Fantasy Forest 3: Ressurection

2. Emerald Trees

"Are we seriously doing this?" I asked Vince as we stood in front of the big iron gates that separated the city from the forest. I was wearing my favorite pair of jeans and a long sleeve green shirt that blended perfectly into the trees. Vince had on a blue hoodie, tan cargo pants, and a pair of orange sneakers with white laces. He turned to me with a smirk as he pulled the blue hood up over his head.

"Are you scared?" He asked. "Its okay if you want to wimp out."

Huffed in response and slung my bag over my shoulder before pulling myself up over the gate before jumping down onto the other side. Vince looked somewhat disappointed at my lack of response to his teasing but he quickly followed as he climbed over and jumped down onto the patchy earth. Immediately a tense wind tore through the trees and I could see Vince shiver as he looked in all directions with wide eyes before shaking off the expression and turning to me.

"Lets go." He said quietly as he walked forward into the trees. There as no walking path so we stumbled over branches and waded through bushes. More than twice Vince scraped his exposed lower legs on a bush or twig and he winced and swore silently under his breath.

"I should've wore long pants." I heard him mutter to himself. I was only half listening though as I was mesmerized by my surrounding. We had trees in the city, they lived in small parks or in dirt patches on street corners but they were nothing compared to the looming presence of forest trees who seemed as if they could jest bend down and swallow you whole. I wanted nothing more than to sit down and sketch or snap a few photos on my phone but Vince insisted we keep on moving. After a few minutes I could tell he was having bad nerves and I suggested we go back.

"Forget it." He growled. "If you're scared then you can go back but I'm going to keep going." He looked at me expectantly and I sighed and walked ahead of him much to his dismay. Vince and I were friends but he had this thing where he liked to poke fun and undermine the things I did. He wanted me to get scared and go back because then he could tease me about being a wimp later while at the same time bragging about how braze he was.

I turned a corner and stopped as I realized that maybe we had gone a bit far. I looked back to express my concern to Vince only to find him gone.

"Vince?" I called out into the trees only to receive no response. I stood there a moment in silence before groaning as realization dawned. "He ditched me." I whispered as I straightened my back and stretched my shoulders. "I guess I have to walk home alone." I turned and started backtracking when a small sound reached my ears. It sounded like some sort of soft whine or murmur of an animal. I stood there a second and then whistled to see if I would get a response. Silence. And then something started moving in the trees. In that second I was glad Vince was gone because he would've absolutely flipped while meanwhile all I felt was a small surge of caution as I readied myself to run away from whatever beast might emerge. But there was no beast and instead from out of the bushes emerged a small dog. It was black with shaggy fur which was patchy and weighed down with mud. T moved slightly unsteadily as it wobbled about before sitting on the damp ground. I don't think it had seen me and when I took a step forward I could see why, its eyes were closed as it had a swollen cut just above its eye.

"You okay buddy?" I called out to the animal in a soothing voice and I could see it flinch and look my way as the hairs on its back stood on edge. I know that one probably shouldn't approach a wild animal, especially a scared and wounded animal, but it looked so small and cute and pathetic that I couldn't helped it and I immediately walked over and began petting its head. I expected it to bite but instead it relaxed and pushed into my hand. I reached my other arm around and scooped it up, not caring about the dirt that may stain my shirt. I cradled the animal in my arms and it seemed to relax in my grasp. I didn't want to leave it there alone.

Time skip:

"What's the emergency?" Talia asked as she picked up the phone. "Why are you calling me?"

"Come over to my house." I told her.

"Why?"

"Because...just come!" I told her as I hung up the phone before turning back to the small dog that was sitting patiently on my bathroom floor. Its eyes were still closed but it was surprisingly calm as it sat there on the tile.

"I wonder if dad will get mad." I muttered as I reached over and pet the pups head before turning on the bathtub faucet. I waited until the water ran warm and then plopped the pup inside the tub. It didn't seem to care at all as I ran the water carefully over its face and back, scrubbing out the dirt and brushing out the knots. It wasn't as bad as I originally thought and within ten minutes he was clean and dried and sitting on my bed. I had a soft towel that I dabbed with antiseptic and was lightly rubbing on the cut above the dogs eyes. It didn't move and once the area was clean I could see that the injury wasn't so bad.

"You're lucky." I told the dog. "Like this I may not have to take you to the vet. I think you will be fine." I stood up and looked down at my clothes. I was covered in dirt and water form bathing the dog. I turned my back on the pooch and immediately stripped off my top and pulled on a new shirt and as I did so I got this weird twisting feeling that I was being watched. I looked to the door and it was locked. I looked to the window and the blinds were closed. I looked to the dog and it was staring at me, its eyes open.

"I knew you would be fine." I said as I walked over to it but stopped as I got close. I didn't know a lot of dogs but I was guessing that bright green wasn't a normal dog eye color and when I got even closer I noticed that the pupils were slitted like a snake.

"Oh no." I muttered to myself as I ran a hand nervously through my hair. "I don't think you are a dog...Talia is not going to be happy about this."