Monday morning in Appleton Wisconsin, a street connecting the city to the majestic Bubolz nature preserve.
An Airedale terrier named socks boosted out of the front screen door that summer morning. Ben Felder a brown haired, energetic boy of fourteen sprinted after him. Clattering down the steps. Socks had jumped down without touching any of the six wooden steps to the lawn.
"Socks stop, stop slow down." The dog kept sprinting through the grass, making those pattering sounds and flicking up grass as the creature moved.
So Ben did the same, almost in a panic. His family had just finished unpacking the previous evening. For Ben it wasn't a big deal as he was still in the same region as his local school. And now it was the school holidays. The two story stately house and expansive garden would be foreign to the terrier socks.
"Ben we have to get off to work now, please keep Socks indoors for today until he gets used to the place."
His mother's words slapped him at the back of the neck now, as he sprinted after socks.
A healthy anger brewing up from his throat, as he could feel the dog was getting some form of satisfaction at having broken out the same moment Ben attempted opening the back door to investigate the garden.
The same garden which was now whizzing by as he raced after Socks. Ben had always been quite athletic at school and was able to keep up with his dog's pace, although he couldn't gain ground on him. The awkward looking two and a half year old Airedale terrier was very nimble, when he wanted to chase something or even just escape, there was no outpacing him.
Socks threw himself into a gap in a low Abelia hedge, Ben had to jump over it, getting poked right under the knee, in almost the worst place possible.
"Ahhhhhh no lunch for you, stupid dog... stop slow down... come here!"
Ignoring completely, Socks dove through the square weave galvonized fences dividing his family's section. Ben knew this would get him into a lot of trouble, especially on the first day in the new house.
"Yeeeelp."This dog could really howl. Accidentally catching some of his wooly hair in a piece of protruding wire.
He was stuck, looked a lot like a trapped rabbit as he lay kicking between the fence and the ground. Ben caught up to him, and grinned.
"So this is what you get, maybe next time you'll obey, or not try to run away at all.''
Ben's glee at socks getting caught in the fence was quickly replaced by concern.
"Are you ok boy?" Ben approached and checked his body for injury.
The dog looked to be completely stuck, Ben changed his position looking over the other side of the fence to see which way he would be able pull or push the dog to get him out.
Ben climbed over the fence into what looked to be sparse forest that deepened further in. Ben was curious about the forest itself, part of him actually wanted to be there. He liked plants and trees, though he was really interested in animals, thats why he had such a connection with his dog socks, albeit the dog was certainly testing the relationship today. The way the dog was stuck it was only practical to pull him out on the other side of the fence. Kneeling down he was able to pull socks forward an inch, using all of his focus. His head suddenly jarred as he heard a sinister noise coming from a tree 10 meters off.
"What the hell?" he looked around.
As his eyes identified the large brown Owl in an Aspen tree, Socks wriggled free from the fence and took off running again, only stopping a hundred meters ahead to drink from a small creek.
Ben looked back at the owl, had this bird been an accomplice in making my life a nightmare. The mysterious shape of the owl's head fascinated him.
What was this animal doing out in the early hours of the morning? Ben puzzled, wasn't this a night predator?
He continued running after socks when his brain videoplayed several versions of punishing words his parents would give him for losing the dog. Ben was more afraid of losing the good company socks often was to him personally.
The creek was only ten centimeters deep and a meter across, the crystal clear water was made questionable with the decomposed leaf matter in the creek bed itself. The dog was no doubt picking up some of that with it's tongue as it lapped aggressively at the water.
The forest noise which was not obvious until this moment had stopped as Ben got within three meters of socks. A deep silence Ben's panicked mind hadn't adjusted to. This was it, he would grab socks by the collar and pick him up in his arms.
But as the forest had gone completely quiet each footfall Ben made was audible, the dog turned before Ben could get within a meter, Jumped the creek in one bound and continued deeper into the forest. Ben stopped in his tracks, Was the forest quietly observing his antics with Socks?
Ben looked around again. "This place is working against me! Evil forest" He complained a loud.
Then as if a big joke the forest leapt back into full noise with crickets, cicadas, frogs and song birds. Now he realized how loud the forest had actually been, the difference was spooky.
He cursed a loud again, jumped the creek and sped after the dog.
The forest thinned out in some places and thickened in others as Ben jogged after socks, close, only five meters away, socks had slowed slightly as if looking for something.
The forest changed from being composed of white barked aspens and maples with a spongy forest floor randomly spotted with ground ferns. To evergreen pine with a pine needle floor and areas of thick shrubs that thrived in the shade. The pines presented large spacious areas like large rooms or halls in a house. Ahead of Ben lay a hill that rose up twenty meters.
