The Town of Forest Shadow

Chapter 1: The Tree Man

The morning arrives. I wake up at exactly six thirty-five. Down the stairs and into the kitchen. I pass by my dog, still in a fixed point in space with its own time bubble. I grab a Lugrith berry cookie and grab my bag. I check to make sure I have everything. Ghost repellent, an old microphone, a dead pigeon, a golden goblet with genuine gemstones and crystals, and a coupon to the only gemstone store in town, Moonstones. I depart my house and lock the door behind me. "See you later, dear roommate," a voice from the window whispered. I got into my car and drove down the street. I drove and drove until I got to the only red light on my way to work. I stopped, and waited for the light. A dog in a fixed point in space appeared next to my car. The people in front of me started honking. I brought out my ghost repellent, as the pound honking of car horns often attract ghosts. People started getting out of their cars to see what has happened on the road.

After a few minutes, people suddenly got back into their cars. There is a loud sound, a sound that I cannot place in my mind. It's like an earthquake, but quieter. Like a gunshot, but louder. Certainly not caused by a living thing. I soon see it, past the tops of the cars. Green leaves growing closer, and closer, and closer. The ground begins to shake under my car. There is a tree, walking through the middle of the street.

I turn on the radio. "In current news, Jordan, our local doctor, who has amazing hair, is currently studying how to amputate human limbs and replace them with chicken wings. She is not currently taking patients but will whenever. In other news, a rare chicken tree is walking down route 57. Traffic is bac-" I turn off the radio. Jordan, our local doctor, is running down the street with her interns, carrying many clipboards, syringes, and chainsaws. Great hair, Jordan, great hair. Jordan stops in the middle of the street, dropping all of her things. She stops and stares, falling on the ground, and then begins to cry. Her interns surround her poking her with a stick. The tree man continues his rampage across the road as Jordan continues crying on the ground, all the while her interns watch in fear. There is a sound, like the clanging of pots. The police have finally arrived.

Three cars pull up, along with a large green van. The clanging of pots stops as the three cars pull up in front of the tree man. The unmarked green van stops in front of Jordan and her great hair. Two people wearing okapi masks exit the van and pick up Jordan. They, quite literally, throw Jordan into the van. One okapi man climbs into the back of the van, while the other one shuts the door. The other okapi man climbs into the driver's seat and drives away, not bothering to close the door. A helicopter flies overhead, shining a spotlight on the tree man. Instead of the police or the Fairy Government doing anything to stop the tree man, they paint the tree man entirely pink. The now confused tree man quickly walked away, muttering something about how "he never should have taken his advice," and "this was a waste of my time." The traffic quickly cleared afterward and I somehow got to work on time. But, as usual, time is weird.

I walked into the building of "The Shadow News," which, in all honesty, is a failure of a newspaper. I sit at my desk, signing papers, writing papers, editing papers, the usual work. A letter appeared on my desk, approximately fifteen pint thirty-five seconds after I had arrived at work. I picked it up, and read it. Another meeting, the usual daily letter I would always get.

I got to the meeting on time, as usual. But instead of my boss, who was a single tissue, was not there, instead, a computer, with the logo of the town radio station. After a few minutes it spoke. "Hello there," the man on the radio said. "I am afraid I own this company now, I hope we get along. Don't make mistakes and nothing bad will happen," he continued. For the first time in many years, this was not a usual day.