"The Edge of the Forest" Sneak Peak
The Edge of the Forest
Contents
-Prologue
-Chapter 1, A New Friend
-Unexpected Guests
Prologue
I never had my freedom like the other pups. My Ma and Pa always kept me inside. They told me it was quite dangerous for me to be out and about. I would watch my frater, my brother, climb up the tunnel on the left of the hill to the right every day. They told me it was for him to do his job outside the den. A place that was only in my greatest imagination. As we got older, I got more curious. For I knew that I was different, even if Ma and Pa kept their secrets. They all bore the fur of what I thought fire would look like. My fur was the color of the ice flakes that leaked through the main den hole. I never understood. I thought I was just different.
Throughout my homeschooling, I learned what the sun is and how wind moved and how plants smelled and how birds fly and how it all worked together in a complicated twist of vines on an oak tree. I had loved to speak in our native language of the earth. I felt like I could see these things with my mind as I spoke them out; ventus, solis, flos, avis.
One day, the news of a baby being born sparked the most conversation at the return of that day’s dinner. His name was Dispectus. Despicable. That day I learned how the kin got their names. The Mater and Fater of the child would listen to the wind, in which would give the name of the child; one word giving the child's purpose. I sat there pondering and wondering. For my name was eventually too unbearable to ponder and wonder over. I tried to feel the wind and touch the sun and smell the shrubs and watch the birds… but I couldn’t, except say one. Single. Word. The one word that came back and back after pushing and burying it away in my brain, was my name.
Desperado.
Hopeless.
15 years later
“MAMA!!” A shattering scream from a small cave-like pile of wood woke the calm and quiet of the forest “I CAN’T SLEEP I-I had a bad dream! I was being chased by the ____(train)____! They took you away and Rodger was gone, too!!” Two green eyes appeared in the darkness, throbbing. They belonged to a girl, 6 years old, with blonde hair and ghost white skin. Her green eyes seemed to be waxing and waning, a violent, pulsing light in the dark as she spoke. Another voice arose,
“Don’t be scared, little one. Ma is here.” A voice came from a tree stump and out climbed a withered but bold figure. Her deep mesmerizing brown eye comforted the girl, while a scar slashed right through the other, leaving it sightless. “It’s ok. No one is ever leaving you.” She gave her a kiss on the forehead, “Now go get some sleep, you need to save up your energy for next week!”
She said with a smile,
“Oh YES Mama!” said the baby girl, in pure excitement.
A week later, The sun rose by the den with the tons and millions of sounds of the forest. Birds, hedgehogs, mice, wolves, deer, snakes, rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, beavers, ducks, otters, moose, all screaming out, “HAPPY BIRTHDAY PUP”It was the little girl's birthday. The minute she woke up, all she could think of was the town. Nigey and Nat, town fly!! As she rushed out of her den, all she heard was, “Ain’t it a good mornin’” and “Happy birthday, youngin” and “Seven years, I see!” But all she could say was “Mornin’ y'all, too” and “Thank you” and “Bet you were excited for seven as well, Tony!”
As she reached Natalia and Nigel’s tree, she had disappeared. In her place was a sparrow with bright green tail feathers. The bird perched on a branch and whistled a smooth note with a curve-like twist at the end. Out of a hole in the tree, two beautiful birds. Natalia whistled back
“Darlin’, up already? The flight isn’t until later this eavnin’!” said Nigel. She answered rather quickly,
“Well, I just wanted to practice before my playdate with Roger.”
“If you insist, little pup, just ask Dessi before you do. Dear lord, did ya tell her you came here early? She must be having a heart attack!” said Nat,
“Oh you’re right, I better go tell Ma where I am.”
Still as a sparrow, she flew down off the branch into a small puma with a green pattern on its back and green eyes. She bounded off in the direction she came. Once she reached the den, she found her ma looking for her. “Oh, honey where have you been? I was worried sick!” said Dessi,
She said, “I’m sorry. I got too excited and went over to Nigel and Nat’s. I’m sorry I didn’t wake you first.”