Ben ran up the small hill, the sun lit up the top of it. Ben had time to think about what an excellent place to bring friends to hang out, the grass was like a cushion, Abundant patches of blueberries and red currents clung to the periphery and slope of the hill. He'd have stopped and filled his pockets if not for the chase.
He got to the top of the small hill just to see socks crouching in the grass with his back to Ben.
"Got you" Ben let out the satisfied breath of relief.
Socks didn't flinch. Letting himself be held in Ben's arms.
Then sam sat down into the grass as if to make himself small.
Something was standing between some pine trees down the other side of the hill.
No undergrowth, just reddish needles making up the forest floor. The figure whatever it was stuck out and looked completely artificial in the natural surroundings.
"What's that boy?" He whispered to socks to seek courage.
The figure about the same height as Ben but fatter, it had greyish skin.
Ben couldn't see a head or eyes so he decided to reposition behind a tree on the hill to get get another angle. Making sure the whole time to not make any noise.
He stared down at the man like figure. But he couldnt make out a face.
Whatever it was it didn't move.
He took Sam by the collar to go back home. This is not something I want to waste my time on.
The forest went dead quiet again, and the dog pulled against Ben to go back to the figure.
Gritting his teeth in frustration he loosened his grip slightly on the dog and went back to the tree, the thing hadn't moved. Was it living?
He suddenly realized it was probably just a tall rock, but he'd need to test his theory. So after failing to find any stones he got himself a stick heavy enough to throw near the thing, to see if it was actually a living thing.
It was scary because as the forest had gone dead silent even the hard swing of his arm would make some noise, potentially giving away his position.
He threw it. It landed very near the figure. Nothing. No flinching, no response.
This was stupid, he led socks who was keen to investigate down the hill, the shape of the figure looked more and more rock like. As he walked around the figure from about fifteen meters away, a sense of dread swollowed him whole.
It had a face.
As he walked he fell forwards as the sight of the face stole his focus, distracting him from a log just big enough to trip him. As he impacted the ground the forest lit up with noise again. It was like a stupid comedy where they record an audiences applause, that the actors are somehow unbeknownst to.
Ben was very aware however, it was surreal and disturbing. especially the sinister timing of it.
However socks looked back sympathetically and didn't seem to be running anymore, and the thing with a face wasn't alive it was frozen. He got up approached and put his hand across his eyes briefly.
"It's a statue socks, but what the hell is it doing all the way out here."
Ben examined the stone figure. It had human features yet the ears and nose looked like that of a deer.
The figure was pointing in the opposite direction of his house as if ushering the way.
"Socks come." Ben ordered. As he turned and walked back up the hill from whence he came. He looked back not expecting to see the dog following, to his amusement socks was finally obeying.
"Good boy." He said, as Socks joined him walking up the hill.
Now that's it he thought. I'm going to carry as much of these berries home as I can, he thought.
He used his pockets, cap scooping up all the berries he could then followed the way he came back to his house. Socks not causing any comotion on the way.
That night he showed his parents, the bounty of berries he had collected.
"Nice one Ben, but where did you get them?" His mother inquired.
"I jumped over the fence they aren't far away inside the forest."
"What about socks?" she continued.
"Oh he stayed inside the house" Ben lied about the whole chase.
"Well did you take him outside to play."his father said
"Sure" Ben could say relieved that his response was closer to the truth.
His parents tasted a few of the berries at first pretending to like them, before realizing they were as good store bought and gobbled them down.
"Look Ben, if you go back over the boundary please be careful. That forest connects onto the national park, you can easily get lost."
Ben finished the pointless conversation with his parents, exchange I love you's and went up to bed.
The next day Ben took off into the woods. This time he left Socks tied up in the yard. Packed some food, a lighter, a small swiss army knife and a piece of rope.
He jumped the fence, looked around at the trees to see the owl. Nothing.
Something caught his eye further into the woods, a brown red furr and gone in a split second.
He reached the creek and saw it's paw prints in the semi hardened mud.
It excited him to be in a place with so many different creatures. in the town he had only seen rabbits and in the water ways the odd turtle.
He jumped the creek and headed toward the hill again. The berries were ripening and this time he had brought a big bag to put them in.
Greedily his hands worked like they were automated picking and placing as fast as he could.
He heard a soft crunching sound coming from the other side of the hill. The sensation of cold liquid being poured down his back made him shiver.
He crept like it was a life or death situation. Making it to the top edge of the hill looking down on the strange statue again.
Munching on a few sprigs of grass growing in a patch of dappled light ten meters from the statue was a deer. No common deer, a piebald. That is a deer of two colors an almost albino white and a dark grey.
Ben had a feeling it might be rare.
It looked up but not in Bens direction, it looked at the statue.
It started to approach the statue and looked up at the face. Ben gritted his teeth. what the hell is going on. The way the deer was looking at the statue it looked like a conversation.
