>> A Gathering Of Hush….

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## Polybius Core :: Spook, I hope that you know what you’re doing. Assuming this is even intentional.

“Do you see? These are called ‘shells’? Once they were home to all kinds of little crabs…. and all sorts of other things that were alive….” Joan tells me in a hush of murmured words, as whispers of leaves creak down to us from towering trunks. Running his finger along the edge of a shelf crooked, deep, into the roots of a tree. Its ordered rows overgrown with ticklish ivy; all richly spotted with strange flowers, berries, and fruits…..

And the weirdest sensation of.... tiny eyes......

Green leaves shiver with me as I hug Toby by his side. Huddling in warm fright at every little sound, despite the thick and spicy air. All rustling and crackling, in the deathly stillness….

.....stirred by absolutely nothing at all…..

I curl my toes down, into fronds of moss and silky soil, as I step up on tippy-claws to stroke at these strange ‘shells’. All clinking, and empty, like odd little cups on their shelf. Beautiful, and alien. And….

….whispering….?

Toby 'ooos', and peer out from behind me as I touch one, and it almost rattles.... My claws snapped back in fright, even if I’m nearly sure it was just me. Though.... only 'nearly' sure….. "You know," Joan says, "they say if you listen to a shell, very carefully, you hear the sea…."

"Oh.....? I’ve never heard the sea before….." I whisper as Toby reaches to touch one with a very little hand. "Is it a real place....?"

"It was." Joan says, very sadly. Very fondly. His eyes distant. And an image flickers in my head. A painting, done in brightest blue. Just blue, as far as you can see. Blue waves that rush and rattle at the shore, stirring tiny rocks..... Blue sky, dusted with white little clouds.....

What would that sound like?

I giggle as Toby peers inside his own, and yeeps! Soft dust stirring as he drops it - pottering over, on his little toes, to hug my legs and tail, staring up at me with huge brown eyes.

He's so silly!

I lift my shell, gently as can be, and smell its salty strangeness. Is that what the sea smells like? Do the seas have different colours? Different smells? Or flavours? Hesitant, I press it to my pointed ear. Feeling it twitch against the ocean-smoothed edges…..

What will I hear, I wonder...? I close my eyes, and.....

Silence washes over me. A silence too deep to be real.

A silence so deep..... it feels like it's listening back.....

My heart quickens. Suddenly. As if I heard something, in that nothingess. A voice I should never have heard. As if…. As if my body reacts to something the mind cannot perceive, and I press the shell deeper. Deeper into my animalistic ear. All of my inhuman hearing tuned to something deeper than sound. Something…..

Behind me, in the soft darkness, something falls with a puff of dust.

And I jump.

I turn.

Faint traces of powdery soil swirl in the air. The mighty trees crowding in, and down. Their thick trunks scattered with shelves that hang like steps. Roots creak. Little paths leading off on strangely lit adventures, deep into the folds of mystery and darkness. With nothing but those colourful little orbs for light the air, as I lick my lips. Looking down.

There's an extra pair of footprints, pressed deep into virgin dust. Too large to be mine. Too small to be Joan's. Bare, but without claws. Human.

My head tilts, and Toby shivers tighter to my leg. The silence drifting. The moment endless. My mind keying, tight, to a single - shivering - truth.

There are no other tracks. Not one. Not a single one, leading to those prints......

As if..... something dropped from above.....

I swallow. Fighting the urge to look up. "Hello?"

The deathly quiet grows deeper, somehow. And I know that Toby feels it too, from the way he tightens against my leg.

It's still there.

Waiting.

I lick my fry lips, and shiver. "Are you....." Faint spirals and swirls trace the dust with feather-fine trails. And then, with barely a breath of noise, the prints explode into a pillar of billowing dust - cut by a shadow of shape. A thing like nothing I've ever seen. Soil cracks for metrics in every direction. A wisp of smoky dust. The Thing in the Woods lands on the path, imprinting it. Deeply. Harder than it should. And then it's gone, without a single sound. Just a rip of half-seen motion, hurling gouts of fine soil from the path. It scatters away between the massive trees, and crooked shelves.

And then there is nothing. No footprints. No whirling dust.

My voice high and sharp as I shiver. “What….. was…. that….?”

“Don’t you know…..?”

I shake my head. “What?”

“Can’t you remember…?”

“Who?” I drop the shell to my chest, and clutch it tight. Turning frown up at Joan. “Who? Who was…..?”

