The Man of the Forest

Chapter 3: Spying

She cleared her scratchy throat and ran her fingers through her hair with a sigh. She stared at the grate a moment longer before hearing a faint sound. Was that humming? She knelt down beside the grate and turned her ear to the hole.

It was! It was a man humming! It had to be! Her heart skipped a beat. She immediately wanted to tear the metal off and embrace the only other person she had seen all day. However, her fluttering heart sank as she began to think realistically.

What if he couldn't be trusted? She didn't know this man. He could have been the one who put her here, for all she knew. She bit her lip. What choice did she have? Without help of some kind, she could die out here.

She lay on her belly and looked down into the hole. There was a faint light, and the shadow of a man, moving around as the humming evolved into whistling. Soon, the man moved directly under the grate. It was an older man, with a long, green robe; it reminded her of a sorcerer, much like you would find in a fairy-tail. Her breath caught in her throat as the man looked up. She yanked back, out of sight. Did he see her? Did he hear her? She bit her tongue, laying beside the grate.

She let out a small breath as she slowly dared to peek down into the hole again. Thankfully, the man had continued his business. She watched a bit more to see the man picking books from a shelf and holding them in his arms. Piles- mountains of books in this little old man's arms. She watched in bewilderment as she wondered how he could hold all that weight with his frail arms.

What could he need all those books for, anyway? She tried hard to see the tiles but they were too far away. He stepped out of sight and she heard the steps fade. From this, she concluded that he hole must have multiple rooms; like a home, rather than a hideout.

She quietly lifted the grate and peeked inside. The room was round with a little circular table in the center. The perimeter was lined with bookshelves; aside from where the doorways were. She leaned a bit farther inside to see that the door was open in the direction he had gone.

 It's probably not safe to go in, yet. She thought.

He'd probably see me-

 Before she could even finish her thought, her knees slipped, sending her tumbling down into the room. Her eyes clenched shut for the whole trip down as she prepared for impact.

What was this...? She had landed on something... Soft? Her eyes opened slowly as she looked down. She had apparently landed on a large, red silk pillow. She became increasingly confused.

This wasn't here before. She thought to herself. Shaking it off, Stefhani stood and looked through the open door. The old man didn't even glance at her. How did he not notice that? She sighed in relief, regardless, and moved to peek silently around the corner to watch the man.

He seemed to just be reading. Though, judging by the thoughtful look on the geezer's face, he looked more like he was studying, She stood there, staring for a long while. What else could she do? Just waltz up to him and say "Hey, I don't know if you're like a serial killer or anything, but I was spying on you and fell into your house. Say, do you have any water?" She sighed, shaking her head. Her heart skipped a beat as she heard a voice in the distance.

"Was the pillow soft enough?"