Short Story Excerpt

Seed Sow 9, 117CC

Ok, maybe I am enjoying this book a little bit more than I would like to admit. Hard to find time to write in it, though. And what is the point of writing about every little thing? Who cares about what I do every day?

If you are reading this I am sorry I am not more interesting. I blame my wife. I used to be so much cooler. But she took one look at me and thought, “I can change him.”

Seed Sow 26 117CC

Sarai, Cassa, and I went up the mountain today. We packed food for a picnic and spent our midday munching on bread and cheese, looking out over the valley at our tiny little village, the sprawling fields, and all that Ydella has blessed us with. As high as we were, we could see the lonely peaks off to the north, piercing through the forests. As the sun set, the lights of the goddess flickered above us, and Cass yelped with delight to see them so close.

At one point, on our way down, we lost sight of her. She just disappeared. I remained incredibly calm, but Sarai was a complete mess. And she will never read this, so let history know that this is indeed exactly what happened. We found Cassa sitting in a copse of trees holding a tiny creature in her hand. It looked almost like a baby rabbit, but had a spiral horn growing from its forehead, and a pinkish white coat that was either glowing or my vision was blurry from how calm I was.

Cassa asked if she could keep it, but we told her it was probably from very far away and would not be very happy living in our village. Now, where most children would have whined or cried, our Cass gave it one more scratch before placing it back on the ground and encouraging it to be on its way before it got too dark to see. 

How did we get so lucky to have this little girl?

Seed Sow 27 117CC

Sarai decided to try a new recipe she learned from Yissa. How many more ways are there to prepare corn? I fear I am going to find out.

Seed Sow 30 117CC

I think our little Cass might have a crush. She came home today after teachings, raving about a new boy she met named Vael. Sarai warned me not to poke fun, but what good is being a parent if you are forbidden from making fun of your own child?

I find this treatment unfair, and will be having a tantrum under the table during dinner.

Seed Sow 32 117CC

Planting seems to have finally finished across the valley. It is always this time of year where I feel thankful I am in charge of construction. The tedious job of managing a field seems mind numbing to me. Just tell me what to plow, what to plant, and what smelly thing to spread where.

Sprouting 24 117CC

Today at the council meeting, Senna informed us that the fields she oversees have been having difficulty. Others who manage the outskirt fields communicated similarly. It seems as though the river that feeds the irrigation channels has been flowing somewhat shallow in recent weeks, and only a trickle has reached the far fields. A group of us has been tasked with following the river into the forest to search out the problem.

Sprouting 26 117CC

Nothing I write can accurately describe what happened today. 

We set off at daybreak to find the blockage in the river. Things were going fine, for a time, as we followed the bank deeper into the woods. But about an hour in, Senna stopped us. She was insisting that we had passed the same fallen log several times. I had not noticed how strange it felt walking through those trees until she brought it up. A sense of wrongness. A few of the others insisted that she must be mistaken and that we push on. As we continued, I took in our surroundings and attempted to memorize them, only to see those same surroundings a few minutes later. We stopped again as others within the group noticed the same. 

We were not walking in a circle. We had footprints behind us, but none in front. I have been in that forest many times over my thirty four plantings, had run and played in them when I was the age of Cassa. We all had. But none of us had experienced anything like this before. As the rest of the group took a rest, Senna and I made the decision to continue forward, just the two of us, and see where we ended up. I have to admit I was somewhat nervous, but the calmness Senna radiated helped reassure me. So we walked on. A few minutes later, we came upon the same place. The fallen tree, the rock, the same bend in the river. But it was not as we had left it. The rest of our group was gone. 

They had clearly been there. There were still footprints in the dirt, a discarded piece of fruit, a stick someone had been mindlessly whittling. It looked like they had been here for hours before leaving. We pushed forward again and arrived at the same camp. Again. We tried over and over, moving off the path, crossing the river, but always arrived back to where our group had been and no longer was. Though we had only been traveling for a few hours and did not seem to have made much progress, the darkness was crowding in around us as though Senna and I had traveled deep into the heart of the forest.

I could barely see her face but what little was visible in the darkness was filled with the same panic that was rising into my chest. I can still hear the quiver in her voice as she turned to me and said, “What do we do?” This woman I had known since childhood, who had tackled boys that made fun of her, spoke in front of the council as a teenager with no fear, and who now oversees the largest and most important section of our planting, was petrified. I am not sure what shook me more, the endless forest around us or the way she looked at me in that moment.

We had tried it before, but decided the only choice we had left was continuing to follow the path back towards the village. We walked, only to wind up in the same place over and over again. The panic and fear had welled up in us both so much that by the fourth or fifth time, we began sprinting through the trees. But no matter how hard we ran, we kept coming back to the same empty camp. The rock, the fallen log, the bend in the river. 