Then as if someone had come and shaken Ben's whole body the statue moved it's head ever so slightly.
He felt his arms and legs freeze up. He shut his eyes briefly.
The fright of it made him want to cry, he tried to imagine that he was part of the ground and not a thinking feeling adolescent at all.
He peeped over the grass once more the deer was still looking up the statue seemed to be as stationary as it had been before he saw it move.
The deer slowly moved westward between the hill and some thick ground shrubs. His house was eastward.
He slipped down the west side of the hill and followed the deer westward taking note of all of visible landmarks.
The deer walked at an even pace that Ben could easily follow.
He passed huge berry bushes and thick evergreens that were almost impenetrable.
Ben wondered if the deer knew it was being followed. It seemed to express no fear at all as it sauntered into a shady valley. The forest floor was gloomy.
He followed the deer a long a dried up river bank that scarred the low point of the valley floor, climbing at a dead end to the valley like a path to someone's house.
As the he followed the deer up the rise a small cave entrance came into view.
"what the hell is this deer doing now?" The deer had continued and simply disappeared into the cave.
He felt that slight pain of shock in his arms and legs again from when that scary statue had moved.
"What am I doing here, I am far from home now. I should be making my way home."
His brain rationalized that if the deer entered the cave it must be quite safe. He had a lighter and his swiss army knife, maybe he could go in. Just for a quick look then go back home picking up some of those sweet berries on the way back.
Ben investigated the entrance before taking his first steps into the cave. The celing wasn't much higher than his head and an adult would probably have to duck down to get inside.
He clicked the lighter five meters into the cave, illuminating the cave infront of him.
After about twenty meters in, the cave opened up into larger space about three meters high. A round room with strange drawings stained and etched into the cave wall.
He approached and gasped at weird and very lifelike designs of humans standing beside animals. As Ben checked the whole space it suddenly dawned on him that the room was a dead end.
So where the was the deer? How had it disappeared in here.
He gave his thumb a rest from holding the gas switch on the lighter. The darkness bothered him a lot, especially with the vanishing deer. I'll go back home I thought what am I doing in here anyway. Following some half grey albino deer?
But he knew there was a reason he was here. The interaction between the deer and the statue. The strange communication that manifested.
In the dark silence he became aware of a subtle breeze with him inside the cave. He flicked the lighter on and followed the flow of it back to a depiction of an animal that looked half human. A cross between a wolf and a man.
Although he had already browsed he inched closer to check the details of the image. He lost his footing and felt himself sliding down. He realized there was an opening between the cave wall and the floor.
He reached nothing to grab onto. He was sliding quickly meters under, suddenly images of the statue flashed in his head. Ben had an all consuming fear of what he might land into.
Another few meters down he slid out into a chamber lit by a subtle hole in the cave wall, giving enough light to illuminate a central altar like focal point. In granite covered in small etchings of trees a small two inch blunt metallic point protruding from the top.
Ben was certainly calmed by the fact there was enough light to see now. On the other side of the chamber he could see an exit too.
Naturally a cautious boy Ben liked adventure but he hated unnecessary risk. Today had been enough the fall he took just now made him feel completely out of control. He would go home and relax with socks for the afternoon.
Ben passed through the middle brushing the altar like structure in the middle, on contact feeling an electric shock falling to his knees then continuing to walk as if it came natural.
His vision changed he could smell the deer he had seen before.
He ran for the exit not seeking home or safety, he wanted the deer, that Piebald deer.
The Piebald deer was running now the cave mouth disappeared and Ben was in the middle of the forest again, hs temples were hot and a hunger brewed inside him.
His bag and other items were lost somewhere back at the cave. It didn't seem to matter. Or it mattered to anotehr version of Ben. He sprinted up the side of a low precipice putting his hand around a protruding root so he could look down over the valley to see where the deer had gone.
Except the hand was a paw with claws digging into wood and his eyes could much better especially in the lowlight.
He bolted back down into the valley. It felt almost like flying, the sense of control and torque from within the limbs, the hunger to rip something apart, pleasant and reassuring.
Alas no deer.
He leapt onto a fat length of rotten log. Observing the undergrowth once again.
A small but flabby bushpig kcked out from under the log and boosted toward the cover of undergrowth. Ben's animal body launched itself and caught the pig a few feet from what could have been an excellent escape path.
He spent what seemed like hours devouring the poor thing.
The new feeling that there was something else he needed to do, that this forest, this adventure wasn't his main concern. The lght was leaving the forest and shaded areas of the canopy were slowly becoming pitch black.
I am not an animal. But why do I have paws and fangs.
Something stirred from within the forest, is that my next meal. Suddenly fire and hunger kicked back in like a motor at high revs. Ben sprinted after it, it was a shadow, but he was pretty sure it was that deer.
