Chapter 2: Stories of the Forest

I awoke the next day with the sunlight shining down onto my face. The one benefit of having the jobs I did was that I could set my own schedule. No alarm clock had woken me up for months now. I'd love to tell you here about the nice dream I had, the fantasy of being somewhere magical, but as with all night time dreams as well as daytime ones, the cruel nature of reality striking quickly fades them away as I remembered I had a deadline to meet, and a shelter to find.

"Dandelion?" I said getting up and going to my bed. When I removed the covers however, no sign of the girl could be found.

"Did I dream everything?" I thought to myself. Lying on the ground next to me lay the copy of The Little Prince that I had read aloud the night before.

"Did she leave then? Or maybe I have dormant schizophrenia…"

In any case, the problem of what to do with Dandelion appeared to have resolved itself. I had thought as I began boiling my kettle with water again whether Dandelion really did go back to "Narnia" as she stated.

***clank clank clank***

Suddenly however, a knocking came from my back window door.

Now a little more detail of things in Nothingtown to add some context. Surrounding the borders of the town lay vast mountain ranges that at this time of year during the summer months produced quite nice greenery. Rarely did I find the motivation to bike that far out. The few times I did however, I do recall seeing some large wild animals living within the forest areas of those mountains. Even so, they are only on the edges of Nothingtown and I would estimate that an animal such as say… a moose, would need at least a 3 hour bike ride to see. My estimation however, would appear to be 3 hours off exactly as the truth of the matter was the nearest moose that could be seen was the one knocking on my window with its antlers.

I fell onto the ground shocked by the sight of the creature. Perhaps more shocking however was what was on top of the moose or rather, who was on top of the moose.

"Dan… Dandelion?"

As I said her name, the deadpan faced girl descended off of her moose to knock on my window door herself.

"Kane," I could see her mouthing from behind the glass. Sighing, I got up and opened the door.

"What are you doing?"

"I brought you a friend,"

"A friend? This…"

Before I finished my sentence however, the moose placed its face close to mine and gave out a growl.

"Yes of course! A friend," I quickly added not wanting to anger the moose.

"His name is Roger," Dandelion said giving the moose a pet.

"Is it now…"

In that moment, I suddenly realized that a number of elderly folks on the street outside my apartment were staring at us.

"Is something wrong?" Dandelion asked looking at me puzzled.

"Everything…"

"Would you like to come to Narnia?"

At the question I could see a number of our spectators laugh and whisper amongst themselves.

"Do you have a portal or something?"

Dandelion shook her head."

"How are we getting to Narnia then?"

At the question, Dandelion gave me a small smile and signaled at the moose who suddenly lowered itself allowing Dandelion to get back on its back.

"Get on," she said reaching out her hand. At this, a number of the spectators gasped and a few even started cheering. Well, I would be lying if I said I wasn't excited at the offer.

"Okay…" I said accepting the situation and grabbing Dandelion's hand as she pulled me on top of the moose.

"Back to Narnia," Dandelion said to the moose. As if somehow understanding her words fully, the moose began running.

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Along the path to "Narnia" as Dandelion stated, I had never in my life seen so many eyeballs glare my direction as the moose took Dandelion and I from block to block in Nothingtown. I had never felt that free in a long time. It was as if I were a 5 year old again receiving my first bicycle. The feeling of the wind gently breezing onto my skin felt euphoric. I didn't speak much during the beginning of the journey; the sounds of the moose's trotting likely would have drowned out my voice anyway. Around 2 hours passed before the moose stopped its movement suddenly. At that point, I had been in the middle of a daydream again as one often is when one traverses long distances sitting idle. As my daydream broke, Dandelion suddenly jumped off the moose to speak.

"I'm hungry," she said with the same blank expression. The moose gave out a growl as well as it lowered itself and I hopped off.

"I'm hungry…" the girl repeated, "Do you have any food?"

"Huh…" At this point we had gone past most of the housing areas of Nothingtown and were now in the middle of a road surrendered by trees in all directions. At that moment, I also suddenly realized I had forgotten to bring my wallet on our journey. Not that there appeared to be any places to use it in the near vicinity anyways.