“It’s alright. I know you must be excited. I promised that when you turned seven you could go into the village with Nigel and Natalie and I have kept that promise.”
The girl started to get more excited every word. “So, should we get practicing?” she said with a less serious tone, “Yes, yes, yes! Please!” She says, even more excited than before, “ Let's go then!” says Dessi, and they run off toward the trees.
After a long time of ‘do this’ and ‘not that’ and ‘watch out for them’, the girl was finally prepared to venture into the range of the humans. As she was
gathering herself to take off with all the others coming along for her protection, her mother was smiling on the outside, while internally screaming within.
“Ma, I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me! I’ve seen them from the Edge of the Forest all the time! I know what they're like.” She says, reassuringly,
“I know,” says Dessi, “but I never liked them. You don’t know what pain they’ve caused me. Just be careful.”
As they took off, it wasn’t perfect. The wind was going in a different direction than she was used to, so it was hard to fly. As they reached the viewpoint of the tallest building in the town, the pup got her first bird's eye view of the town. They flew around the big loud, metal, golden egg on the top of the tall building and saw its stained glass windows reflecting the sun, in pretty patterns of men dying and killing and what looked like begging. Suddenly, a bright red caught her eye, and she recognized the small building where they kept horses and used them to move around and kill fires. Then she saw the pup house, where she saw pups like her go in and out all the time.
As they neared the pup house, they perched on the branch near the door. “How was your first official flight into the town?” asked Natalie,
“I loved it! It was so fun to see the glass on the tall building, but what did you say the big egg was?” asked the pup,
“That's called a bell. They ring it like a bird's call.” Nat responds, she whistles her call.
“Oh. That makes sense.” When they were airborne again, they headed back, but not without landing on top of the bell tower. Unexpectedly, the bell rang out, a booming BONG shattered the ears of everyone on top of the tower. Her green eyes flashed as the pup turned into a porcupine, her quills loosening, barely missing Nigel when he jumped up in fright. She immediately turned into a swallow again, hoping nobody saw that.
“Are you alright, darlin?” asked Nat,
“Yes, just a bit shaken up. Does it have to be that loud??” said pup, wearily,
“Well, it seems to only run in full sun, so we’re safe for now.” said Nigel, and the pup hoped he was right. That was a bit of a scare for the pup, but a lady below almost fainted seeing the sallow turn into a porcupine with green tipped quills.
“We better go.” said Nat, and with reasonable suspicion. That's a good idea, still a little shaken. They shouldn’t stay there any longer after the accident. Anyways, her mother would be waiting for her by now. So, without hesitation, they took off, not looking back.
When they got back, Dessi was waiting as expected. She was pacing back and forth while trying to hide that she was so eager to see how things went.
“We’re back, Ma!” said the pup as she turned into her little blonde haired girl.
“How did it go? Were there any problems? Did you stay together? Did..” she saw all of them looking at her, “ Did you have a good time, little one?” she finally said, letting go of her worries.
“We did!” said the little pup as she hugged her Ma, "We saw the pup house up close, and the tall tower…” she hesitated, “well, we went up to the top before we came back and it rang really loudly and I got scared and sorta maybe kinda turned into a porcupine.” Her mom stared at her. There was a long silence. “I mean, no one saw… except this one woman but I think she just thought she was hallucinating.”
Dessi looked around, speechless, at all of them standing there with guilty expressions on their faces.
“I… I think we all deserve a break.” she said in a weak trembling voice.
“Dessi I can explain, It was a misunder-”
“IT’S FINE! I’M …. Fine. I’m fine.” She said, bursting out in rage, “You just have fun. I need a break.” As the pup started to walk off, she heard her mothers voice behind her, “I want to speak with you. Now.”
“Bu-” she cut her off, “Now.”
The pup could tell that she was not going to be able to tell Roger about the town, and by the look of his sad eyes, he could tell as well. She watched him shrug his shoulders and mouth. My Mama was bringing us hunting with the rest of the bears today, as she stumbled close behind her Ma.
