The sun was setting over the northern forest and the thrumming life of day was replaced with a cozy lull. Roaming beasts were beginning to retire, but the creatures of the night had still yet to waken. In this tranquil state of shifting phases, a boy returned to the creek to fulfill a promise unresolved.

Milo paced back and forth by the creekside, hesitating about what to do. On one hand he wanted to see his friend again, but on the other he was worried by the end of their last encounter. It hadn’t been a pleasant way to leave things. He wasn’t even sure if the water spirit would want to meet him.

The creek bubbled and flowed.

Plop.

A small splash at the creek’s edge drew Milo’s attention. He turned to face it and – Plop – was hit in the face with a dewdrop when he did.

The boy laughed, “Hello, little spirit.”

The creek flowed on.

“I’m sorry about earlier, but I’ve come back with a proper gift this time.”

Trickle.

“Will you come out to see it?” Milo cupped his hands, keeping the stone, born of the forest’s heart, hidden from view.

A pair of dim eyes emerged from the creek and looked at the boy standing by the water’s edge. The sprite’s liveliness seemed muted compared to before. Still, she emerged with a slight smile and nodded. She held out both hands to accept his gift.

Milo took three steps into the creek and carefully placed the blue stone onto the water spirit’s open palms. It sparkled under the light of the evening sun, reflecting the patterns of flowing water etched onto its surface.

Holding the stone close to her heart, the water spirit pointed to herself.

For me?

Milo laughed, “Yes, for you.”

The spirit’s eyes narrowed into crescent moons that shone with delight. Trails of water sprinkled the air as she leapt out of the water, her every move brimming with joy. She danced and she molded all manners of streams into bubbles, and spritzes, and speckles of mist. Their friendship was cherished! The favour repaid meant that Milo and Spirit were equal again. Happiness glowed from her face while she played and painted scenes of watery life in the sky.

“Do you like it?” Milo asked.

She popped out of the water in front of him and nodded three times.

Like.

“I’m sorry for earlier, I didn’t know what it meant.”

Spirit shook her head and shot his cheek with a drop of water before diving backwards and out of sight. The creek tinkled and chimed.

We are equal. There’s no need for apologies or thanks.

Milo’s heart filled with warmth and he couldn’t help but smile. The law of whimsy was a beautiful thing.

“Little spirit?” Milo called out.

The sprite popped out of the water again.

“Can I call you Spirit?”

Splashes and bubbles passed through the creek while she pondered.

Eventually she shook her head – No – then pinched two fingers together.

Little.

Milo laughed with surprise, “Little Spirit?”

She nodded.

“Little Spirit.”

The sun was falling further and further below the treeline, and the boy remembered that he had somewhere to be before the day was over – a home to return to.

“I have to go now, Little Spirit,” Milo waved and walked away. “It was nice to meet you.”

The creek let out a single chime.

—

“So you really name everything like that?” Young Lady covered her mouth and held in a giggle.

“N–”

”–Yes. He does,” Gu interrupted before Milo could even attempt to reply.

Pancho slapped the ground with his tail, then flicked some rocks at the storyteller who initially named him “Horse.”

Not-A-Knight patted the mighty steed and coaxed him with words of sweet comfort.

Milo scratched his head and smiled apologetically. He shifted the campfire around with a piece of railing from the dismantled cart, then tossed in a few more planks to keep it going.

“So, the first task…” Young Lady prompted.

“Yes, the first task! The last bits of evening light were starting to fade by the time young Milo and Little Spirit made amends. He walked out of the northern forest and back to his home where Gu was waiting…”

—

“You’re back.”

“...” Milo took a seat on the floor and plonked his bag down with a humph.

“Sulking, boy?” Gu shot a look at the pouting child.

“Milo.”

“Hm?”

“You keep calling me boy, and I keep reminding you that I’m Milo.”

“Okay,” Gu tried again. “Sulking, Milo?”

Milo let out a deep breath and stared at the fire, “Yes, I’m sulking. This task was way too hard. You set traps along the way. With an ‘s’ – multiple traps. And how was I supposed to even find a death’s deceit in the first place? Sure you told me how to tell it apart from death’s ear, but where should I have even begun to search for this thing? It’s like finding a mushroom in a forest stack! So I went to the middle of the forest and found a whole pile of them growing on a tree, but that’s not fair! What if I didn’t go there? What if I had gotten eaten?”

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

“If you got eaten, then no boat.”

“...”

“But you did it.”

“Yes, I did it,” Milo grumbled and handed Gu the death’s deceit. “Here you go.”

Gu placed the fungus in a jar, “Okay, nothing to complain about, then.”

“But–”

“You made friends, right?”

Milo thought back to Little Spirit, Bird, Birdmom, the little blue rock, and all the other interesting sights that he encountered in the forest.

“En. I made friends,” Milo nodded.

“And you learned?”

“En. I learned about debts and repayment, and the rules of the spirits. The pain of hurting a friend, and the warmth of putting everything back together.”

“What else?”

“I saw a new life being born, and how fragile it was. I felt like I had to be responsible for it, and…and that responsibility gave me the strength to do something that I would have never done otherwise.”

“And?”

