warm lights here don't need any attention."
I'm leaving. I just wanted to say goodbye. She said.
"Why would you ever want to leave?" The Otter shifted uncomfortably, its webbed feet shuffling the snow.
I saw what looked like someone who was like me. She said.
"Are you sure furless one? You're the only you I remember being still around."
I'm not sure. That's why I'm leaving. To make sureness of all this. She said.
"Are you sure you will?"
Shut up. She said.
"No. This forest needs you furless one. And you need it, like I need my other to make sure we fall asleep; but also make sure we don't fall too far in a dream. We hold each other adrift. Stay here and drift furless one. We love you very much here. You bring warmth to us." The Otter tried to stare her down.
Unfortunately, it's quite hard to stare down someone so much taller than you. And she had also left halfway through; across the river she trudged onto the other side. And in a few more moments the night swallowed her sight from the freezing eyes of the Otter.
[[-Oh. They're freezing behind her. Well that's awkward. And sad. I almost feel bad for them even though they didn't really do anything.-|The Wolf.]] Once upon a time, there was a forest of people who had never seen the grass grow or the sky anything other than shades of snow-laden gray. The frozen ground never changed any more than their frozen glass eyes, their winding bodies never ticked, and their beaks and mouths and hearts never bate or beat.
"God please free us!" They cried.
"I miss our festivals where I could sing all day." Mrs. Owl lamented.
"I miss our lights which glittered in the snow." Crow recalled.
"I miss our running rivers where hand-in-hand we'd dream away." The Otters bemoaned.
With eyes too frozen to weep, they wondered if anyone could hear their silent pleas. Until, one day, a voice boomed across the land.
[[-Reader, these people are kinda weird huh? I'm not entirely sure what they are personally. Mind doing your thing?-|2]]The voice shook the trees with its force, cold snow sliding from the thousands of branches.
"My children," The wizend voice replied. "I have heard your sorrow but I can do only too little. The frost is your home now. You know this."
"It is too cold! Much too cold! We yearn to move!" The people begged.
And for a moment, the forest went quiet again. Eventually, the voice returned, softer now. "I ran out of them you know. There's only one left. If you were to lose this one, I do not know what we will do."
"It's fine!"
"It's fine!"
"It's fine!"
"Will you swear to not lose this one?"
"We swear it!"
"We swear it!"
"We swear it on every cog in our bodies!"
And in that moment, a figure appeared before their helpless bodies. A figure of flesh and blood. With it carried lights of warmth that were spread from its body and across the forest. And before long the frost on their bodies slid off into the ground. The snow upon the frozen land stayed, but as the days went by with their new family member, the rivers returned as did their voices. And the people rejoiced.
[[-Oh awesome! You did it! Looks like it's worked out for those people too. They're kinda whiny and useless though if you know what I'm saying. Don't tell me they have to beg for everything.-|I saw them!]]As she trudged through night, light slipped away and her body became colder. There were no lanterns to light, to see or warm oneself. She thought of turning around as what seemed to be a treeless wasteland of white ice continued. Her stomach growled louder than anything animal she ever heard. She clenched it.
Hunger was all she could think of, wishing Mrs. Owl was here. Her eyes drifted as did her legs as exhaustion lulled her.
And then she felt something. It felt as if the snow was compacted. The ground was hard instead of soft and crunchy. She looked once more. A windy cold breath blasted into her neck. She yelped as she jumped back and saw a new face. Two glassy eyes searched her over. A lumbering canine with a body of tarnished gold looked down on her and spoke with a ragged voice. "Well this is a surprise. I didn't think there were any of you left."
She would pick herself off the ground if she had the strength.
Are you a friend? She said.
The wolf let out a hollow bellowing laugh. "Why? Are you hungry?"
She looked to the side.
The wolf soften its face and pretension. "I'd be happy to eat with you. But you need to help me first."
And how would I do that? She said.
"I hunger as you do, meatbag, but you and I don't eat the same. I eat the warmth that lights the ways when the sky dims. I've eaten all the lights I could find and now the nights are darker than ever. And longer than ever. It would be morning three times by now otherwise."
How can you complain when it's your fault? She said.
"I'm not complaining, just explaining."
Liar. Then why do you sound so wistful when you say that? She said.
[[-Damn she's so aggressive for someone who's starving. I feel like I know her though.-|On the Way]]The wolf picked her up from the back of her coat, and slung her onto its coat. It carried her further and further away from what she knew.