As they reached the den, Ma sat down and drew a deep breath from a hidden place in her lungs. She didn't look at the pup. She only stared intently at the thick forest. She suddenly winced, like whatever she was looking at threw a dagger at her shoulder. She saw the sharp pain go through her eyes and down her spine. Dessi looked at the pup with one, brown sad eye.
“Come give your Ma a hug.” She said, a slight smile on her face.
“I’m sorry,” SHe said while giving her a big warm hug. “I really didn’t mean to shift like that. The bell-el was really scary!” Dessi just looked down and said, “It’s ok, I understand.”
After a long lecture about why the humans were bad news, Dessi finally asked if she knew who she was dealing with. “I know Ma, they will lock me in a cage and beat me to death!” She said with an exaggerated tone, “I can handle it! I’m already seven!”
“Speaking of your birthday, I think Clifa wanted to take you and Roger hunting. For Roger's first time, too!” said Dessi, with a new upbeat voice.
“Oh yeah! He told me! He’s gonna be so excited!” and she ran off, looking behind her shoulder screaming, “Bye Ma!” before taking the shape of a little bear cub. She ran along the forest, a streak of brown and green fur, trudging toward the edge of a big fallen tree across a large, grassy area, the hole in the canopy letting in more light for growth. Under it, there seemed to be a small hole that led to a big den.
“Roger! I’m here!” yelled the little girl,
“Comin’!” A small voice came from deeper in, “Your Ma let you out? Thought you’d be grounded for moons!”
“ Yeah, well, not before a long chat about ‘the danger of humans’.” she said the last part with utter disgust.
“I guess that's better than being grounded.” he said, finally rounding a corner and showing a small and smiling friendly face of an age around the pup’s. He had big gray eyes, but filled with color at the same time.
“Guess so. Ready to go?” She asked.
“Ma is gettin’ ready an’ needs some time. She is sooo excited for our first hunt!”
“I am, too! But, are we actually going to. . . You know. . . kill other animals?” she said in a hushed and nervous voice. Roger stayed silent for a while.
“Well. . . kinda.” he whispered, “But if you don’t want to, we can just run around and go out of the bounds! We can go there now!” He said, with new joy.
“I like that idea.” She responded, satisfied. She didn’t like the idea of killing other animals. She herself was every animal in itself, so she was a vegetarian naturally. Can’t eat rabbits if you are also a rabbit!
As they set off toward the deep forest, the pup could only hear her bounding footseps pounding on the hard, firm soil of the forest. The evening sun coming through the leaves made little spotlights for the blurs of birds and beetles stopping to nibble at the dirt or dig the bark of the tree.
Running through the forest with her friend by her side was the thing she enjoyed the most. The wind in her ear and the sun in her eyes. The weeds brushing against her paws. She felt as if everything would melt away in seconds. Nothing was pushing her down and the gravity of the sun couldn't pull her away from her fortune already in her grasp. She was unbeatable.
Chapter 1
A New Friend
The blinding light reached through the hole of the den, with the wind breathing steadily by. The morning birds called out through the treetops. It was a fair morning for our little pup, she was to go to her favorite part of town, the pup house. As she woke up, her green eyes strained bright, putting a glow in the dark cavern where she lay. She crawled out of her dark bed and into the morning brilliance, her bright green dress made of leaves and ivy put a splotch of green on the dirt path. She gradually began to wake, with the sounds of her animal company talking amongst themselves, the usual hawkes eating the snakes, snakes eating the mice, and a rare happening of an owl eating a local bird overnight.
“I was just sitting there-”
“No dignity-”
“Stick to mice!-”
“My chicks saw it-”
“Poor thin-
“That’s terrib-”
“BARBARA-SHE GOT EATEN??”
“Why, haven’t you heard?”
They just loved gossip so much that they couldn’t care less if a chick was eaten by a snake unless they were the chick of some blue jay wannabe that lives on the highest branch of an oak.
