THE UNUSUAL EXPLOITS of REN

sick day

it was another wonderfully overcast day... well wonderful in my opinion.

normally you wouldn't expect a sick girl to like dark things, unless she was gothic, but that's a different matter.
I guess, it was sort of a cleansing, comforting feeling of appriciation that rid me of the color overdose of sunny days.
Ren didn't really seem to like it much.

That's him over there. If you didn't take a second look, you could swear he was a girl. I, for one, thought he was when we first met, but I now know you only make that mistake twice.

normally we would go on some adventure, but I caught a but of an illness, so I'm in bed. 
how ever I am not sick. I will never be sick, and you will hardly ever hear me admit it. And when I do, you should know that it's gotten THAT bad. I've managed to avoid the doctor for 4 years since I'd been there last and personally I'd like to continue avoiding it. though, I'm 'fine' I feel a little too miserable to get out of bed. For now.

Ren's been awfully helpful too. And hopefully, in a few minutes, I will have built up enough stamina to get up. while I work on that, how about I fill you in:

As you could probably tell, ren isn't from around here. He's from korea. He won't tell me his real name, and tells me to just call him ren, which is cool but I would like to know. We became friends when some girls were picking on him; though he handled it well, I don't think he really grasped the situation, socially.  He's rather adventurous and I usually get dragged along. I don't mind really; it's actually very refreshing. Sometimes.

Okay, I think I got this. 
ren's giving me that 'are you insane' look. I don't think he's had much experiance with sick people. he's treating me like I'm terminally ill. as I leaned up he rushed over and proped me.
"ah you crazy?" he asked.
his accent's kinda grown on me... but sometimes I can have the hardest time trying to decifer some of what he said. that, I can inderstand, but other times... bluh.
"yes" I causually said.
I must be crazy to continue on as I have with him. in a way, it's the only way to remain sane.
he helped me out of bed.
" all I need is some meds for my symtoms." I said reaching for the box of alkasetzer.

Fucking, gob damn horse pills. ever time I take one I gag a little. and they require 2.
I do my best to not vomit.
okay... 1 down..... aaaaaand .... success!

Ren had planned for us to explore the woods behind the old church. no, not the one on 19th street with the technicolor, epilepsy-enducing sign. the one on maple road, that looks like it was built in the 1800's with warped wood and white, chipped paint. but first we'd have to get past pastor Glen and through the graveyard maze, that as long as you're taller than the tombstones, ins't really a maze. he wanted to see if the rumors are true, of a magical lake inhabited by decieving snake goblins and  an enchanted tree that's fruit are shaped like skulls. our 'expiditions' are really more like investigations, and more often than not, the rumors and myths are busted. but that doesn't deture him; forever the optimist.

I got dressed and we set out. to get to the graveyard, you have to hike over an old wooden fence that ends with a wide opening facing the woods. after hoping it, we sneaked through, darting behind tombstones and statues before we realized pastor Glen wasn't here. we walked all the way to the back. there was a slight ledge so you had to boost yourself up by grabing onto trees and pulling yourself up and over. everything was wet and dark because it had rained the day before. we troted on what looked like an old trail, undaunted for a while, but soon, we were so far in that if we looked back we couldn't see the church or graveyard. we continued though, and ended up at a waterhole. "well, what do ya know. there really is a lake here." I stated.

well, it was more of a mote-like pond than a lake. there was a small sort of island that housed a large magnolia tree, and the only inhabitants of the mote seemed to be trout. 
"myth busted." I said with a rather surely expression.
but ren's face looked in awe. "we could use this as a hangout! our little hideaway!" he said smiling and glinting at me. I kinda wonder what his childhood was like in korea. did kids never have a rural area that they could chill away from the world?

there was a large, fallen tree that crossed the bank, so we crossed over. there were snail shells and red lilies growing around the tree, so it was kinda neat. ren climbed up the tree and helped me up too. after a while, ren wanted to head back. I started to climb down after him when I heard a faint "hello?"
"what?" I replied
"huh? what is it?" ren asked
"did you say something?" I asked him
"no." he replied
"huh." 
I saw a darting stream of what looked like long red hair  into the water behind us, but I shook it off. "you can go on without me ren." I said carefully climbing down.
"I want to make sure you don't slip." he said
"I'll be careful. don't worry. just wait for me at the entrance." I said
"alright." he said hesitantly and did as requested.

as soon as he was completely out of sight, I started down again when-- "SHIT!" I slipped and thought I was falling when... someone caught me. I thought it was ren, who had heard me before he even made it half way back to the entrance and ran back but... HOLY SHIT. I don't know what it is, or if I just hit my head, but... THIS IS NOT REN.

"hello." it said.
"h-hi" I said nervously.
"you should be careful. the bark's still wet from the rain. it's slippery." it said again
"oh. okay." I said still stunned.
it, or perhaps he, sat me down. 
" my name is In Ho." he said
"wait, are you korean?" I asked
"yes. I've actually been here for quiet some time." he replied "I noticed your companion was korean as well."
"oh, uh, yeah..." I said "guess I'm just lucky."
"why are you here?" he asked
"well, we were on an expodition to investigate the myths of an enchanted fruit tree with skull shaped fruit and a magical lake with decieving snake goblins." I said
"well, I'm not decieving. I just live here." he said, "and yes, the fruit tree is just a myth."
"be honest....did I hit my head and you'r just a illusion?" I asked a little anxious.
"no." he replied chuckling "I'm real. will you be coming back?"
"yes. I think so." I said sniffling.
"that's good" he smiled. "you seem like an interesting human."

he slithered back into the mote and I walked back to find ren waited like he was asked. uh-oh... pastor Glen is here now. our tactical darting training has been leading up to this moment... aaaand GO!