He ran another hundred meters and found himself near the creek near his house.
No deer in sight.
This is insanity a voice screamed from the back of his warm satisfied mind. Go home, go home!
He jumped the creek and realized the trees looked familiar. Oh there is the fence my dog got caught in.
And now he could hear barking. He rubbed himself against the fence and peed.
Socks could see him poking his little face out of the shrubs from the boundary of the house.
In Bens mind he was shouting at Socks to stop it, so he would somehow make his way over the fence and everything would be normal.
His father appeared from behind the bushes. He could hear his mother.
"What is socks barking at?"
"AAAAAAHHHH" His father screamed.
"It's a mountain Lion on the other side of the fence"
What! A mountain lion. Is that what I am now, he thought. He took off to the hill.
Early evening was setting in, he curled up on the hill looking over the statue.
How do I get out of this one. His teenage self struggling but slowly getting more cognition into the animal he had become.
Ben's intuition let him to glance over at the statue. wasn't there something weird about the statue.
He ambled over and crouched infront of it looking up at the statue which had an open expression on it's face as if listening to a problem. And trying to understand it.
The deer features over the human face made it hard to not want to hit it.
The statues arm moved silently and touched Ben's mountain lion head.
He felt himself transforming back, looking at his fingers, checking he was still clothed.
then suddenly glncing back at the statue which looked more sinister now in the lowlight.
It didn't move or change in any way, although the expression was different from the original expression it had, had. It had a look of I told you so. He touched it again tempting forgetting fora second it could have potentially transformed back again. It's granite shoulder was cold as ice.
It almost felt like a burn on his finger.
"Oh no I'm late for dinner, my parents are going to kill me." He sprinted over the hill and back toward the fence when something rather exquisite dawned on him. What if the statue was the piebald deer!
Looking back he felt like some strange rite had been fulfilled.
Part of the human inside him had been shaped and chemically changed by the experience of being turned. The fear he should have felt was non existant.
His parents shouted at him for atleast twenty minutes. They had called the police and the forest ranger, thankfully the search parties hadn't assmebled and were called off in time.
It was wednesday still another five days until school started.
"Ben wake up please, come down and have breakfast with us." His mother urged.
"I am awake Mom" Pretending to be awake.
Putting on hs shorts singlet and flip flops.
"Your father wants to speak to Ben." As Ben entered the kitchen dining area.
"Ben you know we love you, I've always only had one rule for you, what is that rule? His father asked.
"You told me never to go into your office again." Ben recalled how angry his father had become.
"That's it Ben, never go into my office. And after reporting you missing ,we can't have you running off like that, and not coming home until almost ten pm at night. We were really worried, not to mention Socks who missed lunch by the way."
Ben hung his head and apologized for the third time.
"So we were hoping you would go and spend some time with Logan, he only lives two kilometers from here."
Ben smiled. Logan and Ben had been good friends since they had started high school at twelve.
"I like that idea Mom."
"Well I've already spoken to his Mom, so after breakfast I'm going to drop you off there ok sweetie?"
Why the hell did she have to use the word sweetie?
"Oh and socks will be going with you, so let it be a lesson to take care of your pets." His father added.
As soon as Ben opened the car door to meet Logan who was standing outside his family's front door, not half as athletic as Ben. Curly black hair an inch from his hunched shoulders and pudgy form. Socks jumped out and tried to run away again with the provocative tongue out bounding toward the base of the driveway aiming to get on the road. Probably as punishment for leaving him alone the day before. Logan sprinted around the other side of the car and they both caught Socks before he could escape.
"So you get lost in the forest yesterday...?" Logan teased.
Oh so it's town gossip now.
"What are moms for." Logan hinted as his mothers car backed out of the drive and a waving hand came out of the window.
"Byeeeee" his mother said. Ben thanked her in his head. It's a miracle she didn't use that old pet name sweetie. Ben was discovering he didn't want to be treated as a kid anymore.
Maybe Ben's mother was using it for his bad behaviour he wondered. A theory for another day perhaps.
"You wanna play some fortnight?" Logan offered.
"Sure." Ben didn't have a playstation at home, he'd usually binge play when his parents left him at his cousins, who brought him up to speed on all the new games and created an aggressive sense of competition.
Most of wednesday was just videogames and a few breaks to play with Socks in their backyard which also backed onto the Bulboz national park. As late afternoon approached Logan's curiousity got the better of him. "So what happened out there in the forest?"
"My dog ran out of the house the first day we got there, he took off into the forest. We saw some owls and other animals. But there was this weird statue." Ben explained.
"What do you mean statue?"
"A very weird statue of a dwarflike man with a strange face." Ben responded.
"Wow weird bro, makes no sense. So how did you get lost." Logan pressed.
"There was this real weird deer with white and grey on it, I wanted to follow it. But it went real far."
