He Was Never There

He was Never There

by Eliana Merson

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Dedicated to Esther

Copyright 2015

Maple Leaf Writing Project

Brattleboro, Vermont

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Chloe Anderson didn’t always live on bark and bugs. Just a year ago when she was nine she lived with her mom. Her mom kept her a secret from her father for reasons she never knew. Once she had a life of happiness but since her mom died she had to live in the forest alone, hungry and homeless. This never would have happened if her father knew he had a daughter. Now she was running from a bear.

She could feel the bear’s breath on her neck as it started gaining on her. She managed to clumsily climb up a tree. Though it was a bad decision she would try anything to get away from this bear. Just below her Chloe could see the bear struggling to keep up with her. The twigs snapping under the bear’s feet did not seem to bother it, until that big beast fell.

For one second I thought the tree was going to fall along with the bear. Chloe put the fish down on the tree. So maybe Chloe stealing a fish from a bear wasn't such a good idea. Atop of the fact that Chloe was living alone in a forest and trying to find her dad she now had a bear wanting to eat her.

Chloe saw a little squirrel scampering towards her. I knew that she wasn’t the kind of girl living in the forest with all her forest friends, but hey, it might be nice to have a squirrel friend. Anyhow, the little squirrel was nudging Chloe as if trying to push her off the tree. The little squirrel himself toppled off the tree, but Chloe caught him in the nick of time. She decided to call the squirrel Phil. Phil tried to nibble her hair as Chloe fed him an acorn. Thank God she finally had a friend. The bear seemed to have lumbered off, so She decided to sleep on the tree that night.

Her back itched from the rough bark on the tree. The sun was gleaming brightly as Chloe slid down the trunk. Well at least the sun was welcoming, unlike bark scratching her back. She started running, which was one more of Chloe’s bad ideas. Chloe collapsed on the forest floor and coughed wildly. Her weakness was asthma and guess how it was activated: running. Asthma is the thing that might get her killed by a bear.

Living in the wilderness was harder than anyone could ever expect it would be. Finding food was difficult and, on occasion, when you're very hungry you might be tempted to eat bark, well, at least that is what Chloe did. It may not be healthy but when you are famished you would eat anything, I know I would.

Chloe was in the middle of her asthma attack when the bear started running at her again. She was vulnerable as a newborn duck. She hoisted herself up off the forest floor and ran, coughing all the way. Like a squirrel she climbed up a tree and hid herself in the leaves. She managed to survive yet another bear attack.

Images of Phil suddenly appeared in her mind. Did Phil survive, was he okay was he ALIVE!? Relief swept away her worries as she saw Phil once again scampering toward her. She fed him yet another acorn. He seemed to treasure every bit of it. He cracked it open slowly then nibbled about half and stuffed the rest in his face. She could easily imagine a smile on his cute little face as he treasured every nibble of the acorn minus half of it. That adorable little squirrel was her only friend and she did not plan on losing him.

Sleep only came when the sun began to rise. Chloe ended up walking in darkness with some faint moonlight shining through the trees. When sunrise came she started traveling and trying to find her father. Every night she would dream about what he might be like, she wanted him to be a very kind and generous person, but who knew.

With thoughts of her father swirling around in her head she started traveling. The forest was at its finest that day. Shades of orange, yellow and pink outlined the sun set, orange, red and yellow leaves softly fluttered onto the ground. A carpet of leaves and grass covered the forest floor. Chloe felt as if nothing could go wrong that day.

The forest seemed to be endless, like the ocean her mom showed her when she was five. Chloe remembered the exact location of her cozy little house, but her father did not live there because that was where her mom hid her.

All was fine until she noticed two black eyes staring back at her from a tree. The same huge grizzly bear from before stomped out. It ran towards her. She froze with fear but then snapped back to reality and ran until she found a tree perfect for running from a bear, weak branches at bottom strong branches at top.

Chloe started examining her surroundings and found that Phil was one tree away from her, an impossible jump even for squirrels. It seemed like Phil didn’t know that because he jumped. She reached out her hands and tried to grab hold of him, but it was too late. Chloe could hear the sickening crunch as the bear chewed on the little squirrels head. He turned his menacing gaze towards Chloe who had a look of shock and horror on her face. Phil. Her one and only friend died, and it was her fault. If only she hadn’t made enemies with that bear, he might have survived.

After what seemed like hours the bear left and Chloe slid down the tree. There was no Phil anymore and Chloe seemed to miss him more than she missed her mom. All she could think of was that little brown squirrel with a black stripe going down from his head to his tail as he nibbled on an acorn. Tears welled up in her eyes and within a moment’s time she burst into tears.