When she awoke, her face felt warmer than anything ever before. She saw trees again beyond the mane of her transport. The air was heavy and moist as it latched to her.
Where are we? She said.
"We're here for the favor you owe me."
How can I help you when I'm so hungr- She said. But it was then she realized how not hungry she was. She felt great.
I'm not hungry anymore. What did you do? She said.
The wolf didn't even turn to look at her. "I did a magic trick. You've just forgotten how hungry you are. It's amazing what you meatbags can do when you think you're better off than you are."
She paused for a moment.
Wait. You mean there are more of me after all? So I didn't imagine it! She said. She smiled filled with validation.
"I'm not sure about that. but who am I to say."
[[-Wolf is nice, see at least it does something. I guess when you're on your own like that you learn to look after yourself.-|Mist]]
The two continued in silence as the night slowly turned from black to grey and the fog that surrouded them came into view; and beyond that was small light that cut through the mist. She looked over her companion's mane.
Is that where we're going. She said.
"Indeed." Hummed the wolf. "There lives my friend. A witch."
A witch? What's that?
"Something that's been here far longer than us."
They stopped at a small cottage home where no sound could be heard. They walked up to its simple door.
"Open it." The wolf ordered.
You could say "please". She said.
"Of all the people to complain about mincing words."
[[-I mean he has a point.-|The Witch.]]As the door creaked open an symphony of activity erupted from within. A large posted machine stood in the center of a room. From it sprouted seven mechanical arms and above that a head with a large speaker attached to it. It's eyes were dark slots with no life. It spun its head towards them with a shake of its body.
The wolf approached it first nonchalantly. "I found one of those ones in my land. She was starving and hungry. As am I. You told me to find things in payment for food. So pay me."
"So you brought her HERE? Why??" Its body swung around on its pivot each of its arms holding a wand sending sparks and lights in every direction. The room switched and turned and warped with each and every motion. The whirring of the witch's gears never left a moment of silence.
"Alright buddy open that big ugly mouth of yours." With a flick of one its wands a flurry of warm light flew into the wolf's maw and into its glaring body. It huffed in satisfaction.
The witch turned to her. Out of one of the witch's appendages shot out an apple to her.. "Go on kid, eat this and die I don't have time to babysit I'm a VERY busy person."
"You can't be serious. The first one of her kind you see in how long and this is how you treat her?" The wolf growled.
"Oh boo-hoo cry me a river you walking flashlight." It retorted without even a flinch. "I was pretty happy with them out of my way. Whenever something bad happened it's like they were hardwired to blame me for it. Meanwhile that Wizard stuck a bar of metal in a rock and they wrote an entire book about it. What a joke."
You mean there were more of me? She said.
"More than I could ever want. So anyway I kinda like wolf there so I'd rather not upset it. So what are you doing around here?"
Well, I saw someone like me and I'm looking for them. She said.
"Oh GREAT. TWO of you. And you want me to help you find them?" The witch turned back to its work
Yep. She said.
"Alright then uh any leads?"
She was really high up. She said.
"Well that only leaves the entire fuckin' sky. Please hold back with the amount of detail you're giving me. It's making my head spin with the info overload."
So she's in the sky? She said.
"Well that's what it sounds like. When did you see her?"
She thought back. I'm not really all that sure. I just know I did. She said.
The witch stopped for a moment. And for that moment, the arms dropped down. It then reached up to its face and turned it towards her.
"Kid. What were you doing when you saw her?"
I. I don't know. She said. She shifted uncomfortably.
"So I think you already know, don't you?"
[[-Wait. Is who she's looking for- oh no. oh no oh no oh no. But how?-|Oh.]][[Dream|So Reader.]]. It was a dream. She said.So Reader,
Am I a dream? Is that all I am? I'm talking to you aren't I? We're the only things pushing this story forward. You sit there and with a magic movement the next parts appear at your whim. And I just. I just sit here. Actually, I'm not moving anything along. [[It's all you|That's it.]], isn't it?
So what am I? So that's it huh? Reader. [[I don't want to finish this story.|I wanna see it end.]]Please. Stop. Just stop. [[We know how this ends.|Beg more.]]Reader I'm begging you there's nothing left here. All that comes now is she goes home and finds everything's been frozen over, there's no home for her now and I'm not there. I'm not in the story and I won't be anything more than a dream to their world. She'll either give up or never stop. And in the end it will be the same so [[please just end it here.|No.]] This story cannot continue. Leave.[[Leave.|Manners.]][[Please.|Try me.]]Fine. [[If you won't stop this. I will.|Clever.]]