"Why do I get the feeling you aren't telling me everything?" Logan inquired
"Why would I lie?" Ben appealed.
"I didn't say you were lying. I just don't think you are telling the whole story, I can tell by your face. You are deciding how much to share." Ben knew Logan could read his face. He also felt like there would be some consequence to this conversation.
Back home during dinner with his parents, he could feel his parents had let go of their anger at the day before.
"How was your day at logan's?"
"Nice mom, we just played videogames."
"Did you play with socks too?" His father checked eyebrow raised.
"Yes we played with him in their backyard." Ben's tone changed to frustration.
"Why did you tell everyone I got lost. The whole neighborhood knows now."
"Probably because we were in the middle of planning a search and rescue just as you were getting back last night." His father giggled.
Ben scoffed. He knew his father cared about him, he also knew his father enjoyed these 'I told you so' moments too much.
"Whatever" An anger rose that required quite an effort to hold back now.
"You'll be at Logan's again tomorrow ok?" His mother's voice died out as Ben walked up to his room on the second floor. The anger he was feeling was almost alien. It rained heavily during the night. Ben imagined the droplets landing on the strange statue.
The next day he slept in. Thursday. When he got downstairs there was a note on the kitchen table telling him to wait for Logan's mum to pick him up.
He hadn't finished his breakfast before the doorbell rang. It was Logan's mom.
"Socks come boy." They both got into the back seat.
"Hi Ben." She said.
"Hi" ben said shyly.
"Logan's waiting for you at home he says you guys are going to do some archery today" she said.
Archery?
She left him and Socks on a leash at the side walk to Logan's house.
"Okay now take care" in her forced caring voice.
He saw logan opening the front door of his house as Logan's mom left.
"Where's the bows and arrows genius" Ben asked Logan.
"We're not doing archery today my friend, we're going statue hunting."
There it was, like a gunshot, Ben's worst fear. He knew the conversation he had with Logan would bring trouble. If he told Logan what really happened, he'd think Ben had lost it or that he was kidding around which would only anger him further.
Logan handed a pack over to Ben. "This is yours. It's the food, look after it carefully in case we get lost." Then he cracked up laughing.
"Where are we going?" Ben now in a more serious tone.
"To find your statue." Logan replied. Logan led them out the gate and started walking in the direction of Ben's house.
Ben caught up with him and his instincts were to convince him to forget it. He could see by logan's determined face it wasn't going to happen.
They got to Ben's house in twenty minutes, he put socks back inside.
"What are you doing? Don't you want to take Socks with us?"
"Not after last time." Ben responded and Logan nodded.
The boys took a look back at the house as they climbed over the boundary fence. No owl hooting. And the forest seemed quiet. Not mysterious quiet.
"Can you help me over the fence?" Ben didn't realize how new Logan was to the outdoors, despite living nextdoor to it. Even some of his movements were clumsy.
"Becareful of the wire near the bottom, that's where socks got stuck." Ben warned
From there the boys walked to the creek which was a little wider and a little deeper than it had been. Ben took both packs and cleared the width in one long jump. Even he was amazed at the ease with which he had performed the jump with weight added to it.
Logan made the same jump with a run up and still sank his ankle into the freshly formed mud on the margin.
Ben let out a laugh. "Are you up for this bro, you know we can always go back." Logan looked up redfaced. obvously irritated.
They neared the hill approaching the berry bushes stacked with fruit. Ben watched Logan clapping and swinging at insects as he went. It had been much faster for Ben when he was with Socks even when he went on his own. It was almost like slow Logan just wasn't compatible with the forest.
"Wow Ben you didn't tell there were so many berries!" Logan dove like a maniac into the bushes picking as many as he could fit into his hand and gulped them down.
"Watch out Logan you'll get a stomach problem."
"Yeah right. you sound like your mom" He cheekily retorted.
After Logan gorged himself.
"This is the hill isn't it?"
"Yes it is" Ben replied feeling the pinch of giving too much away.
They walked over the hill and as they came down the otherside the statue Ben had seen on both other occasions had disappeared. t jut wasn't there.
"So where is it?"
"It's not here. It was here, mean I saw it here before." But he didn't sound convincing.
Logan looked at him then at the ground in disappointment.
"Let's just go back, this place looks safe, but its kind of dangerous." Ben said, it felt like a losing battle.
"What do you mean dangerous? Give me an example." Logan made Ben even more uneasy.
"Lets just go" Ben insisted.
"Ok" Logan said and the pair turned around and headed back.
As they got to the creek Logan dropped the packs on some tall tree roots and started jogging down the creek following the flow of it and making animal noises, running away from Ben.
Ben slowly made his way after Logan, realizing Logan really wanted to experience something different. He could hear Logan's animal noises getting fainter, so he started to increase his pace.
