Caelyn woke up to the trees’ rustling. In a moment of confusion, her eyes wandered the darkness. Nothing could be seen, not even her own body. Then, she remembered following Leslie into the forest and collapsing while escaping.

How long had she been sleeping?

She took a deep breath and pulled herself to her feet, stumbling forward a couple of steps before regaining balance. She had to hurry. Leslie and Courtney probably reached camp already. If she was not so clumsy and weak, she too would have reach camp. By now, the three of them would have been huddling around the warm fire, safely away from the forest’s gloom.

The rustling of leaves became louder, as if huge gusts blew across the leaves. Caelyn frowned and felt the air with her hand but felt no wind, big or small. Even as the sound became so loud that she could not hear her own heartbeat or footsteps, the air remained still and undisturbed. What was causing this sound?

She glanced back and saw only darkness chasing after her. Taking a few gasps of the cold air, she hastened forward, fearful of the presence that seemed to approach. After a couple of steps, the air became heavy, forcing her downwards. She gritted her teeth and gathered all her strength to resist falling onto the ground. It felt like the water’s pressure that tried to crush her during her swim deep into the ocean that time.

“Help,” she tried to shout out, but no sound came out from her mouth.

As Caelyn dropped to the ground and laid there unable to move, she found that the rustling noise resembled the whispers of ghosts—soft and rambling. Whatever words they spoke she could not understand, but the tone conveyed pain—the pain of hopelessness and loneliness. Listening to them, the fear and hopelessness that Caelyn had felt heightened. As her heart began aching, her eyes burned with tears, which streamed down her face and dripped onto the dirt. She tried to move her hands to cover her ears but found that she couldn’t move her body at all.

No one was coming to save her. The last time she was in such a situation, her father had saved her. But her father was not coming to save her now. Leslie and Courtney were already at camp, safely gathered around the fire with the others. Why would they return to save her? They were all strangers anyways.

A shadow, even darker than the surrounding darkness, faded into view and approached with an unhurried pace. With wide eyes, Caelyn watched as it got closer and closer. She was scared, very scared, but her heartbeat began to slow and diminish. Even drawing breath was difficult. The shadow blurred and became indistinct—or was it her vision beginning to fail.

Her head felt too light and disoriented, so she closed her eyes. The moment she did so, an image of her father appeared into view.

“Father,” she shouted, “I miss you.”

She expected silence from those words. But this time, they reverberated through the forest like the great call of a bird. Moments later, the ghostly whispers faded back into silence. Even the shadow stopped in its approach.

Confused on what had just occurred, she laid there as strength returned to her body. Why was her voice able to break through the silence? And so fiercely too. Even if she could have spoken normally, she felt so weak at that moment that her voice would have come out as a croak. But somehow, her words managed to ring through the forest.

Caelyn blinked, and the shadow was gone, replaced by two dots of light. Around her, the darkness dissipated like the smoke in the wind. Through the gaps in the canopy, the moon shone in streaks of silver, revealing the trees and the uneven bumps on the ground. The staccato notes of crickets and the short bouts of evening breeze interrupted the ambient silence. As she rose to her feet, her eyes wandered the forest that had, just a moment ago, been completely hidden. Now, with the curtain lifted, Caelyn found that the ethereal nature of night made the forest even more beautiful than it was during the day.

“Caelyn!” A voice rang clear through the dew-filled air.

Caelyn’s eyes widened, and a grin stretched on her face. Leslie came to rescue her from the forest.

Another voice soon followed the first. “Where are you?”

Courtney was here as well. So they both came for her.

“I’m here!” Caelyn replied, waving her hands in excitement.

“Her voice came from that way.”

The two dots of light bounced up and down as they became bigger and bigger, until scarlet light was painted onto the trees and the two who held the lights came into view. Tears began falling from Caelyn’s eyes once more, but this time they were tears of joy. She jumped at Leslie and gave her a firm embrace.

“Thank you.”

Leslie smiled and nodded. “Come, let’s not linger here anymore. This forest is making me quite uncomfortable.” She glanced at Courtney, who twitched her eyebrows and looked away.

Together, they began walking back to camp.

Camp was not far from where Caelyn had been. Once she felt the soft sands give way to her steps, she sighed a breath of relief. Stumbling the remaining paces, she rolled onto the sand and closed her eyes. The warmth from the fire drove away the awful chill, sending a shivered through her body. With her back down on the soft mattress of sand, the lullaby of swaying waves off in the distance, and the open sky stretched over her, this was the best sleep she had in a long time.

***

The next morning, when the first blots of color were painted on the black sky, Caelyn was woken up by Leslie. Sitting upright, Caelyn rubbed her head and looked around. Everyone sat spread out around the fire, which was now just a wet pile of ashes. Nervous conversation filled the twilight air. No one laid on the ground sleeping, though it was hard to tell in the dim light.

“Finally, you’re awake,” said Leslie, tossing Caelyn a peeled mango. “Everyone woke up long before you. I tried waking you up then, but you were as dead as that boy yesterday. Oh right, that boy woke up right after you fell asleep.” She nodded towards a boy alone sitting at the edge of the ocean. “I suggest you stay away from him. He is… strange. People are suspicious of him.”

