The Forest

Reunited

Eduardo kept running. He didn’t stop until he saw the purple glow of its eyes fade away. He stopped to catch his breath, but then he realized something. In the distance, he saw the unmistakable spikes of Tom’s hair popping up from a bush. Eduardo felt a glimmer of hope that maybe Tom was alive and looking for him. His eyes lit up and he smiled. “Tom!” Eduardo whispered, not wanting to alert the fox of their location. “You can come here, it’s safe to move!” At first, he lowered down further behind the bush, but with a bit more encouragement from Eduardo, he emerged slowly. Eduardo ran towards Tom and embraced him with a big hug. “I was so worried about you!” He said. Tom hugged Eduardo back.

“I missed you, too.” He replied, but something was off about him. Eduardo chalked it up as him still being shaken from the intrusion.

“Are you okay?!” He asked. Tom nodded slowly.

“Yeah, but that break in just scared me a lot.” He said. “I thought I lost you.”

“Well, thank goodness we’re alive!” Suddenly, Tom looked behind Eduardo and he was trembling, his face full of dread and terror. Eduardo looked behind him. There the monster stood before him again, its eyes glowing that haunting purple glow. It then opened its mouth as it went to grab Eduardo. He was lifted by the fox and was now dangling from its jaws. “Tom! Help!” He cried. Tom looked around for something and grabbed a stick. He picked it up and threw it at the animal. Eduardo was confused when the fox didn’t eat him but instead put him aside and snarled at Tom. Tom, who was a lot shorter than the beastly fox, trembled at first, sweat dripping down his face, his palms beginning to sweat. The fox slowly approached him, continuing to snarl, its teeth bared. Tom took a deep breath and exhaled. Eduardo waited for the next move, but he wasn’t expecting what Tom did next.

Without hesitation, Tom lunged for the fox’s leg and bit down, sinking his teeth into the leg. The fox yelped in agony. Somehow, Tom’s bite drew blood as it trickled from the wound and poured down Tom’s lips. He glared at the fox with an enraged expression, his teeth showing and a fiery look in his eyes. The fox then growled and picked Eduardo up again, trying to run off with him but the bite in its leg made it difficult. However, Eduardo could hear something in his head.

“We have to go…” The voice said, soft and gentle. Eduardo looked up at the fox, whose eyes were pointing towards him. Eduardo gulped.

“Where are you taking me?” He asked, his heart racing.

“You don’t know what you’re getting into, small one.” The fox replied. Eduardo realized when the fox “talked,” its mouth didn’t move. It was like a telepathic experience.

“Please, I just want to see Tom again.” Eduardo sobbed, tears flowing down his face.

“We must leave.”

“Let me go!” Eduardo swung his arms and legs around in an attempt to hit or kick the fox. He managed to deal a blow to the fox’s nose, who in return dropped Eduardo. He fell to the floor, taking a bit to recover from the fall. When he gathered his thoughts, he gave one final look to the fox before running off in search of Tom.