“Hmmm?” Joan blinks at me, holding a tiny bottle filled with whispers of smoke….. One greying eyebrow raised.

"I...." I look down at the shell. I blink away tears.

And then I put it back, very quickly.

Breathing hard. Eyes on every shadow, in this shadow place…..

But Joan touches my shoulder - and, though I jump, I grab his hand with thorny fingers. As I did when I was small. Letting the simple warmth of touch brush away the tremors. “Do not be afraid..... Not even a little..... Nothing can hurt you while I'm here...." He whispers back.

And this time, I’m sure it’s him. Really sure.

I smile. I let slip that weathered hand, and draw sleepy Toby up into my arms. The little thing yawning his little head off, as I lift him to swat at the sparks of blue that slip closer as we wander. Darting to bob around me, like happy little faces, whenever we're alone. Tinkling strange tones, and humming to me gently. But whisking away to hide, as Joan wanders behind me.

Huddling away, beneath leaf and book.

“Don’t they like you?” I whisper.

Joan gives me a sad smile. “Perhaps not. I am very big, after all. And you.... are a lot smaller. Perhaps they find you a little tamer than I?”

“Tamer?” I giggle. “There’s nobody tamer than you!”

His smile, somehow, becomes even sadder.

“Perhaps.” He murmurs again. And there’s an echo of something, in his weathered old face. A stirring of…. a darkness…. a grief…. I’m still too little to know…..

Even though it’s my birthday.

Toby curls little arms around my neck - like a warm, dribbly, teddybear. Breathing, so quietly, as we wander soft paths without care or direction. Joan letting me step ahead, along a vast log of wrinkly warm wood. Lichen creeping up around my soles to brush at ankles and knees. A thousand smells and living sensations. Claws rattling, as my hand trails bark. Rustling on leaves. And I gasp as little lights return - all at once - to flutters round my head. Warm and glowing and bright, in a velvet void that stretches on forever. The darkness falling away, on either side of me, down into the deep dark. Into bowers of moss, and strange thin creatures. Their horns glowing bright, as they slip back and away.

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Hardly seen. Almost imagined.

More of the lights swirl around my hand, our scare already forgotten as Toby flails a sleepy hand. Streams of them slithering away, between endless tangled trees and paths, in ribbons of light.

Leading me…. Leading me….. into secrets, and stories, and places Joan cannot go....

Should I follow?

And what will I find? Mysteries? Treasures? I hardly even know….. Joan's hand catches mine, and the lights skitter back to the edges of the clearing. “Look. There….. They're making a home....” He breathes, his steps so silent behind me. Shifting my eyes deep into the hollows of the shelves. To a nest built of scrolls, by a whole family of shivering lights. And even more hid away, inside rows ancient eggshells…… thinking we can't see.....

All nestled, so carefully. So gently….. in the hollows of a Library Tree.

And I feel…..

….as if I’ve been here before…..

The thought hits me so suddenly that I can’t help but be afraid. But the lights shine, so enticing. I draw closer, and closer..... Leaving Joan well behind. "Did I know you…..?" I whisper to soft rush of moss beneath my toes, and all the crackling leaves. Lifting Toby peek at the glowing eggs, all laid out in a row. "Did I really forget you…..?"

They give me no answer.

And as Joan arrives, the little lights slip back into hollows and burrows. Into tunnels and bowers. Down and down, where I’m too big to fit….

“Wow…..” I breathe, my lil tail whisking the night as I peer down between roots, as glimmers fade as notes whisper out.

“Indeed." Joan smiles, so gently. "And, oh, I think that’s…. yes….! Just enough time!”

“Time for what?” My ears perk as I rescue Toby from a slip into the hole. But Joan only smiles, with a flick of one hand. Leading me away through crinkling leaves. And though it feels as if we wandered for miles, and mile, deep into an endless maze..... the moment Joan says so….. I see the way home. The portal, itself, between the vast trees.

As if it never was further than a blink of your eyes.

Or a flick of one hand..... And a little bit of magic......

And so we pad our way for home, over mossy roots, and smoothed little stones. The crick of twigs, and crack of leaves, the only sound we make.

Back to that doorway, cut right into the air of this strange, living, dream……

The warmth of the air so still.... so breathless.... it hugs me. So quiet you hear every twitch of your tail. Every rustle of every leaf. And every giggle of my friends hiding in the bushes!! Waiting to surprise us!! “HAPPY BIRTHDAY SPOOK!” They whisper-scream, and the Nurse shushes them down. Her eyes flitting to the great dark above, as thousands of lights swirl in great giddy spirals. So very high, between the trees….