The pup made her way through the rather thick tree layer in a deer form, seeing the edge of the forest and the beginning of the town appear. There was a slightly noticeable difference, as the trees were less and the bushes were smaller, leaving some room for decent housing, but where only one house stood, a big, looming house with beautiful carved awnings and huge windows. The pup only looked through one of those windows once or twice, and she had seen a dead tree that had tiny fires on sticks and shiny orbs on it.
She was entering on the east side of town, across from where the firehouse was (she knew the names of many buildings listening to human conversations), because that's where her den was closest to. She also hated to see the horses all locked up like that, so she came in the fastest way. She would never go far, though. She stayed where the church, pup house, park, and tri-building were. She saw that past the tri-building (they had three shops in one building) there was a second horse jail, so she never went that way.
She mostly got everything she owned from the tool place in the tri-building. It had all these weird gadgets and pieces of metal that people would come and take. People were so desperate for treasure that they gave them flattened cotton in return! She stole a piece of it to see what the deal was once, but it just smelled like chemicals.
As she approached the pup house, she quickly turned from a bird to frog, hopped to a hidden corner, and switched into a sleek, black cat with a pattern of ivy from her forehead to her tail, wrapping around her paws and legs. She got closer to a small group of young pups, smaller than her. They looked as if they were as close as she was to rodger. They were speaking in a elated tone,
“Are your parents still planning your birthday on a weekday, Penelope?”said a small girl in a high pitched voice, the pup didn’t know what a week-day was, but she wanted to know what made it so weak.
“I’m not sure, but they want to make it as close to my real one as possible, still the professor is having the school’s picnic on my birthday, and my Ma is a lady after all, and so are we, so we mustn't miss it. I will tell you as soon as the date is decided, Bridget.” said the little girl with the longest hair in two brunette buns at the top of her head. She had on a little yellow dress with a white trim and puffy sleeves.
The pup thought about what the girl had meant by ‘school’ and wondered if she meant the pup house, when all four little pups waved goodbye and walked their separate ways. She suddenly noticed that the pup known as Penelope was walking in her direction! She frantically looked around to find a place to hide, or stay long enough to shapeshift where the light of her eyes wouldn’t gather that much attention.
“ Oh, you poor thing! Do you have a home?” her voice came louder and nicer, but despite this, the pup was scared out of her wits, and for good reason, too. She has never been this close to a human before, let alone be in contact with one! She froze. Terror struck through her body. This was apparently visible.
“Oh, sweet little thing.” she said, slightly backing off, but curious, “I love your fur. It’s so intriguing, like a mosaic of ivy.” she murmured to herself. And with that, she left the pup there, dumbstruck, but not without yelling a “Goodbye, Ivy!”
The pup then noticed that in her place, Penelope had left a muffin, a big, blueberry muffin. The pup didn’t think twice about pouncing on it and devouring it, for she had viewed a pack of humans making some, and she had taken a nibble when they put them in the window.
Then the pup realized that she was named. Penelope had said ‘goodby, Ivy’, which means that she had named the pup Ivy, which she was actually quite fond of. She decided that from now on, her name would be Ivy. That was a pretty name. Thought Ivy, It fits me.
Now on a full stomach, she was ready for her heist of the day, stealing from the tri-building. She would take the main road down to where the mansion is and then hop on their carriage for the family’s dining at the restaurant. She had planned out the patterns of the pack and today was a day to go to the restaurant. She would hop off at the entrance and run to the tool place and take her necessities. Then take a trip to the back for some scraps at the outdoor dining area.
She immediately switched to squirrel and ran onto the big road, narrowly dodging the big wheels of the carriages. She made a beeline to the mansion and soon arrived, slightly exhausted. She scurried her usual tree in order to find out when they were leaving and for a better jump onto the carriage when they left. She peaked over the window ledge to see what was happening inside.
“Albert, aren’t we going out to dinner today? It’s the 12th.” Said Emily, the mother.
Albert, the father, replied, “I have reservations for 7:30. And it’s 7:00 now, so we better tell Penelope to get ready.” Ivy’s heart stopped for a split second. Penelope? The Penelope I just saw? Must be a different one, has to be, can’t… But to Ivy’s horror, “Penelope, darling, come downstairs and get ready to go!”, and with a burst of bright yellow, Penelope, the Penelope, came running down the marble stairs.
