At dusk during that same intense, long day, when the sun was setting, a person unknown to the Shysters was walking down the path and happened to pass by their house in the forest, pausing at the gate. Kenny was yet again in the front yard, trying to catch fruit fies with his hands as a way to pass the time, and initially didn’t notice the man standing there like another tree in the forest. Nevertheless, after a few seconds had passed, the stranger called out to Kenny, “Good evening, little boy!”
He was surprisingly tall and slender, this stranger standing there like a tree in front of the gate. His horse like elongated face morphed into a pointy chin, that was covered by an even more pointy beard. Yet the suit he was wearing was a vibrant green color, that almost seemed to blend in with the forest, if it wasn’t as vibrant as it was. He was holding an orange hat in one of his hands, which was resting up against the side of his leg. As Kenny approached him, he used the other hand to comb through his slender, oil slicked, black hair, meeting down to pinch his moustache and comb the tip with his fingers into a perfectly pointy twirl of hair. “You’re quite the fly catcher, aren’t ya, buddy?” He said with a light hearted voice.
“Yeah,” replied Kenny. “I’d like to think so.”
“Well, it’s quite the fun activity to be doing on a lovely spring evening like this.” said the man in an encouraging, optimistic tone. “It’s quite a hoot. I used to do it all the time when I was the same age as you. But as you can see, that was quite a long while ago.” He creepily smiled, showing his aging features with his long salad fingers. He seemed to be quite the character, constantly moving around, tapping his foot, twitching his shoulders, moving his head and eyes around, constantly scanning the house behind Kenny. His movements also seemed erratic and spontaneous, yet there was a sort of fluid nature to them that suggested refinement. He even seemed to almost be floating with his gracefulness, as the rays shined through the canopy of the trees above and broke apart when they hit him. Although Kenny was somewhat amused and kind of liked the man, this image reminded him of the sort of dark colored floral circlet that had been hung up on their door when his grandmother had passed away. He sightly frowned and was now not so sure if he liked this stranger, even if his smile seemed sincere and his pointy moustache gave off completely honest vibes.
“Is this your home?” asked the suspicious looking man as he nodded his head towards the house when asking, breaking eye contact with Kenny for a second before re-establishing it.
“Yeah,” said Kenny. “Do you wanna talk to my daddy?”
“Maybe, in a little while.” said the man. “But I want to talk to you for a bit first before I do that. Have you and your family lived here in this house for long?”
“Of course,” said Kenny. “We’ve been living in this house for as far back as I can remember.”
“That seems like a pretty long time,” chuckled the man as he seemed to think about it for a second.
Even though Kenny realized that was a statement, he felt a sudden urge to explain himself further out of politeness. “Well, I mean, what a long time is seems to be a question of relativity, but in our case that would be when we happened to inhabit the land, that’s when you could say we came to be here. My grandmother was born here. She says in her time, it used to be all forest, all trees, no people, but now it’s been cleared. They’ve been slowly chopping them down one after another. This patch of forest is all that’s left, as far as I know.”
“Oh, quite interesting, I’d say,” said the man as he stroked his long, untrustworthy, pointy beard. “So then you must know everyone around here and what goes on in these parts, if that’s the case.”
“Well, you can’t say exactly everything,” replied Kenny. “Not me, anyways. Why do you ask?”
The man lifted his suspicious eyebrows as if to acknowledge Kenny’s introspection. “Well, in that case,” he said, “I’m looking for someone in particular. A family, actually.”
“I don’t know a lot of people here that well,” said Kenny, shrugging his shoulders. “There’s a good chance my dad probably does, though. You should probably ask him.”
“I guess that’s what I’ll do then, little boy.” said the man.
It was at this moment the front door of the house swung open, with the light from a lamp inside illuminating the grass in the yard, emerged Kenny’s grandfather. “Kenson? Who are you talking to out here?”
“There’s a man who is looking for someone, grandpa.” Kenny replied back to his grandfather.
“Huh? What? I can’t hear.” His grandfather stepped down from the main step of the front entrance of the house and adjusted his glasses as he asked his grandson. “Did the man say what he wanted?”
As Kenny’s grandfather was walking out, the man tipped his hat and bowed a little. “Good evening sir,” the man said. “I’m delighted to see these parts are populated by fine, young gentlemen such as yourself.”
“And why wouldn’t I be fine, or youthful, or a gentleman for that matter?” Asked the grandfather, squinting at him through the dim shadow being cast by the forest’s canopy. His green suit seemed to be somewhat of a shock to the grandfather, and the grandfather suddenly grew suspicious of this strange man.
“I’m not sure we’ve met before. Who are you, what’s your name and who exactly is it that you’re looking for?” asked the grandfather.
The man circled around these questions by replying with something of his own. “This young man has told me that you and your family have been living in this dwelling for quite some time, and I figured you would be quite familiar with the people who come and go through these parts by now.”