A scream! Ben ran down the creek quickly to come upon a very embarrased and panic striken Logan.
He was thigh deep in the soft mud of the creek edge. He was slowly sinking in further. Ben mustered all his energy to hold the smirk off his face.
"What are you waiting for pull me out!"
Ben looked up there was a branch right above logan that would allow him to pull Logan out.
He looked at the tree,
It was an incredible Bur oak with huge surfaces of crazy mottled bark up it resembling some ancient language in squiggles. The branches looked infact like arms. Ben felt a comfort at it's presence.
He leaned down to get take logan's hand, with the other he grabbed the branch of the tree.
"Ben... Ben... Ben..." Ben flinched Logan was panting like a woman in labor and couldn't say anything.
IT WAS THE TREE.
Ben almost forgot Logan.
"What do you want?"
"I will help you save your little friend" The tree communicated.
"Why was I transformed into that animal?" Ben questioned.
"To bind you to the land spirit." The tree communicated
"What is that?" Ben asked.
"Courage... courage... courage." The tree communicated
"Ben stop talking to the tree and help me out of here."
"Sorry" Ben said pulling Logan out creating two great holes in the mud from where logan's legs were.
"You made it look easy" Logan said.
Ben remained quiet, he understood that he had a knew strength, not just physical. He felt a new understanding.
Logan cursed. "I got mud all over my pants, my mom is going to kill me."
"You just ran off Logan, what do you expect? Besides you were the one who wanted to come out here."
Logan looked down at his pants.
Ben saw what a small fluffy object move from behnd the Bur oak.
The Piebald deer walked out. Before Logan raised his eyes the deer had gone.
The two boys made their way back to Ben's house. Hardly talking along the way, the forest remained silent.
At Ben's hose gave logan a new set of pants to wear. Washed his muddy pants with the hose.
"Thanks for the new pants. You did see something out there today, didn't you Ben?"
Ben nodded, knowing that if he didn't Logan might just drop the whole friendship.
"Who were you talking to?" Logan pressed.
"If I tell you, you'll tell Jeremy and Dwayne. You guys will make fun of me."
"No I won't. Look if i'm being honest I felt like I was pushed into the mud."
"What do you mean pushed?" Ben started laughing.
"Oh now you are laughing at me, so now you you can tell me what it was!" Logan insisted.
"Logan, it was the tree ok, there I said it happy?"
"Of course, the tree" A puzzled look came over logan's face.
"What do you mean?" Ben asked.
"The tree branch pushed me into the mud. Like it was alive Ben"
They picked up Socks who was anxious and made the rest of the way to logan's house.
Both boys lied about their day in the forest.
Their parents believed the story and both Logan and Ben exchanged messages that evening about how easy it was to decieve them.
Friday morning.
"Ben wake up." Ben's father called down from the kitchen Table.
Ben stumbled down the stairs.
"Morning Mom and Dad" he said.
"Ben we are going to take you to your cousins tomorrow, today you'll be at home again. Please don't go into the back forest."
"Ok Dad."
"Take Socks for a walk too."
His mother and father left for work.
Ben took socks and led him to the forest with him.
Against the strict orders of his father. He felt it all again. The music of the forest in full force. The frogs, birds and cicadas, he immediately felt a presence around himself. Socks turned around his eyes also shining.
They jumped the creek and playfully ran toward the hill.
On the hill the sun hit the top of the grass which was up to Ben's knees.
He crawled around in it and wrestled Socks.
They played like that a good half hour, his phone vibrated in his pocket. He took it out.
"Hi Mom what's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong, I just wanted to make sure everything is alright."
"Everything is fine Mom I'm just playing in the garden with socks"
"Bark" Socks heard his name and colluded in the lie.
"Ok sound like you guys are having fun, don't go into the forest, ok? See you when we get home."
"Ok mum bye."
By pure instinct he turned and looked down the hill, the statue was there maybe twenty meters away pointing up at Ben. This distressed Ben. It was as if the thing had been eavesdropping on the call. He had a sudden urge to run. So pretending to not make it about his present fear, he grabbed the leash on socks and yelled. "Race you back home stupid."
Socks almost pulled him to the ground as they careened down the hill.
But Ben caught up, running faster and more effortlessly than he hever had in his life.
Ben spent the rest of the day at home, doing the typical things he would do before moving to this incredible place. Watching videos on his phone and playing videogames. His parents came home and he offered all teh predictable convincing lies about the day.
The next day on the car ride to his cousin's house that was about an hour away, he remembered the strange vivid dreams he had about the statue. He dreamed it moved through the wood all day long, with some strange mission fraternizing with the animals, invinting some strange old energy back into the great regions of forest. Enchanting the forest in hidden movement.
Then paralyzing it in stillness.