"Okay I have many questions Dandelions," I began ignoring her request. "First off where did you get the moose?"

"Roger, his name is Roger"

"Right… Roger. Where did you get Roger?"

"Narnia,"

"Ah… so there is a portal nearby then?"

"You're silly Kane,"

"How so?"

"Portals don't exist."

"Is that so?" I said slightly disappointed. My stomach let out a growl as I did. Well, no point in asking further questions on an empty stomach I suppose. I had my phone on me at least and I checked my delivery apps to see if there was anything available nearby. In perhaps the biggest miracle of the day so far, there happened to be one restaurant that could deliver to our location.

"Beep bop device," Dandelion said pointing to my phone.

"Uhhh yes… beep bop device,"

Certainly one way to call a smart phone I suppose.

"I hope you like tacos," I said adding my order before handing my phone to Dandelion.

"Seriously though, where are we going exactly? Last I checked there isn't a town named Narnia anywhere."

"Beep bop device broken," Dandelion said ignoring my question and handing me back my phone.

"Huh… but I just got this thing…"

When I looked at the phone again however, it appeared my lock screen had simply reappeared.

"Here you go," I said turning off my auto-turnoff setting and handing my phone back to Dandelion.

"Kane,"

"Yes?"

"I can't read."

"Oh… right," I said taking my phone back, "I'll order you what I'm getting then,"

"Some for Roger as well," Dandelion said petting the moose.

"Oh uhh…"

I looked at my phone noticing the much higher delivery fee for delivering this far out.

"Are you sure Roger will…"

Before I could finish my sentence, the moose went up to my face and gave out another growl.

"He will," Dandelion replied staring at me with a soft smile. Whether it was that smile manipulating my soul or the innate fear of the large forest animal next to me, or most likely a combination of both, I hesitantly added a third order for Roger. Guess I can cross ordering food for a moose off my bucket list now, money be damned.

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Around an hour passed as the three of us patiently waited for the arrival of our meals. Seeing that I would at least be spending the day with Dandelion, I gave an attempt to make further small talk.

"So… what's the weather like in Narnia?"

To every question however, Dandelion either gave a none answer such as, "It's fine," or ignored me completely in favor of wandering off into the trees to explore. Not too different than my experience on dating apps to be honest. Whenever she wandered off too far, I had to remind her that the food would only come to the location we had initially been at. Dandelion would nod her head pretending to understand in that moment following me back before only 5 minutes later wandering off again as I browsed my phone. Luckily, Roger seemed to always stay in place at least.

A full hour of time passed approaching noon before the delivery driver finally came. The look on his face when he saw the moose was priceless.

"I can explain," I said when he approached. Before I had a chance to do so however, Roger went up and grabbed the bag of food from the driver with his teeth.

"Hav… have a nice day," the driver said closing his window and scurrying off quickly. Well, in any case the three of us ate our meals replenishing ourselves before heading off towards "Narnia" again. Only an hour's moose ride away.

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While continuing on our path, we finally reached an exit point of the main road that led to a "trail" in what looked like a forest. I say trail as a formality but perhaps a more proper statement would simply be we entered a forest where Roger simply trotted on the dirt ground between the trees. Still, Dandelion insisted we were going the right way.

As we continued deeper and deeper into the forest, a number of animals from birds to deer and even bears ran across our path. At the sight of the first bear, I nearly had a heart attack and considered running for my life. Dandelion however, calmly gave the bear a friendly wave as if she were waving at a neighbor. The bear growled before exiting our path.

"His name's Todd," Dandelion said as we continued.

"Are you Dr. Doolittle as well?" I asked recalling one of my other favorite childhood books.

"Kane,"

"Yes?"

"You're saying weird things I don't understand again,"

"Right right, please ignore me I am quite weird."

The final obstacle the moose crossed before we arrived at our destination was a log bridge across a creak that seemingly led to an even denser part of the forest. By this point, I had as one often does in situations where they are led into a forest by a homeless girl on a moose, resigned myself to accepting whatever comes without further question.