Caelyn nodded as she bit into her mango. “What about the boys we tried to find?”

“Travis and Oliver returned, but…” Sighing, Leslie shook her head. “Something happened to John. They claim that he suddenly vanished but who knows?” She shrugged and turned her head towards the forest. “I have been to many forests, but none have scared me until now. We should have not entered it last night. I should’ve noticed earlier that something was wrong. I was too confident in myself. I’m sorry, Caelyn, for putting you in danger.” Leslie lowered her head.

Jumping to her feet, Caelyn took a few steps back and raised her palms to push away the apology. “No, no. I chose to go. Don’t blame yourself. Actually, I have to thank you for coming back into the forest to save me. If you had not come, I probably would’ve vanished as well.” She shook her head. “Forget about it. Look, I’m fine. I chose to join you into the forest. Who knew that forest would be… like that?”

“Yes… that darkness.” Leslie narrowed her eyes as she looked out to sea. “I haven’t seen anything like it before. To think it looked so normal before.” She slowly shook her head. “Looks can oftentimes be deceiving.”

Stolen novel; please report.

“But it can sometimes reveal the truth.” Remembering the one who had said those words, Caelyn felt the white ribbon tired around her wrist.

“Hmm? Where is that from?”

“Something my father used to say.”

Leslie nodded, seemingly pondering the meaning of those words. “That is an interesting saying.”

“It is,” said Caelyn, weaving her fingers into a crude net. “Anyways, do you think what happened last night could happen during the day?”

Before Leslie could respond, Courtney, who had approached without them knowing, said, “I don’t think so. After all, we went into the forest twice before and nothing like that happened.”

Playing with the ends of her hair, Leslie shrugged and said, “Well, I’m not too keen on returning to the forest anytime soon. And if I were to, I don’t want you two to follow me in. Caelyn, you might get lost again… and I will have to go and search for you again. Please, just stay away from the forest.”

“No.” Caelyn crossed her arms. “If the forest is that dangerous, then it is less of a reason for you to go alone.”

Nodding with enthusiasm, Courtney said, “C-Caelyn is right. This situation is unfamiliar to all of us. We need each other for survival.”

“Let’s be friends, then, the three of us. Leslie, you will not have to face any more dangers than us.” Caelyn reached out a hand. “We have to come together or we will die alone. Look, all the others are forming such bonds as well. Why don’t we do the same?”

“Yes!” Courtney joined her hand with Caelyn’s.

Leslie looked at the two of them, before glancing at all the others sitting together in their own groups. Finally, a smile appeared on her face and she tightly gripped both their hands. “It’s good to have friends.”

It was then that the sun peaked its head from beneath the faraway waters.

Cain, not sparing any time, got to his feet and declared that they should get moving. “Which direction should we go?” he asked, turning his head left and right as if considering the options. “North or South?”

“South,” Courtney quickly said, before anyone else could get their words out. “I-I say we should head south.” Both her hands were clenched around her pendant.

“Okay if—”

“Let’s go north.” It was the boy who had been, moments before, sitting at the edge of the sea. The one who appeared dead the day before and awoke after Caelyn had fallen asleep. Now, he was walking towards them at a sauntering pace. He appeared calm and tranquil, not at all concerned by the unusual situations he had woken up to.

Courtney’s eyes widened. “No, no, no.” At this point, she was pulling on her necklace so hard that Caelyn feared the chain would snap. “We should go south.”

“I agree,” Leslie said, “heading south is much better for… many reasons.” She nodded her head slowly.

Caelyn turned to Cain and eagerly nodded. “Me too.”

“Fine,” said Cain, swatting at the boy, who had approached rather close to him, “we will head south. We will leave right away. If you are hungry, take a mango.”

With a sigh, Caelyn got to her feet and took a mango for later. Her stomach rumbled, but she was used to the burn of hunger. Who knows the next time they would have anything to eat? She glanced at the forest and its looming trees, before shivering. After what happened last night, she was not too keen on returning, even if it was a short trip during to day to get food.

“Caelyn.”

She glance over her shoulder and saw Courtney standing behind her.

The girl bowed her head. “Caelyn, thank you.”

With a smile, Caelyn turned and patted her on the back. “No need to thank me. We are friends after all.”

Courtney looked up, eyes beaming with an emotion that Caelyn could not exactly tell.

“Come on, let’s go. We don’t want to fall behind.”

Cain led the way. He wanted Leslie to walk in the back to watch that no one fell behind. So, she, along with Caelyn and Courtney, trailed behind everyone else, which was good since it meant they were beyond earshot of everyone else. Though, they did not talk all that much. After all, they were still strangers. Perhaps it would take a while before they could warm up to each other.

She took deep breath of the salty ocean air and caressed the ribbon tied around her wrist. The cloth felt so smooth that it reminded her of the feeling of seawater as she grazed her finger through it. She always wondered what the ribbon was made of. It had survived the many months she had been living on the streets, yet not a single tear or blemish could be seen. It looked the same as it did many years ago, the first time she had met her father.

