AVftS-3
 Part of a series of archived posts in AVftS | |
| AVftS-3 | |
|---|---|
| Author: | Rea |
| Date Posted: | December 11, 2018 |
| Forum Post: | Linked! |
| Word Count: | 742 |
| Characters: | Leeva, Síne |
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In the forest, little flickers of fireflies were all you could see by. But even in the daytime, you might catch a leaf stirring, you might see its tree move, and you might, if you were lucky, see Leeva, clinging to the lowest branch, nestled against the bark. Nobody could see them now, in the dark. The thought made them giggle, but habit made them shift their image anyway as they climbed down the tree. They hid in the grass next to the roots, looking out at the treeless expanse that marked the edge of Treeland. The humans called it Kingfisher forest, but Leeva didn't know why. They poked one limb out of the grass and onto the expanse. Then another, and another, but they made sure to blend in with the grass.
They laughed. So weird, no trees to blend to!
The other forest sprites were happy to remain in the forest, but Leeva was part human, and humans were almost as curious as cats. They had spied on the humans from the trees, long enough to mostly understand their language, but had never spoken to one. Too scary. Too big. Too . . . unblendable.
Humans looked the same no matter what they did, like dye their hair, which made Leeva scoff good naturedly. It was not for lack of trying, they supposed.
Looking back, Leeva saw they had made it several feet away from the forest. Excitement mixed with fear, and they bolted across the meadow--or, was it a meadow? Was a meadow that was not surrounded by trees still a meadow? Ridiculous! All meadows were surrounded by trees. Weren't they? Even if you couldn't see the other side. There were ALWAYS trees!
They stopped ten feet away from one building. Leeva chose this building because there was a light. Maybe one of the humans was awake! The light flickered like a firefly, but they knew it was probably fire. Humans were fond of fire. And stone houses, which Leeva didn't understand. They took comfort in the wooden door, though. Leeva shivered from nervousness, then leapt into the air, letting the wind carry them the rest of the way to the door, making a loud thump! When Leeva felt brave enough, they began to move again, this time to the side. Clinging to stone was easy. They stuck their leafy filaments into the cracks in the stones and lifted their head until they could see inside the window.
There was a human there after all. Leeva had never seen one so close . . .
And coming closer!!
Leeva ducked under the windowsill as the wooden door opened, and the human came out. She was small, and thin, sighing in the cold air, the wind blowing the brown vines on her head and tangling them. Leeva tried so hard not to giggle at that last part. But even then, their heart ached. They were part human, but still they couldn't tell what part of them that was.
Leeva skittered soundlessly to the ground, tilting their head to get a better perspective of the human lady. They extended one limb, then another, and when the human didn't notice, they stepped along the grass until they crouched not a foot away from the human's extra feet--you know, the ones they put on over their regular feet.
They looked up at the round, pink face, the reddened nose and cheeks. Humans did that in the cold. Leeva shifted their image to reflect that coloring, but they despaired knowing it was only because they made it that way, not because they were part human. Again blending with the ground, they took another step, more in front of the human. They really wanted to see her face clearly. Finally, she could see her eyes. The eyes mesmerized them, sending an inexplicable calm through their whole being, like a tree could when they huddled next to it.
They could almost cry at feeling this connection to something other than the forest, in a place of their heart they had never felt before.
They reached a limb out, just a little bit closer--
BAM! A sound like boulders breaking into sand echoed across the meadow, sending terror through every vein of Leeva's body. They looked around for a tree to climb to safety, but knew there were none.
So they picked the nearest tall thing available, and wrapped themself tightly around the human's waist.