"We're here," Dandelion said stopping the moose suddenly and getting off.

"Here?"

The spot Dandelion had stopped at appeared to be seemingly no different than every other spot we had trotted past previously. The only deviation perhaps, was the slightly larger tree in the area. Nothing you'd glance at twice though if you passed by.

"Narnia," Dandelion said nonetheless. She waved at Roger who again seemed to understand her telepathically as he trotted away leaving the two of us alone. For a moment, blind optimism filled me again as I thought perhaps Dandelion really is an alien and she simply had a different word for "portal". My excitement was once again crushed however, as Dandelion walked to the other side of the tree sitting down on a patch of grass.

"Is… is this where you sleep at night?"

"When it's warm,"

"Where do you sleep when…"

"Shhhhh" Dandelion interrupted, "later, sit down for now."

I looked at her quite concerned but still sat down next to her anyways when she motioned at me. Her soul stare still had maximum effect. I looked at her as she stared off into the distance at seemingly nothing. We stayed there silent for a moment before I instinctively reached for my phone as one often does in situations where they are unsure what to do and feeling a mixture of boredom and awkwardness.

"No beep bop device," Dandelion said before I could unlock my screen.

"Yes Mistress…" I thought putting my phone away. Dandelion proceeded to go back to staring into the distance at seemingly nothing at all. Seeing nothing better to do, I did the same.

At first my mind filled with intrusive thoughts of my personal problems again. What am I doing goofing off with a stranger when I have a deadline in 4 days? Not to mention a whole day not earning any income but spending half a day's salary on one meal. At any moment, I felt I was going to stand up and call a cab home returning to normal life. But seeing Dandelion calmly sit there staring at seemingly nothing, something within stopped me from doing so.

Instead I attempted to imitate the girl trying to see where exactly she stared at. At first glance, it just looked like another patch of grass and a few trees, the most ordinary of ordinary things in a forest. As I looked closer though, I could see on the ground a colony of ants. They seemed to be carrying with them scraps of fruits that likely grew in the area. In other words, still nothing of significance to me.

But then another thought entered my mind. While to me this might have been completely insignificant, what if this day happened to be the greatest day in one of those ants' life? Perhaps one ant had been the one to discover the fruit scraps and now when he returned home, he would be reined in as a hero. Or perhaps for the whole colony, it had been the most significant of days as perhaps the food supply had depleted completely and the finding of the food scraps would be enough to prevent mass starvation and save countless lives. For the first time in weeks, stories began forming in my mind.

We sat there in silence for around an hour as my mind continued to formulate random narratives. Occasionally another animal would come across our path where my train of thought would shift to that animal instead. By the end of the hour, the troubles and worries I had previously faded into the back of my mind completely. The silence finally broke when Dandelion suddenly moved from her spot to get up and stare at me again.

"Kane,"

"Yes?"

"I'm thirsty,"

"Yes well I'll wave my magic wand and conjure you a water bottle then!"

"You're silly Kane,"

"How so?"

"Magic's not real."

"Ahh… true, silly me."

She began walking back the direction we had originally come from. Not really wanting to be stranded alone, I followed. A short while later, we arrived at the creek we had passed on our way here. Without any hesitation, she cupped her hands and reached into the creak scooping out some water and giving it a drink.

"Is… is that safe?" I asked going up to examine the water. It did seem at least somewhat clear and clean, as clean as a creek could possibly be in the middle of the woods at least."

"It is, it wouldn't be Narnia if it wasn't"

"Standards of living in fantasy lands have gone down I see."

"Kane…"

"Sorry just being weird and silly again,"

"Try some,"

"Ah well…"

Those same enchanting eyes stared at me again right in the soul. Level 99 persuasion I swear. Hesitantly, I lowered my body and scooped out a bit of the water with my hands giving it a drink.

