The early morning mist bathe the verdant forest with its dew cleansing of its yesterday’s grime, while the insects quench its thirst and the birds begin their daily choir. The Ashen Forest welcomes the new day with its boring routine of stillness and silence.

The silence of the surrounding was broken by a cluster of young kids combing the forest of its dew with their ragged clothing. One by one they begin to spread out, running leaving one child counting while he faces an old but strong tree.

“Three, two, one,” he declares turning around to an empty space of flatten grasses, he scouts the area by shouting “I can hear you!” but nobody replies leaving the echoes unanswered travels the deep forest.

He walks and walk deeper into the forest with nothing but a sticks he found lying on the floor. He waves the stick pretending it’s a sword breaking every shrub he passes. Then he stops midway, he looks around, he hears a sound. Maybe it’s one of the other kids but what if it’s a wild animal. He readied his stick but losses his nerve and begin to run anywhere. He runs and runs until he reaches a clearing.

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In the clearing he sees a large tree, an apple tree full of fruits red as blood hanging around this tree. He goes near it and tries to get a fruit. He tries and tries but to no avail, the fruits are too high from him. The boy resigns his endeavor and throw the stick at the tree then out of nowhere a voice was heard “Do you like apple young boy?” startled the boy but the voice continued. “here take one” a hand reaches out and at the palm a red apple. The boy looks at the strangers then look at the apple, then reaches for it then the voices said “It’s too deep in to the forest for a young boy like you to wander off.”

After hours of hiding the boys starts to appear one by one back to the old tree, they shout the other kids names over and over again polluting the silence of the forest and when they finally reach the clearing all they find is an apple with a single bite in it.