Don’t get me wrong - I love the Enchanted Forest. It serves as a nice little cozy home. Our magic remains undefeated in keeping it hidden from the rest of the world. I have never seen any intruder stomp into our Forest. However, the Elders in the Forest keep telling us kids about Hunters – that we must keep away from them, and how dangerous they are, and how we shall be killed if they spot us, and… you get it. Thus insist the Elders. “Don’t be fooled by the innocent-looking Hunter. You may assume them to be adorable. But my grandpa had witnessed how a Hunter had killed another in a fight. It was most brutal. There was blood all around. More importantly, it was against our principle of Peace,” Elder Belfer had told us the other night. I had a rather sleepless night after that storytelling session.
Let me tell you something more about the Hunters. Adorable
is an understatement for them. They are hairless apes who usually mind their
business. Now, I am a young child. But I have heard how the Hunters evolved
from bigger-sized hairy apes. They climbed down their trees, made homes in caves,
and began hunting animals (and yes, each other, if you believe Elder Belfer).
Hence, Hunters. Told you. Nothing quite exciting there compared to us Elves!
Hunters, like their bodies, have tiny lifespans. I read a
storybook about how quickly a Hunter dies – a span of just 30 years. That’s
like a blink of an eye compared to the lifespans of 300,000 years for us Elves.
Sure, we also grow up to a height of 30 feet. As a 40,000-year-old kid, I am already
14 feet tall.
Now let me tell you a secret - I am not one of those nice
kids. I mean, I usually am. But I have got a naughty side to me. Which kid
doesn’t, right? So when I was slightly younger, I think around the 25,000-year
mark, I went on a little adventure. Again, which kid doesn’t have his secret tricks?
I remember that evening clearly. Bunky and I were done with
our little play of throwing pebbles in the river. But it was a little earlier
than usual. Bunky was not feeling well so I was left to go home early. But I
didn’t. Instead, I muttered the magical words and stepped out of the Enchanting
Forest.
As luck would have it, I was immediately amidst Hunters. I
was not surrounded by them in a bad way though. They did not attack me. They
kept looking at me – a few had stones in their hands, others had arrows.
Of course, I could simply stomp on them but that’s not what the principle of
Peace suggests. After a brief awkward silence, what caught my eye was something
tinier than the Hunters. A dog. It had a rope made of twigs around its neck with
the other end of the rope in a Hunter’s hand.
I immediately fell in love with the little thing. I bent
lower and began petting his head. The dog turned around a bit – suggesting me
to pet it some more. I immediately picked it up and let its soft head brush
against my cheek. The dog looked at me and we both smiled. The Hunters murmured
something to each other and returned to their business of whatever Hunter-y
things they were doing. I sat down under a tree and kept playing with the dog. This
was so much more fun than throwing stones with Bunky.
The next day, I stepped out of my home earlier than my decided
play time with Bunky. As soon as I reached the river, I jumped into the Hunter
world. It did not disappoint. The Hunters were less surprised than my last visit
and the dog had welcomed me with a wonderful hug. I kept giggling the whole
time!
This continued for a week. On my last visit, the dog sat in
my arms visibly scared. I saw two Hunter groups fighting among themselves.
I looked around to see a few Hunters killed by stone wounds while a few had
arrows stuck in them. The dryer lands made me realize that the Hunters were
fighting over food. When I returned to the Enchanted Forest, I was scared to
return to the Hunter land again. What if they hurt me while they fought?
Sadly, my adventures weren’t to last for long. Bunky and his
mom told my mom that I had stopped coming at the riverside – a sheer lie. I
used to go there but only to step out of the Enchanted Forest to meet the dog. Mom
got a whiff that I was up to something and sealed my magic abilities.
It’s been a few days to that incident though. I have grown
up by 15,000 years and mom trusts me not to take a misstep. So here I am! At
the riverside. Surely, the Hunters wouldn’t mind a visit from me. Surely, I
will just step into their forests, and greet them while they go about with their
stones and arrows. Surely, I will spend some time playing with a Hunter’s dog!
Excitedly, I utter the magic words and step out of the Enchanted
Forest. In such a short time, Hunter’s world has changed quite a lot. It’s hot.
There are very few trees. A huge cart on wheels driven by a Hunter almost runs
over me. I look around for a dog but there aren’t any. I am scared. This isn’t
the adventure I was looking forward to. I mutter the magic words and run back
to the Enchanted Forest. It was a nightmare out there.