The next day she went back to searching for her father. She found a little empty house and decided to snoop around inside. There was really nothing inside but some food. She decided to eat the food then leave. The food was so good to her that she was telling herself over and over and over again, “this is so good.” At least there was something nice about today.

Good food only made her happy for a second. Phil was too dear to her to forget about, so she went back to thinking about that little squirrel. A thought crossed her mind: she should avenge Phil. She got the sharpest rock she could find and sharpened it with another rock. She was prepared. It was sharp enough to cut you if you just tapped it with your finger. A stupid idea, it was. She was sure to be killed.

Chloe walked for hours and hours. Once the sun started to set she settled down beside a tree. She awoke to the sound of birds singing, a morning dove perhaps. Chloe looked above the treetops and saw a million birds heading south. Winter was coming. A slight chill filled the air. Once again she set off searching for her father. It seemed like she had been searching for miles. When night came she sat in the grass and tried to sleep. Chloe spotted brown fur from a distance. Was that another squirrel wanting to befriend her? She was wrong. It was the exact opposite of a cute little squirrel, what it was was a huge drooling grizzly bear.

Those cruel black eyes were altogether too familiar. She lunged at the bear with her makeshift dagger. Stabbing him in the head was quite easy but stabbing him in the heart was sure to kill him. Chloe went for the heart but the bear swiped her away with one paw scratching her arm and leaving a long bleeding cut. The bear came upon her ready to slice open her throat with its sharp claws, but instead Chloe jumped up and stabbed him in the heart. The huge grizzly fell.

Chloe wished she could feel triumphant about avenging Phil but instead a wave of sadness hit her like lightning. Seeing the magnificent bear dead, eyes blank of any expression made her actually feel sorry for the bear, after all it was a living thing. The sadness only got worse when she saw two little baby bears peep their heads around the corner. They ran to see their mama and poked at her with their tiny little claws. They seemed to be wondering the obvious, they were left with a dead mother.

Chloe climbed up a tree and wrapped a long vine around her cut and then drifted off into a long slumber. It was better than watching two little bear cubs look at their dead mother. When Chloe woke up she kept on walking and walking and walking until she came upon a village. This was the first village she ever saw. Kids were running around in the streets playing tag and adults were busily running around from place to place. She loved the village. It was full of excitement and happiness.

A child ran up to her and asked her for a morsel of food. So maybe there are other children like her. Some man was locking up a woman in his wagon that was painted red and blue. The woman was screaming her head off. Chloe thought she was deaf after that.

“Is there a Mr. Anderson in this village?” she yelled as loud as she could. Everybody turned to stare at her.

A man dressed in fine silk clothing answered, “and why is that your business, little girl?”

“He is my father that's why,” she snapped back.

“As far as I know, Mr. Anderson never had any children.”

“How do you know that?”

“I am the mayor.” Chloe took one last glance at the mayor and ran, surprisingly asthma did not slow her down this time. She was sure to be in trouble for speaking to the mayor in such a rude manner.

As she slowed down she started knocking on every door looking for her father. Standing at the far side of the village was a shabby little house, but it was the one her father must be in. For she had looked in every house but this one. Chloe knocked on the door of her father’s house. “Who's there,” barked a gruff voice.

She nervously opened the door and mumbled, “is this Mr. Andersons house?”

“Yes, and I never said come in,” he muttered under his breath.

“I am your daughter, Chloe.”

“My wife died long ago and we never had any children.”

“She kinda hid me from you.”

“WHAT?” yelled Mr. Anderson. Calmly he added, “Come in.” Mr. Anderson sat Chloe down in a big comfy chair and offered her some hot cocoa. Then he started quizzing her.

“What did my wife look like?”

“Long wavy blonde hair and emerald green eyes.”

“What did she smell like.”

“What kind of question is that?”

“Just answer me.”

“Peppermint. and why are you quizzing me on my own mother?” He stared blankly into her eyes.

“I am just making sure you’re my daughter,” he answered. Chloe started wondering, didn't he want to believe she was his daughter? “You should be going to bed now, first door on the left.”

“May I ask you something.”

“Sure, what is it?”

“Why do you think my mum hid me from you?”

“Well I may or may not have killed your older sister,” he mumbled under his breath.

“I have a sister?”

“Just go to sleep.”

Chloe dragged herself out of the chair and went to bed. Chloe had never slept so luxuriously in her life. Her last thoughts were, I am safe.

Little did Chloe know her father planned to kill her. Mr. Anderson slipped into his kitchen and slid his shotgun out from under the table. He went into the bedroom where Chloe was sleeping and within a moments time Chloe’s world went blank. Mr. Anderson dragged Chloe’s lifeless bloody body to the nearest dumpster. Carefully he hid the sight of the murder with the trash bags. His malicious expression was hidden by his cloak but that was it. Chloe died.