“M’ma, P’pa! Guess who-” she said breathlessly,
“Did you finish your homework, pumpkin?” said Emily, looking for a coat,
“Yes Ma, but I-” she stammered,
“And you brought the muffins to Aunt Becky?” asked Albert, finding a good hat to wear,
“Yes and I gave one to this little-” Ivy was happy she didn’t get to finish,
“Good, now we’ve wasted enough time already. Abby, get the Coachman ready, If Beaky comes back from work early, let her in.” said Emily to the maid, Abby.
“Yes Ma'am. Right away.” said Abby, in a rather obedient but sweet way.
Ivy scrambled back from the window, not realizing where she was. As she resembled herself on the porch roof, right next to the extravagant carriage. She heard the bustle as the coachman came to ready the horses from the “barn”. She saw them get hooked up to the carriage. Then she saw the family come out and into the carriage. Then as they left, she took a jump onto the carriage. She landed smoothly enough. Next was to plan her leave correctly. She couldn't jump off when moving, when they were getting out, or if they were heading in the other direction. She rested for a bit, knowing her timing by now, thinking about what had happened just then.
That girl… Why didn’t I notice her? I’ve seen her a thousand times! She was especially scared about what would happen if the little girl told her parents. What would she do? By the time she got to her landing point, she was in full panic, trying to tell herself it was ok. She clumsily jumped off right at the turn and ran straight for the store, barely missing an oncoming carriage. She ran into the shop and switched to a fly, buzzing past a man's ear.
She landed in a corner under the desk of the trading man. She calmed herself down just in time to fly out of the way of an incoming customer. She then looked around at what she needed. Metal, metal, cow hide, she shuttered, Aha! The nuts! Her favorite thing inside the store was the little bags of nuts that were wrapped in this funny material. She took a few bags in squirrel form, while also getting some salty bread sticks. She then made her way to the big glass door, and out into the open. She ran up a street lamp and viewed her area. She then proceeded down the pole toward the restaurant. She went under the big tent set up outside for the guests to eat under on sunny days. There she found many people being careless with their food and dropping it in morsels. She picked up the bits, not the meat, and chewed away at it playfully. She loved to run around under the tablecloths and hide and dart around. It was as if she was an invisible being, watching many different stories play out at each table. She could hear conversations and gossip between friends and families. It was so fun.
She then spotted the family, and noticed something that she hadn’t before. Penelope’s parents seemed to be having a good time, while Penelope seemed to be looking out into the distance of the sunset to the east, which was a beautiful dark line approaching an orange and pink sky. She seemed to have zero interest in her parents' conversation. She seemed… lonely.
Then, Ivy realized that, even if she tried, Penelope’s parents wouldn't listen to her anyway if she told. This was both reassuring and concerning. No one should treat their child like that, Thought Ivy, That must be hard for her.
As Ivy made her way back to the first, she could barely hear her thoughts over the hustle and bustle of the night, people talking and some sort of grinding and digging sounds, but she could hear one little thought pop into her head loudly and confidently. A new friend, Ivy. A new friend.
Chapter 2
Unexpected Guests
As time went on, Ivy and Penelope became good friends. They met every Tuesday, or to Iv, every seven days. Penelope always had a little something for Ivy that she had snuck in from school. She had gotten a piece of green string, a spongy pink brick the size of a cicada, and a piece of pig, which was strongly refused.
Even though these meetings were expertly kept hidden from Dessi, She was beginning to get more and more suspicious.
“Where did you find this?” She asked one day, referring to the eraser.
“Oh, just in the trash somewhere. I can’t remember where exactly.” She lied, she was never a good liar.
“Why is it new,” she sniffed squinting her eyes, “and smells nothing of trash.” Dessi gave another series of sniffs, “This smells of… why,” She glared at Ivy, “Humans.” She breathed.