"Not bad… certainly better than I expected"

Dandelion nodded her head approvingly. She then squatted down next to the creek and placed her hand in to feel the stream. Not really sure what to do in such a situation, I decided perhaps now was a good time to ask some questions.

"So… why is this place called Narnia?"

"Mama told me anywhere I stay at is Narnia,"

"Is that so…"

Theories began to formulate inside my head. Perhaps her parents were CS Lewis fans who used Narnia as a sort of euphemism of living homeless.

"Right… and where is your mother?"

At the question, a sad expression showed on Dandelion's face.

"But of course… if you don't want to answer that's okay too! I'm not one to pry, I was just wondering…"

"She's dead," Dandelion replied plainly and simply. No euphemism this time such as "she's passed" or "she's with the angels now". She stated plainly and simply the words "she's dead."

"Oh… I'm sor…"

"Papa too."

"I'm… I'm sorry to hear that Dandelion."

"It's okay," Dandelion said, a smile for some reason now forming on her face.

"They're in Narnia too."

We stood there in silence again as I looked down at the creek.

"I should call my parents when I get back…" I thought. It really had been too long at this point, 2 months had passed since I last did. Still, at the least I could be thankful they were in perfectly good health. I couldn't imagine how Dandelion felt. But even more so, I couldn't imagine how she ended up living in the woods by herself. Surely a shelter would have taken her in at some point. Did she live this way by choice? Despite all that though, as she gently continued to run her hand through the stream, I could see her smile, a calming smile that calmed me as well. Not really wanting to press her further, I sat down next to her to feel the current as well.

Much like at the tree, we stayed there still just feeling the current and observing the various fish that swam down our path. As we did, once again, stories began to form in my mind of each fish that passed. Perhaps one of the fish was celebrating their birthday today and he and his little fish homies were going to have a party later. Another 30 minutes passed before Dandelion stood up again and looked at me.

"Kane,"

"Yes?"

"There's something I need to tell you."

"Yes?"

A cold sweat ran down my neck in anticipation of what Dandelion was about to say. She stared at me with the same blank expression she had always worn. It had been quite late in the day now as the sun was beginning to set.

"I don't think you're going to like hearing this though…"

"Yes…?"

The silence continued for a few moments as I gulped. Did I make a mistake coming here? Was this the part where Dandelion revealed herself to be a witch, or perhaps a criminal? A government spy maybe? It was in that moment that I realized as well I had no idea how to get home, and if the sun were to set, I would be stuck trying to leave the woods in the dark… surrounded by wild animals. I considered bolting right there and then too.

"Kane…"

"Yes?!?!"

"Kane,"

"Yes!?!? What is it Dandelion you're starting to scar…"

"I'm hungry."

"…"

"Do you have food?"

"…"

"Do you have…"

"I heard you the first time!"

I raised my voice at the response and Dandelion appeared slightly frightened taking a step back.

"Sor… sorry I didn't…"

"No no it's okay it's okay," I said lowering my voice again upon seeing this. "Okay okay… I can make food for you again when we get back home. Can you ask Roger to…"

Wait a minute… I paused before continuing. Did I just invite a homeless girl to stay at my apartment for a second day?

Dandelion however shook her head.

"I can't, Roger lives with his family at night."

"Then how are we getting ba… we're walking aren't we."

"…"

"…"

"Don't worry I know the way," Dandelion said beginning to walk back the direction we came. I sighed as I began to follow her. Two options I suppose, either spend the next 5 hours walking the entire distance back, or tank a heavy bill and call a cab service to come. Neither seemed particularly appealing. As we exited the forest back onto the main road however, Dandelion turned to me again.

"Kane,"

"Yes I already know you're hungry, we can maybe stop by a restaurant or something on the way if we find one but until then…"

"I had fun today,"

A small smile showed on her face again. The same smile she had while by the creek as she gently ran her hand along the water. This time however, instead of staring at the creek, her smile and eyes were directed fully on me. I couldn't help but blush a little at the sight.

"Oh uhh," I stammered trying to find words, "I… had fun too."

Well, maybe the long walk back wouldn't be so bad after all.