And there…. On the very edge, between real and unreal, we have the quietest party I’ve ever known.

A dozen hands tugging mine, into the dark. Around the vast trees, weaving this way and that. Into a little clearing lit up by colours and lanterns. All tables of food, and streamers between the branches. Dozens of friends, of all ages and kinds, hushing each-other and passing out treats! Looting the tables, and running around! All voices, and shadows, in a claw-footed rush. Many little tails. Many little eyes. Many GMO kids, all scurrying and leaping. Playful, yet quiet, ooohing with awe. All wide-eyed bunnies, and bumbling bears. All boys with strange horns, and girls with strange eyes. Hunting, and shivering, and murmuring with glee.

Murmuring, gently, in the whispering hush.

Like giggling ghosts!

Like the best kind of secret!

It's place just for us….. a place made of dreams….. And so I spin, and run, about the clearing with them. Hopping gnarled old logs, with red-headed cats. A hopping each-other as well! Yet all so quiet. All so hushed. With whispering friends, who scurry and hurry. Peeking though thickets and trees. Toby on my shoulders, tugging at my ears!

Bewitched by this place. And hunting for secrets.

“It’s so-totally-amazing-like-yeah!” Hisses an owl-eyed Zipper, in a jittering gush, blue-hair blurring in a whispering rush. And there’s baby Tufty, all up on someone’s back as well. Small, and cheerful, and hugging their head! Laughing and bubbling! Mewling and gabbling! And there's Lanky Lil, and 'Don't Care!', and- "Demon!?" I whisper, as he twitches in panic beneath one of the tables. Hair shading wide golden eyes that flicker and jump, like toys on a drum. With all bits of confetti stuck to his four curvy horns. "Dee?" I whisper.

But he shrinks ever deeper. Vanishing away, like the Thing In The Forest....

Poor Demon....

## Detecting :: [Subconscious Event Linkage]

## Event Rating :: [DANGER], [Traumatic], [Extremely Negative], [HIDDEN], [QUARANTINED], [UNAUTHORISED]

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## Stimulating Hormone Mix :: [Nostalgia], [Peace], [Joy], [Comfort], [Acceptance]

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## Polybius neuroNode [44-B] :: You do not want to know.

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I hesitate. I swallow. I bite my lip with tiny fangs. But the moment ends, in an instant, and Toby wiggles his lil self on my shoulders! "Pook! Fast!!!" He cheers, louder than anyone else dares. "Pook! Fast-fast!!!" And I run, sailing through the dark and leaves. Dancing with the glow of many little lights. All red, and blue, and white, and orange. All purple, and pink, and green. There’s so many friends! And so many more! My whole family is here, and I love them - every one!

Even if some are REALLY annoying and totally need a slap!

Maybe two slaps! Or three!!

But not today!

Today we hurry and huddle around, shivering at skulls and oooh-ing at crystals! Poking at potions, and chasing at shadows! All hugging, and jumping at every little sound, and whispering about what it could be! We chase strange things, and snuffle for scents. Bopping at noses, and animally ears, whenever someone dares makes a sound…..

Until, at last, Joan calls us back with a tinkling bell. Dozens of kids, streaming with tails. Pouncing, and rushing, and chasing our way home.

Back to Joan, and the adults with him.

Back to a HUGE, grand, table in the middle of the forest! With fallen logs for benches, and loaded down with food! Food of every kind I’ve seen!

Did Joan do this?

OH! And here are all my teachers - boo!

But no lessons today! Only doughnuts, and ice cream! And five kinds of fizzy!

And cake! And crisps!

And candles! And wishes!

And it’s all for us - every bit of it too! And the teachers put on games, so maybe they’re not so bad! We all play Pass The Parcel! And then Pass The Toby! Cause he got hold of the parcel, and would NOT let go! We dig in the dirt. We have stories, and presents….

And it’s all so wonderful…..

So quiet, yet so right….

And my Party could well have gone on forever…. and maybe, in here, in a way…. it did. Because it’s always inside me - tucked away, like a secret. All Joan, and my friends. My foes, and my teachers. Our whole hidden school…. Building something that lasts. A moment to carry, deep down in my heart. Hidden, and sacred. Secret and silent.

Perfect, forever. No matter the years.

And I build it up, into a place inside me. A place I go, when I shut my eyes. And, just for imagining, it becomes no less real.

They were with me, once. And so they always will.

