Foxfire [Discontinued]

Denned

Year after year, the

Memories never die out

Yearning for the past

The sun had set. The sky was darkening. The trees that were once colourful under daylight became black silhouettes against the cerulean sky.

I continued moving forward. I was surrounded by old Douglas firs that towered over me like giants. I imagined that if these trees could speak, we would have been able to converse with each other as if we were reunited friends. It would have been comforting if they could speak. I think I would have enjoyed the change of pace; I typically only had wild foxes as companions in forests like this one.

I looked up at the sky and smelled the scent of coming rain. I opened my umbrella and continued to stride towards my destination. Soon enough, a gentle shower began to fall upon the forest. With every silent footstep I felt myself drawing closer and closer to the place I was looking for. For a brief moment I analyzed my surroundings, confident that I was walking the right path. These were the exact trees and rocks I wanted to see.

Around ten minutes later the sky had grown many shades darker, reaching a point when it became almost black. Before taking another step, I shifted to my yōkai form. My surroundings became clear as day as my eyes adjusted to the low-light conditions. I stared at the sky above me. Behind the silhouette of the forest canopy were the stars of the night sky. They appeared dim to my normal human vision, but when I viewed stars with these eyes they sparkled. I watched the stars twinkle in the skies and witnessed galaxies shimmer in the heavens.

I hope you are proud of what I have accomplished.

When I reached my destination I stopped walking. Before me was a large stone that would look inconspicuous to almost all passersby. With haste I closed my umbrella and held it with one of my tails to free my hands. I lifted the stone and placed it to the side, revealing a hole just large enough to allow a human to enter. I took a deep breath and inspected the scents coming from the hole, checking to see if any intruders had left their odours inside. I was relieved to find that it had been undisturbed. Carefully, I entered the hole and replaced the stone on the entrance once I was inside of the underground shelter. I gazed around at the walls of the den and felt an ache in my heart.

I felt the dirt walls with my hand, taking in every texture and feeling as I closed my eyes. I could hear the drops of water falling above me just outside the den. After a minute of stillness I opened my eyes and sat down with my back against the wall of the shelter. With a practiced magical gesture I produced my old smoking pipe in my hand. I checked the tip of the pipe to see if it was full, an old useless habit. The bowl of the pipe lit when I ignited it with foxfire and I put the pipe to my mouth.

I breathed in and out slowly, lazily watching the little puffs of smoke float in front of my face. My eyelids shut and I listened to the gently pouring rain.

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I stared at the grasshopper in front of me, amused to see it standing on a leaf. I had been staring at that insect for many minutes when I sensed danger from my peripheral vision. I jerked my head back and saw a frisbee fly by my face, barely missing me. I turned.

"I'm really sorry!" a girl shouted.

"It's fine. You should be more careful with that frisbee."

I had seen this girl before. She was the Asian girl who joined my class a month ago and sat beside me. I never spoke to her though. I didn't speak to anyone.

"What's your name?" I said.

"Um, my name is Evangeline. But you can call me Eva," she said in a squeaky voice.

"I'm Melanie. Are you new here? I didn't see you in kindergarten."

"I am! Can you be my first friend here?" she said with excitement.

"Okay?" I said.

"Throw the frisbee back to me Melanie!"

I hurled the frisbee back to her. Unfortunately my technique was terrible, so instead of gliding the frisbee rolled on the ground. We didn't care though. For the rest of that lunch break we hurled that frisbee at each other and laughed without a care in the world.

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The bell rang and a cluster of children ran outside of the school celebrating their midday freedom. Earlier today I had told Eva about a new game. We were eager to play it with each other, and we raced each other as fast as we could towards the central hill of the open field beside our school. That was our favourite spot. It was the spot where we first met each other two years ago. Eva reached the tree at the top of the hill first. She touched the trunk of the tree with her hand just a half second before I did the same.

"I reached the top first! That means I get the first turn Melanie!"

"Wait a second. I need to breathe a little." I said before taking deep breaths to slow down my heart.

"Okay Melanie! Let's start! I am a mouse! Cheese eater and disease spreader."

I only had five seconds to think of a reply.

"Then I shall be a rat. Garbage consumer and house invader. I'm bigger and stronger."

I chased Eva but she darted away before I could grasp her.

"I'm a cat! Cats eat rats for breakfast!" she said.

It was my turn to run away, but behind me Eva was rapidly approaching.

"I'm a fox! I'll eat you for lunchtime!" I shouted.

"Wait Melanie, I don't think foxes eat cats."

"Sure they do. There are even stories of foxes eating the livers of people." I said.

"But isn't that just the magical kind though? The kind you find in legends. Those aren't real foxes. Real foxes don't hunt cats."

"Doesn't matter because I TAGGED you!" I yelled.

"HOLD ON. THAT DOES NOT COUNT MELANIE!"

She sprinted after me but I was long gone.

"Gotta scat tardy cat!"

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Author's Note 2021-03-27

So after daydreaming for 7 months and 2 weeks I finally have the resolve to try to write a story for real. This is one big experiment and my first time deciding to write a long story. I shall see how this all turns out in the end. In the next chapter I want to get into the meat of the matter and get the ball rolling. This one is just an introduction of sorts. A prologue I suppose? 

Author's Note 2021-03-30

Minor changes.

Author's Note 2021-04-02

Minor changes again.

Author's Note 2021-09-02

Added a haiku to the beginning to make the start more interesting! I think it adds to the significance of this chapter.