“And I saw all sorts of monsters. Like a flying bird lizard thing, and a mushroom that grew arms! It waved at me. And I saw some wolves with three eyes, and all kinds of spirits. There was this one rock that bumped into my foot and offered itself as a present so I could give it to Little Spirit and repay the debt. Oh and then I saw a drop of blood fall from the top of a thousand-foot tree and turn into a thousand flowers when it hit the floor. And Bird let out this really loud yell and it echoed through the whole forest. Did you hear it? And…” The boy rattled on and on about all the things he saw in the day until eventually, he ran out of breath and out of things to say, “...And then I found a name for Little Spirit and came home.”

“Was it fun?”

Milo smiled and started petting the feather that Birdmom gave him. The fireplace cast a soft warmth onto the living room. Gu sat with his arms on the back of his chair and watched the child sitting on the floor, leaning against the legs of the couch.

“En. It was fun.”

The conversation settled, and the two sat in silence, broken only by the occasional clink of the spoon in Gu’s cup.

“Do you understand how rare your meeting was today?” the man asked.

“I’m really not sure what you mean,” Milo replied.

“Your audience with the Queen of the Northern Forest.”

“The queen? Who’s that? Little Spirit?”

“Boy, you’re playing with her feather.”

“Milo.”

“Milo. That feather is the Queen’s.”

“Hm? The queen…oh! You mean Birdmom.”

“!!!” Gu spat out his drink.

“...” Milo blinked and dried up the liquid on his face with a sleeve.

“What?” Gu said between fits of coughing.

“...” the child tilted his head, not really understanding the question.

“You called her what?” Gu tried again.

“Birdmom. Because she’s the mom of Bird.”

“...”

“...”

The two looked at each other.

“Boy.”

“Milo.”

“Milo.”

“Yes?”

Gu took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Never call her that.”

—

“Pfft!” Young Lady burst out laughing and tipped over onto the floor.

Not-A-Knight hid his face to the side and started muttering to himself, “Birdmom. Birdmom. He really called THAT Birdmom.”

After catching her breath, Young Lady asked, “So he really, really, has always been like this?”

“He’s always been like this,” Gu chuckled.

Milo looked confused, “Like what?”

Everyone looked at each other.

The fire crackled.

“Nothing.” – “Not important,” two voices called out simultaneously.

“...”

“...”

“...”

Silence descended on the campsite of four travelling companions and a single horse.

Young Lady sighed, “Somehow, I feel like you’re the most magical creature in the story.”

“I don’t get it,” Milo shrugged. “Anyhow, shall we head to sleep, or do you wish to continue? The night grows darker yet, and this tale still has two tasks and an ocean voyage to unveil. I fear that soon, the night will turn to light and be the blight that plagues our chance of finding sweet delight in rest.”

Not-A-Knight nodded, “Indeed, I think it would be most wise–”

”Please continue! Please, please, please, these stories grip the heart and I won’t be able to sleep without hearing them to the end,” Young Lady clasped her hands plaintively.

“–cough. To do just that. Yes. As Young Lady wills, so be it.”

“I’m going to sleep,” Gu said, and rolled to face away from the fire.

Milo gave the man a look from the corner of his eye and cleared his throat, “Alright then, let’s continue. Young Milo had just finished the first task, but there were still two more to go until he could go on the boat. Or so he thought…”

—

Day broke and the morning sun’s first rays pierced through the veil of night. Gu woke up the sleeping boy and brought him over to the water’s edge.

“So what will the next task be?” Milo asked with excitement. Being this close to the boat, he sensed that something good was going to happen.

“Get on the boat,” Gu said.

The boys eyes shone with a hundred sparkling stars, “Do you mean it?”

Gu nodded, “Go on.”

Milo paced back and forth in front of the boat. Now that the moment of truth had arrived, he didn’t know how to actually board the vessel. The boy tried jumping on one of the ropes anchoring the boat to the shore. He clung to it and hung upside down for all of two seconds before Gu pulled him off with a frown.

“No.”

With a small laugh, Milo tried something else instead. He attempted to pull the ropes to drag the boat closer to shore, but it only moved a few feet and he still couldn’t reach it. After pacing back and forth, sizing up all of his options, Milo decided that his best option was flattery.

“Uncle Gu, most cherished uncle, most kind boatineer, most benevolent benefactor…” he praised, “How do I get on the boat?”

Gu looked at Milo like he was an idiot, “Through the water.”

“But my shoes will get wet,” Milo protested.

“Take off your shoes.”

“...”

“It’s a boat. On water. Why are you fussing?”

Milo fidgeted for a while and took off his shoes. He flinched when his bare feet touched the cold stones of the river bank. The water flowed and receded in steady pulses, bringing the occasional frigid splash along with it. Milo pattered up to the edge of the tide and started shifting his weight back and forth in hesitation. It was the end of autumn and it was very cold. The water felt even colder than the air, but his dream of finally getting on the boat was this close to coming true. The boy gritted his teeth and made his choice. Right as he was about to step into the river, Gu called out.

“Milo.”

The boy looked back, hoping that his saviour would grant him a blessing that would solve all his problems.

“Take your jacket off first,” Gu said and held out a hand.

“...” Milo felt like he was going to cry. He took off his fur jacket and gave it to Gu. It was even colder now.

“Okay. Go on.”

Milo took two deep breaths and mustered up all of his determination. He ran into the water, kicking up blasts of freezing droplets in his path…for all of five steps. Then, he immediately turned around and ran back to shore. Back to Gu, who handed him the fur jacket. It was so nice. And so warm.

The man chuckled, “That’s your second task.”