As I ran after Senna a root caught my foot, and I tripped. Senna kept running, not realizing I had fallen. And then she was gone. I was alone.

I stood, blood dripping from my knee, paralyzed by fear, as the darkness seemed to collapse in around me. It was suffocating. Out of the corner of my vision, I swore I saw movement, but every time I turned, there was nothing there. I started running after Senna. Harder and harder I ran, not even noticing what was around me until I was suddenly on the edge of the village. 

Fires had been lit all along the edge of the woods, and what seemed like the entire village was there. Sarai and Cassa threw themselves at me before I even saw them, tears streaming from both of them. I saw Senna on the ground crying, holding Brinna in her arms. The rest of our group seemed to all be there as well, their faces still shining with sweat as they talked with the Elders or comforted their families.

We had only been gone for a few hours, but Elder Kirc told me it was nearly midnight.

Sprouting 27 117CC

They called an emergency council meeting after what happened yesterday. We talked for what felt like hours, but it seemed to have only been in circles. No one is sure what to do about the forest, and we still have the water problem to deal with. There are only so many rivers and streams within the area. By the end, it was decided that we will begin sourcing from other parts of the valley while the Elders pray for guidance from Ydella for the forest problem. May she light their path and deliver an answer. 

I was also tasked to design and oversee the building of structures to capture rainwater and store what is brought from elsewhere. So it seems as though I will be very busy. A few within the meeting seemed to think all this planning was an overreaction to a single odd occurrence. But I was there. If these people had felt the same strangeness—the same fear—they would never want to step foot between those trees again.

Green Tend 23 117CC

We completed the last of the towers today. I will be honest, it was actually kind of fun to create something totally new. They store the water high above so that we can simply open a valve and allow gravity to do the work down the channels and into the ditches. I know it has provided me with a way to occupy my mind, and I feel as though it has put others at ease, even if that ease is relative. 

There is still a tension.

The river has continued to slow, but speaking of it or the forest aloud has become almost taboo. I have come upon many whispered conversations that suddenly stop. Even so, the council has placed guards along the forest edge to both keep anyone from going in and stop anything that may come out.

The only thing that seems to have not changed around the village are the children. They still seem as loud and rambunctious as ever, even if they are under strict instruction not to enter the forest. Cassa still seems to be obsessed with this Vael boy. I have yet to meet him but from what I hear from Senna he is very popular. Brinna seemed to have similar things to say. We are preparing ourselves for a budding rivalry. 

Over a boy. 

How they grow up so fast.

Green Tend 45 117CC

In her eight years, I have never seen Cassa this excited for the beginning of Harvest. She was in bed almost the second dinner was finished. I reminded her that the celebration does not begin until nightfall tomorrow, but that did not seem to dissuade her. 

Even with everything that has been going on, I will admit to still feeling a little excited myself. May Ydella guide us from this path into a brighter one.

Harvest 1 117CC

The goddess has blessed this house with potatoes. May every carrot shrivel where it grows.

Harvest 2 117CC

When the sun set, the offerings were laid, the tables were raised, and the fires were lit.

And then the music began. 

It may be a weeklong celebration, but the first night is always the best. After a long few seasons of stored food and what the hunters rationed out, feasting on newly picked crops is always like tasting food for the first time. I felt like a kid again, dancing with Sarai, drinking a little too much, and watching Cass hunt for painted gourds hidden amongst the others. She came in third this year but held her head high with only the hint of a tear.

I am already thinking about a nap. Today is going to be rough.

Harvest 10 117CC

All that is left of our goddess are two feet. The statue of Ydella in the square has been torn from its place. After a day of searching, pieces of her were found scattered across the village. Her chest. Her shield. Her lantern. All were found on the outskirts of the village. All in different directions. Each was half buried, the ground around it hard as clay. As much as we tried to dig, nothing would budge.

How could this happen? Who would do such a thing?

Harvest 13 117CC

Elder Sattum stopped by earlier today. She told us that a boy has gone missing. Renn, the son of Deka and Yan. With everything that has been happening, they did not want to alarm anyone, so the Elders are choosing to stay on the quiet side about it. They are asking around and organizing some searches. Sattum asked if Sarai and I would lead one east towards the mouth of the valley.

He is only a few years older than Cass. When I asked her if she knew him or ever played with him, she said she could not remember. With so many young children running around the fields and through the village, I guess I cannot expect her to know them all. There were certainly fewer kids my age when I was growing up. When I told her he was missing, she did not seem troubled by it. She just said she was sure he would be back. I wish I could be so calm. At least I know I will be taken care of in my old age. That or murdered the second she deems it merciful.

