Omnis Bestia

Chapter 6: Adversi-Factorem

At that moment, I couldn't even remember why I'd never been to the forest because even in these few seconds I could tell it was something amazing. All around I could see dozens of trees, different sizes, and kinds, and I could feel the nippy August wind brush my face, carrying with it the scents of pine and earth. I could've spent hours just standing there, and taking it all in, when Adi casually bumped into my shoulder, waking me from whatever trance I'd put myself in.

"Geez, you act as you've never seen a forest before, it isn't that big of a deal," Adi said, humor lacing his words. Of course, he didn't know that he had hit the nail on the head with his comment. I didn't say anything because I was already embarrassed about suddenly jumping off the bus and then just spacing out for at least ten minutes, as everyone else had jumped off the bus by now.

"Alright everyone, you all know your partners and now I'm going to give you all your assignments. I will give each team a list containing ten of the plant and animal wildlife you might see while you're out, and whoever finds all ten items and takes pictures of them will win a prize." A few people started to buzz when Ms. Hornwell said that, because it wouldn't be education without giving the students some incentive. "So right now it's roughly midday, and we should be out here until a little after nightfall, which is about seven to eight hours from now. Along with your worksheet, I'm handing each of you a whistle in case someone gets lost or separated from their partner. Now happy trails everybody, and if you need me I'll be at the cabin about five minutes away from this clearing."

And then everyone was off. I tried to see which direction Malik and Nik had taken, just so I could have a general idea of where they were, but then Adi started to pull me into the forest before I had enough time to spot them.

"I don't know about you, but I really want that prize. Honestly, it could be something crappy like "extra credit" but I'm extremely competitive and don't want to lose to anyone." Adi said, which made me realize we had another thing in common. I had a serious competitive drive, to a point where it was probably a problem. So as soon as he spoke "competitive" the flames of competition had been lit inside me.

"Well then what are we waiting for? Let's start looking for a Black-Eyed Susan." I said as we began searching for a bright yellow flower with a black center.

After a few hours, we found almost everything except for one animal: a white-tailed deer. The sun was starting to set and the forest was starting to look a lot darker than it had when we first arrived. I was also starting to get really chilly as the sun took not only light but it's warmth with it. I suggested we start heading back to Adi and he immediately began to pout.

"C' mon Amara, we only have one more, and deer aren't even too hard to find. We'll be back before we're even missed and we'll get the prize to boot. If it took us this long just to find most of the items, then I doubt anyone else has found nearly as many." He had a point, and I didn't want all this hard work we'd done to have been for nothing. "Look, even if you don't want to do it, can you do it for me? Please?"

I sighed, curse me and my need to please others. I looked back at him and said "Alright, we'll go and find the stupid deer. But we use our flashlight the whole time and at the first sign of trouble, we blow our whistles and run for the bus. Deal?"

"Totally! And thank you so much, you have no idea how much this means to me." He said, and although to a passerby he probably looked like a kid that had received a birthday present, I noticed the subtle drop of his tone and how his smile seemed just a bit wider than was natural. It was a little freaky but I decidedly ignored it, figuring it to have been my imagination when I probably should've trusted my instincts,

We then headed deeper into the woods, the trees becoming less full of green and more gnarled and disfigured. They seemed to loom closer towards us, almost like a cage for a bird. I tried to remember as much as I could about the folklore behind trees like this, but I was so uneasy that my mind was running a blank. Suddenly, we stopped in the middle of a clearing of these eerie trees.