Ironically his nightmarish dreams had ushered him to a dream like state in the car with his parents. He got a shock as his eyes passively met with a bobtail deer feeding at the forests edge to the road.
He jumped and was afraid to check if he had peed himself slightly.
"What's wrong there Ben." His dad called from the rearview mirror.
"Oh nothing Dad, didn't sleep well last night."
"You jumped as if the car hit a speed bump."
His Mom laughed. And Ben realizing how slly he must have looked started laughing too.
He spent saturaday and sunday with his cousins, playing basket ball and soccer and of course videogames. He enjoyed it there but he knew it was only a twice a year kind of visit. So he never really got to know them on the level he did his friends, like Logan and Jeremy
Monday morning Ben met his friends infront of Appleton Grove high school.
There they were congregating near the bike stands. A cool morning not yet warm because of an early rain.
"Hi guys, what's going on?" Asked Ben.
"Hi there forest boy." Jeremy teased.
"Logan you been telling them about our adventures" Ben accusingly.
"Didn't need to Ben, whole school knows you got lost, search and rescue's chief''s daughter is the school gossip remember her from last year?"
"Sure." Ben said
Jeremy and Dylan were laughing hard. Logan grinned.
For Ben it was a feeling of loss. His experience there was so personal and strange he didn't yet know how he felt about it. One thing he didn't like was people thinking he had gotten lost, it made him feel stupid.
"I didn't get lost guys." Ben affirmed.
"Seems you did buddy" Jeremy said.
"Ok Jokes over idiot." Ben said.
"Hurt your feelings?" Jeremy taunted.
"Whatever." Ben shoved jeremy sending him backwards into a guy that had the reputation for being bully. Ryan biggs. The kid was one year older wirey and always able to land a punch. Born with a face that teased.
"Ben Felder what do you think you are doing?" Ryan responded, catching Jeremy and lifting him up.
"Are you okay Jeremy?" Jeremy nodded and they both hand hugged like they were new best friends.
"Jeremy you friends with Ryan now?" Ben inquired.
"What of it" Ryan said not letting Jeremy answer and slinked over to Ben.
"What are you going to do about it forest boy?" Leaning in until he was ten centimeters from Ben's face.
Ben pushed Ryan off. Ryan lunged forward throwing his right fist to make contact with Ben's left side of the face.
"Weak bully." Ben ducked effortlessly as if it was some kind of rehearsal. Logan and Jeremy were shocked. Ryan stepped back to adjust himself more seriously when a big hand turned him around, it was his older brother Kane.
"Stop bullying these kids, yer punk. Ha ha you'll get kicked out this year."
"Let me settle this." Ryan complained.
"We got bigger things brother, get your stuff, tell ya later." Ryan grabbed his arm and forced him away.
"Why the hell are you friends with these guys Jeremy?" Ben asked angrily.
"Well because they don't attack me is a pretty good reason." Jeremy responded.
"Ben, Ryan is not so bad as he was last year, they are kind of cool when you get to know them." Logan defended.
"Yeah real cool bullies."
The school bell rang and they went to class. unfortunately there were quite a lot of teasing and nature loving nicknames for Ben that day. He had never been an angry boy. Bt then he had never felt ganged up on. He had been reasonably popular excellent at fitting in and now this, where would this end?
He got home in the late afternoon jumped the back fence and walked up to the hill to pick some of the berries there. He looked down at the statue. Where was the fear he had had the days before. It had gone, although the statue itself was in it's original place facing it's original position.
He went down to it, feeling relief in it's mysterious presence. His mind echoed those words that the tree had said. "Courage" Ben sat an instinctively meditated infront of the statue.
Then a rustling sound coming down the hill toward him and a shrill voice.
"Ben" Whoever it was they were screaming.
"What in the name of God ae you doing here, when I specifically told you not to go into the forest."
His father took three very quick paces and fell face forward a meter from Ben.
Ben remained silent and observed his boisterous father as he got up again frustrated more than before.
"You just lie to our face and do what you want."
He grabbed onto Ben's arm, but his hand couldn't close because Ben had moved extremely quickly. Now beside his father.
His tone erupted on Ben. "Is this a kind of game?"
Bens voice came out deeper and lower as if he had skipped the squeaky stage of puberty.
"Father look upon the statue." At first his father ignored. Just staring at Ben in a blinding rage. As he turned he saw the statue.
A look of bewilderment came across his face.
"What is that, what are you doing out here?"
A palpable conversion from anger to fear.
"Dad will you listen to me?" Appealing in a softer voice.
"OK Ben."
"You know how you told me to stay out of your office?"
"Yes I did" his father said.
"This is my office, this patch of land is my land, the land of the Piebald deer."
"That makes no sense son we are going home."
"No you will go home and I will see you there in an hour, I'll be there before dinner."
