The Tale of the Rolling Peach

Chapter I

It was dark, cold, and foggy in the forest. The tension in the air was full and present, those who entered was too frightened to move forward. It was deadly silent. The moon was non-existent for it was a new moon. Every animal, too intimidated by the silence and tension to come out and roam, stayed in their shelters waiting for the sun to bring light again.

The silence was shattered by a small helpless whimper. The creature shifted through the void blindly, its eyes not able to adjust to the darkness. It would wince when it made a large noise, afraid a hungry creature would come and pounce any moment. Still, the creature moved until it heard the sound of flowing water. Afraid of the darkness and not knowing how deep the water was, the creature stopped and rested for the night. Its breath was shallow and it continued to release its whimpers. Slowly, the creature relaxed and fell into a dreamless sleep.

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She was adventurous, kind, but stubborn. She seems to win every argument with her knowledgeful words. Some were afraid of her, but only a few. Others loved to hear her laugh, dance or talk about one of her adventures.

She was walking through the wood as usual. Unlike last night, the forest was full of life, warm and bright. Birds sang their tunes with one another and animals came out of their hiding and proceeded on with their lives.

The woman had a bow with her, along with some arrows, but she was not hunting, it was more for self-defense. Even if she loved nature and the animals were used to her being in their territory, that does not mean predators that were hungry for flesh were out and roaming about.

She was looking for something. Earlier a woodsman came running back to the village painting, fear evident in his eyes. He had heard something growling by the river where the man normally walks on his breaks. He did not see it, too afraid to inspect, only heard the loud threatening growls.

~flashback

"Monster! Monster!! Monster in the woods!!!" The people stopped their actions and turned to a man running from the forest, his face pale, eyes widened with fear. "Monster!" he repeated.

She walked up to the man and held him by the shoulders. "Calm down," she said in a gentle tone. "What is this monster you speak of? Where did you see it?"

The man calmed himself and explained, "I was walking through the wood and like any other day, I stopped by the river." he paused. She waited patiently for him to continue. "It was peaceful at first, but then a vicious growl so intimidating and so loud that it even scared off the poor birds."

~

The people of the village panicked at the sudden news.

Animals in these parts of the woods rarely do such a thing, unless it's a rogue. So that's why she's here, to find this creature and see what's going on with it. The lady, unlike the citizens, wasn't afraid. She dealt with many creatures so this was nothing new for her.

When she came to the river, that was gently flowing, all was silent. Then a loud, intimidating growl sounded. It was coming from one of the trees on the other side of the river. If the woman was frightened now, she didn't show it. Instead of running like the woodsman, she used the large stones in the river to hop across and followed the source. The growl became louder as she neared, so loud that it sounded like the creature was going to pounce on her any moment. However, nothing happened; the monster continued to growl, but the growls turned into whimpers when she was right in front of the creature.

She frowned at first when she saw it. She was expecting something different like a furry wolf or bobcat, not this. It was a fruit. A peach to be exact. It was bigger than a normal peach, about the size of a Chihuahua. It had blue eyes that looked like crystals and small, pouting, lips. It hid in a hollowed-out tree, big enough for the creature.

For a moment, they just stared at each other in complete silence. No tension or awkwardness in the air, only silence. The woman's amused yet confused smile then turned into a reassuring one. The peach did not take it as reassurance, however, and tried to hop away. Yes, you read that right. It hopped. It didn't get far though when the woman grabbed the peach with both hands.

Surprised by the sudden motion, the fruit released a yelp and tried to squirm out of the woman's hands. She held on tight though but made sure her grip didn't crush the fruit. She held it to her chest and gave it pats on the head, attempting to calm it. It took a while, but the fruit eventually calmed and stopped its pathetic escape. It looked up at the being, half curious, half frightened.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to talk." the peach stared at her, waiting for the being to continue. "I came here because you frightened a poor man. It's not every day a creature growls at someone around here, but looking at you," she looked over the fruit "I can see why you would growl at him. Afraid of being eaten huh?" The peach looked a bit.... embarrassed as it looked away. The woman giggled. The peach frowned, not finding it funny. It was about to growl in protest, but its stomach beat it by releasing its own little growl. --She laughed and she picked herself off the forest floor. "How about we make a deal? If you promise to not scare off innocent people, I'll let you live with me and give you all the food you want." The fruit perked up at the idea. All the food it ever wanted? Yes, please!! The peach bounced in the woman's arms excitedly. "Promise you will be good?" The peach promised by randomly pulling out a white flag. The woman smiled, slightly confused as to where the peach pulled that flag out of and began her way home, the castle.