One Page Stories

Yellow

The fresh mud squelched under rapidly moving bare feet. The forest air, usually so welcoming, now feels thin and hard to breath. Harsh and heavy breaths the only thing heard in sharp ears. Worried eyes watched, but refused to move from the locations they stood, afraid of what was happening in their forest. The swift foot falls suddenly stopped and one last noise of impact echoed to all listening ears. Eyes looking back and forth to each other desperate to know what had happened. Then a piercing shriek reach out through the deafening whispers, this sound came from a human girl gathering for her tribe. “Oh dear! What happened to you, rare one,” she spoke softly after her scream,” I shall bring you back to my tribe, and I will help you there.”

    She hauled said legend back, to her surprise, it was quite easy to carry them on her back with the other things she had. When she arrived, many were already working away on their jobs, so it was easy to sneak to the elders hut. “Elder Orin, I found this rare one laying in the forest injured,” she spoke the Orin, “what should we do?”

    “Lay them here dear, and let me see the things you gathered before finding them.” Elder Orin’s voice showed no surprise, like she has encountered one in the past. The Elder dismissed the young girl, giving her the day off as she had found such a creature. The girl went back to her hut, wondering exactly what it was, she had never seen one of the rare ones, let alone be able to identify them. Was it a Doran, a Kusi, or a Tholeran? She was not able to be absolutely sure, but she could feel its strength from a distance away. She originally went to it because she believed it was a magic plant she could gather for the tribe magician. “Unblooded, the elder has asked for your presence, what did you do this time,” her father’s voice rang through the hut. She was aware she was not in trouble, but her father was not. She left before she could be interrogated further by her father.

    When she arrived, the first thing she saw was the creature sitting up with wide, fearful eyes. “I want you to care for this one, and welcome him warmly to our people,” her elder showed up behind her.

    “But, I- are you positive i can do that? I mean I’m not even blooded yet,” she stumbled over her words, shocked that she was trusted with the job of taking care of him.

    “I’m positive you can, after all you had a big enough heart to bring him here to help him,” Elder Orin had a comforting smile on her face, “Stay here and take care of him, I leave for now.” with that she was gone, and the girl was left with the injured.

    “May I ask your name? If I’m going to help you, I need a name to call you by,” she was in the middle of asking herself if he could understand when she heard. “Yellow.”