"Don't try to tell your father what to do!" Going for Ben's arm again. This time Ben parried the hand and used his father's strength to pull him past sending him headlong into brambles.
His father stood up speechless, looked at the statue and looked at Ben.
He could see the same expression Ben was wearing on the statue as if he was unwelcome.
He longed to make another threat. But instead he would forget this ever happened. His father silently berated himself for arriving early from work, and caring too much.
"Dad be careful on your way back, this place is not what you think."
His father kicked at the brambles with all of his might, the anger had returned.
"Better be home for dinner." was all that he said.
That night his father was quiet but his mother seemed very pleased.
"How was your first day back?" she said.
Ben put on a happy face for his mother that night and went through the day as if it was the best day ever. For Ben underneath the conflict and hard feelings it had been the best day ever. His father would take him more seriously and he had stood up to the school bully and lived to tell the tale.
Tuesday filled Ben with optimism at what the rest of the year could be.
He felt more confident than he had all of his life. It was his intention to stand up to Ryan, A bully who in the past had called Ben names, played pranks on him and generally bothered him deeply. Courage pays off he thought.
And his father who always told Ben exactly how things had to be without stopping to listen or check if that was ok with Ben. Was now forced to acknowledge him. Whatever the forest, the statue and that crazy altar inside the cave had done to him, he had new powers. Not truly supernatural powers. It was more tangible. He could feel his joints and muscles were more agile. Part of him was more aggressive.
He saw Logan, Jeremy and Ryan the gate of Appleton grove hghschool. He approached without hesitation, despite his hate of Ryan.
"Hey boys what's going on?"
"Hi Ben." Logan greeted. "What's up bro?" Jeremy said.
"No hard feelings Jeremy?" Ben questioned.
"All good man"
Ryan tried to be cordial. "Quick moves yesterday Ben, you been practicing kungfu in the forest?"
Logan and Jeremy looked at Ben for a reaction.
"Hahaha... " Ben laughed, Logan and Jeremy started laughing too.
The tension that was so heavy on the four of them until that moment disappeared, rapport set in and they started talking about school's football team(american football).
Ben noticed on the inside of the school grounds as students were making their way into the main building, Kane. He was perched on a low wall where students would have lunch during the summer outside. He was staring at his brother, looked like he was signaling to him.
"Guys I have to go. See yall in class" Ryan slinked off his wirey form defying gravity as he walked in smooth lengthy paces.
"See what I mean Ben, he's not a bully anymore." Jeremy said.
"He certainly seemed like a bully yesterday." Ben countered.
"Ben he's cool just forget about yesterday." Logan said.
A lighter haired blonde and darker brown haired girl approached Ben.
Jeremy tapped Logan on the shoulder.
"See you in class Ben." Logan said. the two boys left Ben alone with the girls.
"Hi Ben, how are you?" The brunete said.
"Hi, good. Are you two in my science class?" Ben asked
"Yeah with Mr Frost." The blonde added.
"Oh yeah, he's a bit of a blow hard" Ben tested.
"Well he's cooler than the other teachers." The blonde repled quickly.
"Some one's got a crush." The brunete joked.
"Eew no." The blonde girl retorted.
" I guess what I wanted to ask you both is, should teachers be cool?" bBen questioned.
"All the smart kids are quiet and keep to themselves. shouldn't teacher's be more like that?" he continued.
The blonde girl laughed. "I guess you are right, it makes sense, anyway."
"Mr Frost isn't cool he's just a nice person. Lets get to class" she pulled her friend as she walked off and the girls went to class. The brunete turned just before entering the school foyer and glanced at Ben. He noticed just at the last splt second as she turned away again and entered. He felt that surge of confidence again. They probably heard about yesterday he thought proudly.
Something sliced the air and hit Ben at the back of the head at high velocity, enough to move his skull a good ten centimeters.
"Leave my brother alone little man or I will personally kick your ass"
It was Kane, Ryan's brother.
He kept walking without stopping. Ben looked at his back as he made his way into the school building.
"Hello young man let's get to class eh?" a voice said as Ben was distracted.
"Principal Jennings Hi" Ben greeted.
"Was the boy who passed just now bothering you?"
"No sir." Ben stated formally.
"Is your name Ben?"
"Yes sir" Ben accompanied the principle as they entered the school foyer.
"I've heard about you. Please stay out of trouble this year. Be the same good kid you were last year. And stay away from Kane. Boys like that are trouble."
"Yes sir.
The rest of the morning was like a dream. He bonded with old class mates, a few of which congratulated him for standing up to Ryan. He started to get his very first feelings of attraction to some of the girls in his class. He wondered how much of that was personal maturity or the effects of that strange forest enchantment.
Ben couldn't find Logan and Jeremy at lunchtime. He sat down and spoke to some guys from his last class