The old man shook his head in negation. “I don’t know every single person that comes through here,” he said. “nor would I want to know every single person that comes through here. I certainly don’t see it necessary to stand out here when it’s getting dark talking to strangers about it, and neither does Kenson, so..”
The old men then paused for a few seconds. A faint melody could be heard coming through the forest, penetrating the sound of the crickets and the rustling trees, with the old man, Kenny and the stranger all turning to face it’s source, deep into the forest. There was a twinkling sound to it, and after several seconds had passed, it had abruptly stopped.
“Oh my lord,” said Kenny’s grandfather, his eyes opening up with shock. “That has to be it, after so long, it’s returned!” He began to rub his hands together, completely disregarding he was in still in the company in the man in the green suit. “Did you hear that sound, Kenson? That’s the elf music I was telling you about. Oh my, well, it’s been eons since I last heard that melody. This has to be your first time hearing it, I reckon. Wait until your father hears about this!” He grasped Kenny’s hand and led him back into the house.
“Hey, hold on!” said the stranger, who now suddenly had a more serious and stiff posture, and his voice being more eager and inquisitive. “That music is something you’ve heard before, is what you just said?”
Before the grandfather could reply, the music started up once again and they all paused once more to listen in on it with wonder. In this instance, the melody repeated three times, twinkling, and then faded into silence.
“That kind of sounds like a music box, if you ask me.” Kenny said once the music stopped.
“Oh that’s proposterous, it’s elves, I’m telling you!” Ballyhooed his grandmother with excitement. She then turned to the strange man standing at the gate and said, “We’ll have to get going now. Toodle-doo.” The old man locked the gate, shaking it a few times in the process to ensure it was securely locked, then took Kenny’s hand firmly once more and walked up into the house, shutting the door violently behind him.
Despite this, the man in the green suit still stood there, and continued tapping his foot anxiously, alone by himself, staring into the forest as if he was trying to find something. The last rays of light from the sunset had evaporated, and then the twilight also passed as he continued to stand there, but some last shimmers of it still illuminated the forest, turning it pale, casting its mysterious dim over the pebbles, the sandy path and the man himself, creating a silhouette in the dark.
The moon then took over. The man collected himself and started shaking his head. He was satisfied yet not totally satiated. He put on his goofy hat, twisted around his thin moustache ends, and in the moonlight one could see his long salad fingers, they were pale and moved elegantly. He then proceeded down walk down the path, disappearing into the darkness, whistling the twinkling tune himself which eventually disappeared with him.
Kenny woke up early the morning after this. The sun had only begin to rise in the east and was beginning to shine over the horizon, yet the house was enveloped in total silence. Kenny had realized that his wish to run away somehow and at some point throughout the night diminished. “Where would I even go?” he asked himself. “I don’t know where else I’d want to be other than here.” Yet there existed another reason for why he did not want to leave – he was afraid to go at it alone. It’s a totally different ballgame to think and talk about doing something and what you would do in that instance, hypothetically, yet when the opportunity presented itself, it was a completely difference experience and feeling altogether having to do it, and one often hesitated. In the books he read, all the characters seemed to be very decisive and brave, they did not care nor could feel any hesitation or doubt, and they always found their way around. In real ife, this was not the case. The world was a scary place filled with all kinds of dangers. He was also always being told this by everyone he knew, to always be careful and afraid of everything. He knew that he wouldn’t be able to take care of himself unless someone was around to protect him. This was another thing that they were constantly making sure he remembers. They didn’t specifically say what these horrible things might be, but Kenny’s imagination was sufficient enough to fill out the blanks.
Despite that, it was humiliating in a sense to admit that his fears existed. And when he remembered the lizard, he got even more demoralized. What if the lizard was there by the fence again today? What if the lizard was secretly laughing to itself and think that he is yellow-bellied?
Even aside from these thoughts, this was the perfect moment to sneak out and go into the forest. It would be majestic knowing there was a chance she could find where the music was coming from. It was fun to think about, and might’ve been quite a feat to accomplish if actually done, he thought to himself. It didn’t occur to him that in order to make a lasting difference in the world would require a bigger and bolder action on his behalf. He just told himself in a way to soothe his own nerves, “While I’m in the forest, I can make the decision whether or not to come back, and I’ll go forward with that.” He was able to believe in this fantasy because he needed to believe, and this belief in being able to do brave things was the most soothing ally he had when it came to his nerves, but also uplifting his self esteem.
This morning was another hot, humid morning, yet the forest air was cool and had a damp stench to it. Kenny only spent about 3 minutes walking into the forest, with the ground crunching underneath his feet, and began to wonder to himself why he never ventured out by himself this far. “This is quite nice.” he thought to himself, somewhat amused.