“Caelyn?” asked Leslie, shaking her out of her thoughts. “If you could have any food right now, what would it be? Courtney said she wants a fish seasoned with herbs and spices roasted so that the skin is crispy and the meat is tender drizzled with…” She scratched her head. “Mango sauce, you said?”

Courtney nodded. “A sauce of mango and chili pepper.”

“A sauce of mango and chili pepper. Rather specific but sounds tasty. I would like something simpler. Roasted venison seasoned only with salt. Though, roasted mushrooms are good too. What about you, Caelyn?”

She shrugged. “Hmm, both of yours sound really delicious. I don’t know about mine. Probably the mango I have in my pocket right now.”

“Oh, come on.” Leslie crossed her arms and tilted her head. “You could do better than that. What about the food your father made? Is he a good cook?”

“He is…” Caelyn moved her hand to feel the ribbon but found that her fingers never left it. “…really good. The best I know. I really enjoyed a snack he sometimes made me after we collected some oysters and caught some fresh fish. He would cut the fish into cubes and sear them in a way where the outside is crispy and the inside was raw. He would sprinkle some tasty things on the oysters. He would put them on a plate that resembled a flat stone. The fish cubes were arranged in the shape of a little house, with a small lake of this really good sauce beside it. The oysters would go in the lake like little boats. It was cute, and it tasted really, really good.” She nodded her head, swallowing the saliva that had formed in her mouth.

Leslie and Courtney stared at her for good while, until the former said, “That sounds really fancy, though it doesn’t sound very filling.”

“I mean, it was just a snack.” Caelyn turned her head away from the two and let out a silent sigh. She watched as the calm waves rolled across the water, which held such clarity that she could see the patterns of light that danced on the sandy sea floor. “The sea always reminded me of it.”

“I’ve actually never had oysters before. Perhaps we should go collect a couple sometime, and you could teach me how to open and eat them.”

“I would be glad to. Fish and crab goes well with oysters, we could catch some as well. My father taught me some recipes for cooking them, though I am not as good as a cook as him so don’t expect too much.”

“Oh, I’m sure you are great.” Leslie’s gaze shifted forward, towards the receding backs of the rest of the group. Her smile relaxed. “Let’s hurry, we don’t fall too far behind.”

For half a day, they walked with only two short breaks in between. Nobody really complained, since everyone wanted to leave this place as soon as possible, and this uncertain walk was better than sitting around doing nothing. But, as beautiful as the scenery was, the endless span of sand, trees, and water soon became dull to their eyes and mind. To fill the time, much chatter came from up front, though Caelyn was too far away to distinguish anything meaningful. Among her and her companions, their conversations were sporadic, and the topics were often of little consequence. But she enjoyed talking to her friends, and that was all that matter to her.

In the middle of the afternoon, the trees opened up to flat expanse filled only with weeds and a couple of small bushes scattered around. The remnants of a stone wall separated sand from soil, stretching along the shoreline into the distance. Excited, they stopped for the night by where the wall began.

Cain called Leslie over and said to her, “What do you think of this?”

“Well,” she began, crossing her arms and frowning, “judging from this stone wall and the field, there were people here. But seeing that weeds and bushes have come out, they were probably gone for quite a while, a couple of months to a year is likely. We should take a look around.”

He nodded as she spoke, rubbing his chin with the knuckle of his thumb. “Well, it is hopeful then.”

Hearing this, a couple people cheered. Everyone was too excited to rest. They wanted to continue walking to find what lied on the other side of the wall, but Cain refused to go further. Even Leslie agreed, saying that she would not want to be stuck in a place without ready access to suitable firewood and food.

So, they started making camp. Cain warned everyone to return to the shore before night fell, reminding them about what happened last night. Though, Caelyn doubted anyone need such a reminder. Now that the sun had started waning, the shadows of the trees became sharp and long, slowly stretching towards them like the tide, threatening to eventually engulf them. She did not want to go back, even for a moment. What if she lost her way and could not return until the sun set?

Leslie sat down next to her and said, “You don’t have to go into the forest if you don’t want to. I’ll stay here with you. Don’t worry, Courtney went to get some mangoes. I trust that she knows her way through the forest.” She chuckled. “You know, last night, when Courtney found out that you were missing, she wanted to go back for you immediately. If I hadn’t stopped her, she probably would’ve gotten lost in the dark. She cares about you, she really does.”

A surge of joy filled her chest, a couple of stray tears fell from her eyes. She looked away and hoped that Leslie did not see them. “We are friends, after all.” Though she knew that friendship often meant nothing beyond a word that people say to each other to express good will. At best, they become nothing more than companions. At worst, they end with bitter betrayals. But sometimes, friendship was a bond as unbreakable as the string of fate and the chain of blood. Though such friendships were rare, even more so than blooming flowers in a blizzard.

Perhaps she had finally found such a friendship.

She sighed and turned back to Leslie. “When I woke up here, I thought this place was a paradise. We all seemingly died, after all. After last night, though… I began to doubt it. Yet…” A lump formed in her throat as she furiously blinked back her tears. “I can’t help but feel joy.”