Short Stories

The Erlking

The Erlking is a German mythical creature, this is my take on it.

That first day that I wandered into the forest I could have sworn something was wrong. The forest seemed to meld around me, as a single bubble of air travels through water. As soon as I try to make any progress the forest closes around me. There were no signs I had made any progress at all until I came upon a small cottage carved into the bark of a tree. A man with hair the color of rotted leaves stepped outside, and saw my tiny self. His emerald eyes glimmered as he gawked at all three feet of me. Being eight years old and standing in front of an actual elf is a feeling that I can never describe. He was holding a slightly rusted tin pail. Slowly he came over, held my hand and gently brought me over towards his house. He pointed to the door and gave me a stern look. I went inside without question.

When I went inside I never expected to see groups of herbs fully labeled, and food cooking over a tamed fire. His house was only one room, yet in the room there also sat cages of beautiful songbirds filling the room with the most wonderful music. I sat on his bed of yellow straw, waited for him to come back, and listened to the beautiful music.

He came back and offered for me to stay here, since the forest was such an unforgiving place for anyone to be. Especially a child such as myself. I agreed, and he left again. When he arrived again he had a sack full of yellow straw, I was still seated in the same place. He formed another mattress out of the itchy material. I didn't care, as soon as he was done I flopped onto it laughing. I almost sent the mattress flying everywhere. Something came over me though and I quieted instantly, falling asleep almost automatically, as if my eyes were forced shut by the sandman himself.

I was awoken by the smell of fresh vegetables. I opened my eyes to see the back of a beautiful man with long hair, the color of leaves. He turned around and held out a large leaf with food on it. He smiled for the first time towards me when I inhaled his food. He laughed at food always being stuck on my chin, his laugh sounded like jingling bells.

From then on I have never left the Erlking's house. He is the loveliest thing I've ever met. His smile lights up the room, his eyes shimmering pears when the light hits them just right. Although whenever he shakes his head dead leaves fill the room. I have no idea how long ago I came here, nor any memory of a time before this. I don't need to, he is my life now, he and the golden tongued songbirds.

I truly love the Erlking, he saved my life I think, I was lost in that forest of thorns. Running from something I don't remember.

The Erlking came in then and played me a song on his fiddle, I could have sworn I saw small golden feathers sprouting from my arms. He did it again and the feathers came again, but larger. Only then did I realize what was happening and the smell of rotting leaves which is normally fine made me gag. I was just another songbird to him, nothing more. It hurt because the Erlking grew to become a father figure of mine, and he is someone I love very much. That night on a bed of straw I plotted how to get out of this predicament, I would not just become one of the others he trapped here.

I gave up on plotting late into the night, and decided to run. As silently as I could I raced out of the house. The forest bending away from me as it did in all of my memories. Nothing was familiar yet I got the feeling I was running in giant circles. A small fiddle song helped me regain my sense of direction, with everything I had, I ran away from the music. I knew it didn't matter though, he was everywhere, in every whistle of the wind, in every falling leaf.

He is the forest, and the forest is him, there is no separating the two. Even with it being the dead of night his laughter was everywhere, except this was not the jingling jolly laughter I had come to know, it was condemning, mocking. I had never seen his true self that whole time I was staying with him. And now it was evident that the Erlking was a cunning fox, ready to trick his prey.

All of a sudden he was towering over my small form. His eyes boring into mine, all of those doubts about not knowing who he was disappeared. Thoughts of "I know exactly who this is", "he didn't want me to leave", and "he would never do anything bad, could not do anything bad" swirled around in my head. I tore my eyes from his and I could tell that it was the forest itself that was influencing my thoughts, and he is the forest. His skin matching the hue of stripped wood, his fingernails naturally as brown as the dirt.

Once my mind was my own again, memories flooded my head. As a child I had stayed with the Erlking, and I got scared, and I ran, he caught me but I just continued running in circles until the forest made me forget, in my little child mind I unconsciously went to the one place I knew, back to the Erlking. My whole life has been a loop, and, I realize, it's starting over again. He knows that I've figured him out. He smiles "You can't ever escape me, the forest lets none go, you're no different." Then he smiles like he always did before I knew.