The forest itself was full of shining light, and the light was different than the one created by the lamps inside his house. There was a vibrant mixture of colors, green and amber, and it felt alive, the colors blending into themselves, different square like patterns on the ground, and seeming to be like stripes when looking through the trees themselves and how they were lined up next to eachother. There was a lot of small flowers spurting from the ground, many of which he was seeing for the first time, a mixture of white and blue petals, and what seemed to be many vines, entangled all over the place. Some places there were trunks of fallen logs, hollowed out and rotting, hanging with moss that seemed to be like a carefully quilted table cover, geometrically pretty yet naturally chaotic.
There were also creatures everywhere he looked, scattering about. There were tons of noises in the air being exhibited by them, beetles, birds, squirrels, ants and birds, as well as many that were hidden from his view, all seemingly existingly gently and carrying about their own business, none of them felt threatening to Kenny. He even saw, much to his surprise and amusement, the lizard. He was just clinging from the side of a tree trunk and he would not have noticed it there, as it looked somewhat like a leaf or patch of moss, blending in well with his environment, indeed. As he got closer to it, however, it blinked and twitched, which gave away it’s position.
“I told you I would be here this morning, mister lizard.” he said.
The lizard stared blankly back at him, ceasing all movement as if in silent acknowledgement. It then proceeded to scatter down the tree trunk and into a nearby bush, disappearing from view.
“The lizard must’ve been watching me since yesterday.” and was glad he came out, as he felt it believed in him.
He went walking around for quite a bit, acknowleding all the sights, sounds, smells and sensations, was glad he could forget the angry, uptight world outside of the forest, he began to hum to himself, trying to sing the melody he had heard the night prior and remember it’s rythym. Further down, in an open patch of land where it seemed as if the sun was specifically illuminating it, Kenny noticed some movement.
Kenny suddenly stopped and crouched down, thinking to himself “If those are elves, I can take a glimpse at them.” Instinctually, Kenny’s reaction was one of running and hiding, as what lied ahead could’ve been more dangerous than just interesting in itself, and he became proud of himself knowing his bravery was stronger than his cowardly side, if for just particular instance. He slowly began to crawl forward. He told himself to just get close enough where he wouldn’t be in danger, but also be able to see what was there. After this he could run and hide away from it, whatever it was. Yet when he got closer and saw what was there, with him being adequately covered by the tree, his jaw dropped and he froze up.
Here in the open patch of land there was a sprawling tree like spire, with heavy roots protruding outwards in all directions away from the tree, for about twenty feet or so. There was a boy sitting with his back against the tree, reading a book, the boy was at an age that almost made him a man, and he seemed to be so relaxed and elegant to Kenny that as if Kenny almost instantly gained an idol.
This boy was tanned, yet had red hair with green eyes, his freckles barely noticable under the tan as they blended in with the color of his skin. He worse a graceful dark green tunic, trousers of a beige hue tied up by rope, and a cap that seemed to be made of velvet. He wore dark red suspenders, that made him colorful, and seemed more of a fashion statement than having any pertinent functionality. He sat there with sandals on, as if he was comfortable blending in with the nature around him. He would tap his feet towards and then stare up into the canopy, with one eye closed to look at the beams of sunlight coming down. The combination of his face and the light shining upon it was even more spectacular, thought Kenny, as it gracefully shone upon different parts of his body.
He then proceed to rub his ear, then scratch his head, then yawned a bit and shook his head to keep himself awake, it seemed. He turned to face the small pile of pebbles he was sitting beside. He moved one pebble from one pile into another, one by one, as Kenny watched and kept his breath in thinking even breathing would alert the other boy. Under the pile of pebbles, there was a tiny fountain of water spurting out and then retracting back into the ground, repeatedly. He would lower his lips to the fountain, take a sip and would sit up again. He would proceed to brush off the water from his lips with the sleeves of his tunic. As he was wiping his mouth, he turned his head and saw Kenny standing there, they established eye contact.
Both boys looked at eachother for a bit, neither of them talking or moving, and the boy at the tree had his sleeve still up to his mouth, he froze in mid air. Finally he put his arm down and said to Kenny “You can come out, you know. I see you there.” with a stern frown.
Kenny got up and started slowly walking towards the boy at the tree. He felt embarrassed, and kind of scared. He was regretful of his actions now. “Believe me, it wasn’t my intention to stare at you like a creep,” he said as he tip toed over the roots, “I actually didn’t think anyone would be here.”
The boy raised one eyebrow and sternly asked “What are you doing over here?” as he shaked his head.
“This is my forest,” said Kenny, who was dumbfounded by the audacity of this boy’s question. Didn’t he know? “I can go anywhere I want to in this forest. Well, I haven’t been here before today, but if I wanted to, I could come whenever I feel like it.”
