Those Who Dwell in the Forest

"Now then, time for us to begin the final act of the night!"

Silver leaps to his feet and opens one side of his jacket. A pair of pigeons fly out carrying a large sheet of paper, suspending it right within my arm's reach. Mira leans against me to get a better look at the paper as well.

"What is this?"

"A birth certificate, or at least what will become a birth certificate."

"What!?"

The document is dropped into my hands and I frantically read the contents. Sure enough, that's what it says at the top of this thick parchment. The name field is completely blank, but the other general features are filled out. One in particular sticks out as strange.

"Is that…her birthday?"

"Indeed! I got in touch with the local lops and they were fortunately able to confirm a general range of days she may have been born based on her current physical state and the climate conditions at the time."

January 13th. That was the day that Mira came into this world. She may be only about nine months old from a human perspective, but the birth certificate has her listed as being 14 years old. Either my prediction of her age was very accurate or this guy is copying my homework.

Silver brandishes a pen from one of his pockets and hands it to me.

"All that remains is her name. This is the last chance to decide how you want to refer to her."

"Her name, huh…"

"What's there to decide!?"

I flinch as the rabbit tugs against the end of my sleeve with her cheeks puffed out with annoyance at my long pause.

"I'm Mira! Why would I be called anything else?"

She brings her face uncomfortably close to mine as she exclaims. I wasn't strongly humouring the idea of changing her name, but part of me always feels a thorn from continuing to use a name designed for a pet. However, she insists that she likes the name that I've used since her arrival. Now, I really have no choice but to stick with it.

"I guess you're right. Mira will always be Mira."

"Yup! And Noa will always be Noa!"

I can't help but laugh at her joyful smile. Silver allows us to enjoy ourselves for a moment before clearing his throat.

"Her first name was always clear as day. The issue lies with her surname."

"Crap, I forgot about that…"

I would never use it for her, so I had never considered it. Unfortunately, this is something that cannot be ignored.

"What is a surname?"

"Your last name, or family name. Generally something you inherit directly from your parents."

"So Noa has two names?"

"Simply put, yes. You don't have to worry about the second one."

The document stares up at me, patiently waiting for me to fill the gap in its text. Giving her my family name feels strange. It would be like asserting her as a sibling without my parent's permission. I may not particularly mind that structure, but that will tie Mira to our family permanently in that 'role'. Once that role has been established, changing it will be near impossible.

The man across the couch steps down from his stool, or at least where the stool should have been. The simple wooden seat is no longer present.

"If you don't want to give her your name, there is another option."

"Really!?"

My own excitement surprises me. I won't complain if somebody wants to solve my problem for me, but I shouldn't be this excited.

"Indeed! She can simply inherit the name given to those of the same origin."

"Same origin? Like, another rabbit?"

In response, the lights in the room go completely dark. If not for the faint light from the streetlamps outside, I would not have witnessed Silver bathed in a whirlwind of feathers. As the artificial wind recedes, a beam of light illuminates a single point centred on the man in the suit.

The space behind him is soon filled with cutout trees and a bright sunny sky. Flying onto the stage is a small rabbit plushie floating in the air.

"Once upon a time, a young rabbit from the forest found herself turned into a human girl."

A puff of smoke transforms the plushie into a human doll. Silver waves his arms dramatically and another doll joins the scene.

"With no place to call home, she wandered the streets before a boy like yourself stumbled upon the girl and offered a hand. With his help, she came to understand the world she found herself in. They were happy together in their youth. But as we all know, youth doesn't last forever."

Mira grips onto my arm with her entire attention directed towards the performance. She leans forward to catch every word of the narration and feel every motion of the characters.

"The future was taking the no longer young boy far away. He offered to bring the rabbit girl with him, but she declined with tears in her eyes. 'There may be other animals here that will have nowhere to go and can't find a loving home like our's', so she said. Thus, the rabbit chose to stay and watch over the forest. She kept the name given to her by her partner, but became the head of a new family to come."

The dolls disappear from the set, the boy floating off into the distance as the girl disappears into the forest. All that remains are the trees and the sun.

"She took on the name Forrester and still looks out for the wildlife to this day."

A large curtain appears from the sides and closes off the tale. Suddenly, my eyes are blinded by the return of the normal lights. By the time I've adjusted, the curtains, the props, and the emotions are all gone. Mira begins clapping loudly next to me at the conclusion of the brief play, so I decide to join her.

At our applause, Silver removes his hat and bows.

"Thank you! Thank you! It was a pleasure to perform for you all today! Did that provide the answer you desired?"

"One who dwells in the forest, huh?"

"Indeed. She considers herself a kind of mother to all of the animals, so feel no concern in allowing this child to take her name."

"I guess that makes sense."

With pen and paper in hand, I deliberate one more time. This is what Mira is stuck with for likely the rest of her life, so I should think about it at least this much. In the end, I could think of no objections and finally applied ink to the document.

Silver takes back the birth certificate and reads it over multiple times.

"Very well! From this day forward, you shall be known as Mira Forrester!"

"Who? Me?"

The rabbit tilts her head to the side when met with his declaration. I place my hand on her shoulder and nod.

"Yes, you. That's your full name from now on, so make sure to remember it."

"Okay…"

Still confused, Mira lets out a long yawn and rubs her eyes. Before I had realised it, the hour hand of the clock passed 10 o'clock.

"Where did the time go…"

"Time certainly flies when having fun!"

There is somebody here that still seems to have plenty of energy. Fortunately, it doesn't look like he'll be spending it here for much longer.

"I suppose that it is about time that I depart."

He makes the document disappear inside of his jacket and readjusts his hat. After helping Mira into bed, I walk the mysterious man to the door.

"It should only take a day for me to push this document through and you will receive a copy within the coming days."

"There's no way it's that easy to create fake birth certificates…"

"Hahaha! Worry not, Noa! We simply make use of the same avenues available to normal orphan children of this country, albeit with our own flair for the sake of haste! Also, her enrollment into public education should be finalised by Tuesday. I assume you have no objections?"

"No, you're seriously helping out a lot! I'm not sure how to thank you for everything."

Silver steps back out into the concrete and stares into the dark sky. With all of the light pollution, you can't see very many stars, but he still seems to find something amongst the black.

"That one is quite simple."

The light from the room reflects in his amber eyes as he turns to me with a smile.

"Take care of that child. That alone will make us more than grateful."

His back is to me once more as he jumps up and lands cleanly on the balcony rails.

"Until next time!"

With a puff of smoke and a swarm of pigeons, the magician disappears into the night.