(Keera's POV)
It was Christmas holiday vacation and I'm visiting my grandparents house for a week or two. My dad couldn't come since he's on a business trip abroad but he promised to make it to Christmas.
"Keera, hurry up! Or we'll miss our flight," Mom called from downstairs
.
"Coming!" I answered.
⭐⭐⭐
We arrived at my grandparents house at midnight. It has been a few years since I last visited here. Nothing changed much in this place.
Grandma hugged me as soon as I entered the house. "You've grown a lot. How are you? How's your new school?"
"Hello, yai. School's great, and I get to met new friends." I hugged her back and kissed her on the cheek. I've been calling her 'Yai' since I was a kid. And I called my grandfather, 'gran-gran'.
"You must be tired," it was gran-gran.
"Gran-gran!" I squealed like a child. I'm already 12 but I feel like a little kid when I'm with them. I just really missed them.
⭐⭐⭐
It is my third day here and I decided to take a walk around. The surrounding areas is full of trees. I might have wander a bit further until, I couldn't find my way out of the forest.
After running around searching for an exit, I become so tired that I can barely move. And when I started crying from fear, cold and loneliness, he appeared before me.
"Hey," a voice called out.
I looked up to see a young man behind the tree.
"Why are you crying?" he asked.
"Thank goodness!" Then I started running towards him. "I'm saved!" But then, I tripped and fall flat on the ground. And he didn't even help me. He just stared down at me.
"Sorry," he said. "You're a human, aren't you? If a human touches me, I'll disappear."
A human....? Who talks like that?
"Aren't you?" I asked getting myself rid of the snow.
"I'm.... something that lives in this forest."
"What? You live here, in this forest?" I asked getting a little confused.
He just nods.
"But what do you mean by disappear?" I tried to touch him but he avoided me. I tried for a few times but he kept on running away from me. And when I was about to touch him, he hit me with a twig. And it damn hurts! "You're really not a human after all. N-No human would hit a girl like that!"
"To disappear means to be obliterated." He said looking away. "That's the curse the Nakee placed upon me. If I get touched by a human, that's the end for me."
"I-I'm sorry."
"Here," he handed me the twig. "Grab the other end. You're lost aren't you? I'll lead you out of this forest."
"Thank you!" I forgot what he said and started running towards him but I was met with yet another painful blow on the head. I fall on the snow and wreath in pain.
"Didn't I just tell you?" he said in an irritated voice.
"Sorry, I just......"
Then he leads me out of the forest.
"Aren't you afraid?" He asked when we were walking out of the forest.
"Of what?"
"Nevermind," he said. "If you go straight, you'll hit the mountain path. Bye."
I looked back at him and asked, "Are you always going to be here? If I came back here, can we meet again?"
He just smiles at me and said, "This is the sacred forest where the guardians of the mountain lives. Set foot within and you'll lose your way and be lost forever. You shouldn't come here. That's what they said, right?"
Thinking about that makes me feel sad, although I don't know why.
"Anyway, my name's Keera. And You?"
When he didn't answer, I turned to leave. "Uhmmm.... I'll be back tomorrow with a thank you present. Bye!" Then, I took off running.
"It's Ayyu."
But when I turned back, he's gone.
Then, I started to find my way home.
It's almost sundown when I get home.