“Ohhh I see now,” said the boy, easing up his tension. “You must be one of the Shyster’s kids.”
“I’m Kenny,” he said. “And who might you be?”
“I’m Jordan Brahman,” he replied. “How do you do?” while giving an army salute.
Kenny waved back with his own hand by doing the same army salute, even though he wasn’t sure what it meant exactly even though he assumed it was a greeting. He kind of idolized him even more now that he was closer to him. There was something mesmerizing about him. “Do you live closeby?” he asked him, thinking up of something useful to ask while breaking the split second awkward silence. “I’ve never seen you around these parts. Are you here by this tree often? I mean people aren’t supposed to just wander in here, it’s our forest after all.” He then quickly recanted, adding “Well, I mean, it’s okay if you come here, with me anyways. I’m just wondering who you are and all.”
Jordan let out a big smile. “Oh no I don’t live anywhere close by, and no I don’t come here all the time. I’m just passing through, and I’m thankful that you’re okay with it.”
“Well I’m glad we’re in agreement,” Kenny said capriciously. He took a step back and decided to sit down on the ground a few feet away from him. “So how old are you, I can’t really tell,” he asked, looking at Jordan suspiciously.
There was an awkward silence for a few second. Jordan responded “Why is it important what my age is?”
“Oh well, I was just wondering.” said Kenny
“Okay, I’ll tell you. I’m 153 years old,” he replied with an honest and proud demeanor.
“No, seriously, how old are you now?” he demanded, going around what he assumed to be a joke.
“If you really want to know that much,” he said “I’m sixteen.”
“Sixteen?”
“Yes, sir.”
“I see,” said Kenny, amused. “Sixteen, you’re like a grandpa.”
“Oh yeah of course, I just forgot where I put my cane.” he jokingly agreed, with a mellow tone to his voice.
Kenny got the impression that he was being laughed at, but it was in a benevolent, friendly type of way. “Are you married yet?” was his next question.
Jordan actually started laughing loudly in Kenny’s face when he heard the question. “No, are you?” as tears of joy came down from his eyes and he was fighting back more laughter.
Kenny thought what a dumb question, can’t he tell? “No, obviously not,” he said. “I’m only 6, but I’ll be turning 7 in a short time.”
“And then you’ll be getting married, is that right?” he teased.
Kenny giggled at the thought. “Yeah, sure, why not,” he said, bobbing his head around. He turned his attention to that spurt of water in the ground and asked, “Is that safe for drinking, cause I’m a bit thirsty”.
Jordan Brahman’s face instantly turned serious. “That? The thing? Yeah no, definitely not.” he reacted with haste. “You shouldn’t drink this, it comes out of the earth and goes through the soil, probably has all kinds of nasty things in it.” He then put the little stones back over it to shut it closed.
“Huh? I thought I saw you drink a bit from it?” Kenny asked, with one eyebrow raised.
“Oh, yeah, you saw that didn’t you?” He anxiously replied. “Oh, that’s just me, I’ll drink anything, I have an iron stomach. I don’t get sick from it, but for you, that’s another story. You might get very sick and even die.”
“Oh, really? I mean, it’s my forest anyways, so why shouldn’t I have a drink? It’s hot out, I’m thirsty. I think I’ll have some.” He proceeded to go site beside Jordan and started moving the pebbles out of the way.
“Oh trust me, Kenny Shyster,” replied Jordan, “it is a very bad idea if you drink from this water, it will make you very sick. I won’t allow it, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.”
“Yeah but, I still don’t see why I shouldn’t,” said Kenny plainly. “I’m getting more and more thirsty as time goes by. And if it didn’t do anything to you, I don’t see why it would do anything to me. If my daddy was here with me, he would let me take a drink.”
“Alright, I’m just wondering, if you’re planning on telling him about the water, because if you are…” said Jordan. His face was suddenly pale, not that it meant anything to Kenny. “Well, this was bound to happen sooner or later.” He got up, brushed off the lint from his bottom and put his foot on top of the pile of little stones where the water was coming out from.
As this happened, there was a sort of crashing noise in the forest, and a voice called out “Jordan?”
“Oh thank the heavens!” said Jordan, rolling his eyes as he let out a big breath in relief. “Here comes papa and Melissa. They’ll know what we should do.”
As soon as he said that, a big, burly man came out from behind the trees, having a thick old donkey following him around, and by his side was a girl even prettier and more graceful than Jordan. It was Moe Brahman with his daughter, Jordan’s younger sister. When his dad saw both of them, Jordan with his foot on the rocks, and Kenny sitting down by the pile with his legs crossed, he got the gravity of the situation right away. His hand flew to his face and made the biggest facepalm anyone had ever seen, as his face turned red. “Well my children,” he said “We’ve finally come to it. The worst thing that can happen is finally upon us.”