I won’t let them go.

So I smile at them all, and all smile back. Toby’s eyes full of wonder! So full of excitement!! We demolish the feast, and whisper away. Beneath woven tresses, and colourful skies. Beneath mile-wide moons, that shine bright rainbow light.

Joan says they’re planets! But what’s that!?

Maybe a big gumball? Or gobstopper! Or….

This time, in the dark, the sparks of light fall. I see them play with my friends, all darting about. Scooting away, and shimmering back. Whispering strange secrets we never do hear. And shimmering, deeply, as they alight in our hair. As if there were hundreds more children to play in the woods!

All boys and girls I don’t even know….

We play forever. And ever! And more!

But, oh so slowly, we start to yawn. We’re getting sleeeeeepy! It’s late at night now - maybe eight! Or nine! Or even more! But the shadow, the dark, and the shimmering light…. Is always and ever the same.

Slowly we all settle down for our stories. Blinking, and yawning, and curling right up. But there, at the end, there’s a moment. A hushing. And Joan carries out a flat wooden box. Keeping it closed, and close-pressed to his chest. Like something very rare and precious indeed.

“Now, there’s only a little for each of you. But, Spook, it’s your birthday - so you should see first.” He tells me, with a wink, as I open the box.

And oh….

The scent rushes up, like a great tasty cloud.

A warm, and melting breath. A scented swirl, of something rich and unknown…. A treat I’ve never had.

That I’ll never have again.

And there, in the box. On a sheet of pure velvet.

All wrapped up in foil. In paper, as well…. A delight of s smell. All creamy and brown. The air so delicious! The foil so crinkly! And I let out a gasp, as I see what it says.

“CHOCOLATE!”

“That’s right.” Joan chuckles, sitting himself so carefully on a log to chip me a piece. “And it’s not that synthetic nonsense they whip up from chemistry and flavourings.” My eyes go even wider - could it be!? “Yes, Spook….” He smiles, so indulgent. “We found it. Out there, in the ruins. The real thing! Just like I remember it….” He sighs, as the bar breaks again - with that chocolatey click. A sound you never mistake. “I have such fond memories of it, from when I was a child. So I wanted you all to try some…. though…. I there isn’t very much.”

“It’s okay….!” I beams, and stifle a yawn, ‘cause we’re all very sleepy now - did I tell you?. But this has all of us very curious. All dozens of shy little nosies, wrinkling up at the chocolatey air. Some human, or scaly. Some wet, and dark. And none who mind staying up past bedtime!

Especially if there’s chocolate!

Father gets us all to gather on round, each get a single square on our tongue! Except for Toby, who’s very asleep!

Or was he? I don’t remember….

But I know Joan said something…. ‘bout saving his piece. Keeping it all safe, for when he’s older. For when he’ll remember! Forever! Or something!

But that velvety box traps my attention

Purple foil falling, as scented squares part. Each one so perfect, with all curly letters up on the top.

It holds our attention. Like magic. Like a spell.

Just being there, in that moment. Breathing it all in. So giddy. So excited. It smells like Christmas! It smells like good things! Not at all like that dull oily stuff from the store. No! No! This stuff is quite gorgeous!

“Real Chocolate, the real stuff…..” Joan explains, in a whisper. “Was grown on trees, not made up from chemicals. From extinct cocoa beans.” The chocolate snaps, in the quiet, one final time. As every kid draws right in close. “Which means this is very, very rare. This may even be the last bar in the world, for all we know. So treasure this moment. Treasure it!” He sighs at us all, drawing out the long moment. “This one bar, it’s worth a king’s fortune. But I’d never dare to sell it.... they would ask too many questions for sure….” He adds, as if trying to talk himself into it.

“Wow!” I breathe at last. “And it’s all for us?”

“Of course? Who else would have it? Some rich old fart, above, who would never enjoy it?” Kind old Joan gives a chuckle, as he lifts a single square to my lips.

Just one.

One tiny square of cream and of wonder.

And Joan is clever. Giving each on our tongue, so there’s no chance to steal. He’s a good father, and I love him.

Love him so hard…. it hurts me so much…..

Why did…..

The Chocolate melts on my tongue like Heaven in a bar. And I barely see the letter folded, deep, in the box. I feel all warm and good inside, feelings gushing right through me. The memory so perfect. So endless. It’s been in me long gone, but I can taste that chocolate. Taste it, and taste it….. like I’m eating it forever…..

And then….

….at lasts….

….all at once….

…..it’s gone.

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