Harvest 21 117CC

One of the storage silos collapsed today. Thank Ydella no one was hurt. Elder Kirc had me take a look at the mess, and for a while, I was baffled. We only built it two plantings ago, and I had designed and supervised it myself. It was Brinna who helped put the pieces together. As the child knelt down to eat a kernel from the scattered pile, she spit it back out, finding it soft, black, and chalky. Not just a few pieces. The entire crop. The rot seems to have spread into the wood. I have never seen this before. I know I cannot control the fields and what comes from the growth, but I cannot help but feel somewhat responsible. Sarai insists no one blames me, but I cannot shake this feeling.

Harvest 33 117CC

There are many whispers around the village. Renn has still not been found, more crops have been found spoiled in their fields, and the Elders have shut themselves in their chambers. Some worry Ydella has abandoned us. Many wonder if we may have done something wrong. 

I still have faith. Whatever darkness may come, I trust that her light will guide us, and her shield, defend us.

Harvest 41 117CC

Elder Ricar arrived at the site of the new storage silo today. When I saw him approaching, I assumed he wanted to see our progress, but the look on his face was grave. He escorted me back to the meeting hall where Sarai was already waiting with Cassa, Brinna, and another boy about their age. Before I could speak, Senna arrived and all my questions came pouring out of her mouth.

Five more children had gone missing, and our daughters had been seen with them last. They each insisted they did not know what had happened. 

Finally the boy, Teppa, mumbled something about the forest, and Brinna shushed him. Senna turned on her daughter immediately. But—like mother, like daughter—she held firm. Stubborn as all hell. 

It was finally Cassa who spoke up, her voice softer than I had ever heard it.

“We promised not to tell,” she said. It was our turn to put the brand to our child.

It seems as though this Vael boy had told the other children about the forest.

Harvest 42 117CC

No one knows where Vael lives or who his parents are.

Invocation 1 118CC

They are sending some of the hunters into the forest to search for the kids. Myself, Senna, and the others who had gone in previously did our best to try and prepare them with our experiences, but I am afraid nothing will prepare them for what they may see or feel amongst the trees. Statue or no, I pray Ydella lights their path, defends their backs, and guides them all home safe.

Invocation 3 118CC

It has been two days. No one has returned. Storms are beginning to roll through the valley. People are panicking.

Invocation 15 118CC

One of the hunters was found on the edge of the forest. She was bloodied, and had bite and claw marks across her body. She has yet to wake up.

Invocation 24 118CC

Storms are still raging through the village. The Elders have allowed anyone that desires it to move into the meeting house. Dare I say, Cass has been thfe rock of the family. As Sarai and I are panicking and snapping at each other as we try to pack and navigate all that is happening, it is our daughter who reminds us that everything is going to be alright. 

She has the strength of ten.

Invocation 26 118CC

The hunter finally woke up. Senna and I were meeting with Elders Sattum and Kirc in the Elder Chamber when it happened. All she did was wail and babble incoherently. Fear filled her face unlike anything I had seen before. Elder Kirc reached out to try to calm her, but she grabbed him. When one of the guards stepped in she pulled the knife from his belt and then she s—

No one spoke as we buried her in the rain.

Invocation 27 118CC

I hesitate to speak this aloud. So here I am. Back to the book. When we were burying that hunter last night…

I heard whispers.

They were coming from the forest.

I thought it was just the rain, but when I looked up, I could see white eyes staring out from between the trees. The harder I tried to keep my gaze away, the more I felt it being pulled. Like when you tell a child not to smile. 

I could hear them. Just below the storm.

All night, I lay awake. Sarai to my right and Cassa in between us. Just listening to the rain.

I am afraid if I close my eyes I will hear them again.

Invocation 41 118CC

They are gone.

All the children are gone.

Cold Fallow 1 118CC

We are going in. Sarai, Senna, and I. We have no other choice. We are going to get our daughters back.

We are trapped in this loop again. Sarai is crying. Senna is stone faced. We are all broken…but determined. 

We found some of the other hunters.

We could not find the strength to bury the bodies.

We heard them. The voices. I had heard the whispers before, but this time I could hear what they were saying. And who was saying it.

When Senna heard Brinna she ran. She did not even stop to look at us. She tore through the trees towards the sound of her daughter crying out for her, in pain.

Then the scream. Unbridled terror. 

Worse than terror. 

Horror. 

Disbelief and horror.

Then nothing.

Then we heard Cassa.

[The handwriting changes"]

Brakka is dead.

It was Cassa.

It was our Cass.

I cannot find the village. My feet are bloody. Every inch of me aches. I ran out of tears a day ago. The only thing that keeps me clinging to sanity are these pages. The words of Brakka. Of our life. I read them when I can no longer run. But I am afraid I may not be able to do that much longer.

Brakka had seen her first. He stepped in front, knocking me over as she leapt at him. I only saw her for a second. But what I saw was not my daughter. Any ounce of joy that face once held, the light that once lit up everything around her…There was nothing left.

I can hear her calling for me.