“What? Humans, I, no! Ma I don't, know what-” She answered way to soon,
“What were you doing in the presence of a human? That is very, oh my.” She looked out in dead silence.
“Was it a boy?”
“MA! I haven't been ‘in the presence of a human’, in my life!” She imitated Dessi, and that crossed a line.
“Then WHY do I smell HUMAN on this?!” She yelled. Her paws dug into the dirt. Her teeth were locked in place.
“I-” but the rest did not come out. Dessi had never yelled at Ivy before. Tears welled up in her eyes. Angrily, She shifted into a bird and flew away, far away, the sounds of her mother calling out echoing in between the trees. She didn’t look back and soared toward the town.
She landed on top of the mansion. Huddled in a ball on the wall of the chimney, thinking. She looked on to see the Church bell tower and the edge of the forest turn dark with an ominous look to it. She then decided to check if Penelope was inside. She flew to the window, and inside she saw Penelope’s school bag hung in the kitchen and her school shoes tucked away in the corner. She knew exactly where to go.
She headed down Fernwood Rd. toward the park. She shifted to squirrel form and ran down the sidewalks. The park was Penelope’s favorite place to go and sketch drawings of birds and trees and people. Ivy had met her here many times before, and it seemed like her happy place. She would sit on a little wooden bench with her sketchpad and pencil and look at the women with paracels and long dresses. The men with their suits and ties. The kids in their small bow ties and ribbons in their hair.
She found Penelope in her usual spot. She quickly changed to a black cat to avoid being caught by her. She slowly started to come out from behind the bushes.
“Hello, Ivy.” She said, turning her head from the cocker spaniel she had been drawing. “I thought you would show up sooner or later.”
Ivy just hopped up onto the bench and cuddled up next to her, purring. She knew that it was a rough day, and that she would have to show up at the den sooner or later, but that was for future Ivy to decide. This was all that mattered in the moment. Friends were the best thing that would ever happen to her. She sat and watched the people stroll around the park, thinking about the kids playing in the flowers. They got to have their own friends. Human friends, to share secrets with. She didn’t have that. She had Rodger, a bear who would never understand her. She would never be a bear. She would never be a human. She would never be a bird, or wolf, or squirrel, or a cat. She would just be. And just being would never be enough.
The sun began to set. Penelope was finishing a portrait of a young couple having a picnic. Ivy slowly yawned, and started to stretch. She decided now was a good time to leave. As she climbed down from the bench, Penelope turned her head.
“I’m at school tomorrow. If you’re free, well, I am.” she said, shily.
Ivy rubbed against her leg. She will be free tomorrow. She slinked behind a bush and out onto the open streets. Half asleep, she shifted to a bird and up and over the buildings. She flew into the forest and dropped at the spot she knew to be the den. She came in to see a tired Dessi fast asleep in her den. Ivy crept in, very carefully as not to wake her Ma, and dropped down onto her bed of twigs and dirt. She felt the cold soil touch her skin, and slowly drifted to sleep.
She awoke to find that Dessi had left to go hunt. Ivy sighed a breath of relief, as she was not sure she was ready to talk to her mother yet. She got out of bed and got to her feet. She observed her surroundings and rocked on her feet a bit. Her ankles were rather sore. She yawned, turned into a bird and pecked at the ground, looking for shrubs to nibble at. She snipped off a leaf of a mint plant, one of the herbs she had been growing in the area around her den. She looked through the thyme, basil, and lavender leaves, admiring their beauty. She always loved plants so much. They were so magical.
After a few moments in her tiny garden, she decided to fly off to meet the otters by the river. She flew Northwest, past the mountains and through their valleys, and came across the winding river, pushing up against the rocky mountains, spraying a beautiful spray of ist casting a shimmer of color across the blue sky. She tucked in her wings and dove straight for the raging river. The rapids echoed through the ridge off tall cliffs. Just before her beak grazed the water, she shifted into a magnificent, sleek otter and dived headfirst into the current. She immediately felt the water’s punches and pulls, trying to drag her down, down to its murky depths. Normally, she would