The story of Yafa

the fall

My legs began to hurt from all the walking. The long walk and difficult journey really did a trick on my four soft stumps. Thus I left the busy streets and stumbled into a bush. I retreated inside my shell, ready to sleep and regenerate from this long adventure. The sounds around me quickly faded into static and the only thing that could be heard was me softly munching on lettuce with my tiny teeth.

In the mids of the night, I awoke. Because my legs were well rested, it hurt less when I stepped on them again. I left the bush behind me and headed toward the forest. While I walked at a snail's pace, I noticed a bright green light erupting out of the forest. Curiously I walked toward the green light. When I walked around the last tree shading the light from me, it hit my eye directly making me squeeze my eyelids closer together. The light was blinding.

I stood at the outskirts of a meadow inside the forest. In the middle of the meadow, stood a humongous tree which seemed to eject this green light. I wanted to say: "What the-" But my vocal cords only allowed me to erupt something like: "Ruaorp," 

I tried.

With big eyes, I walked toward the tree and took a moment to take it all in. The roots of the tree stuck relatively high out of the ground, the crown held many leaves in their full glory and even some nests seemed to be enclosed on the branches of the tree. Although, they seemed to be uninhabited. The trunk had a magnificent texture and the green leaves looked juicy and luscious. 

"My child, come. Come closer," A voice rung out. Where did it come from? From the tree? The voice sounded so delicate, so friendly, so engaging. I started walking a bit faster to where I thought the voice came from, which seemed to be from the tree. "Come, my child, taste the leaves, embellish yourself lavishness," The drool began to drip out of my wide open mouth. "Yes, I'm coming, I'm coming!" I  chirped. My legs carried me faster. "You're almost there, my child," I was going as fast as I could.

That's when I tripped and hit the ground face first. My open mouth and nostrils were now filled with soil and grit, my brain kicked off. I looked up with my nose still being filled with soil. The tree still bathed in light but the green seemed to be replaced with a golden shine. 

'Who are you?' I thought. "I could ask you that as well, my child. Who are you?" I frowned, or at least, I frowned in my imagination. "But I asked it first, magic tree,"  The tree seemed to laugh at what I had said, her crown seemed to go up for a second making the leaves shuffle around. "I am The Jump. If you touch me, it will change your life forever, for better or worse. Who knows?" 

I let it sink in. Not only her statement but also about my identity. Who I was. At least, as far as my tiny brain could let it all sink in. The voice continued. "Child, even my tiny twigs can hear the thoughts roaming in your tiny head. If you just touch my trunk, I may be able to help you. You know, to find answers to those questions," Even though it sounded very fun, I did not trust that tree with a piece of lettuce. Let alone my past and God forbid my future. "Riddle me this; Why would I trust a talking tree which tried to seduce me with the essence of juicy leaves?" 

"Curiosity?"

I gulped. "What'd you got to lose?" She was right. Everyone who was important in my life vanished into the abyss. My first owner John, my second owner Y/N, my friends... Everyone. I slowly waddled toward the tree and touched it with the tip of my nose. "Boop," The tree laughed as I did.

The trunk parted where I had touched it and two wooden stems came out. They grabbed me and dragged me inside of the tree. Inside there was nothing. Colors flashed before my eyes and sounds howled in my ears. My legs began to hurt immensely and my shell seemed to disappear into thin air. I wanted to shout out loud, but the noise got overwhelmed by the screeching of the tree.

 I felt like I was falling. And so it was. The end of the tunnel seemed to be in sight as I saw grass. With a grand thud, I landed on the ground and immediately looked up. There was no trace of any tunnel anywhere, only a pitch black sky with white spots scattered all around it. After I came back to my senses, I looked around. I was still on the same grass field as before, but the tree was gone.

I looked around and suddenly I noticed that everything didn't seem quite the same as before. The ground was further away from my body than usual and everything just seemed smaller in general. I wanted to retreat back in my shell. How did I end up here? Did I grow? Was I a gigantic turtle now? Why? Suddenly I noticed that I didn't have a shell anymore. Neither did I have a tail or stumps. I looked like my owners.

Did I become a hooman?!