Hurry, hurry now - far away into the night - adventure awaits

"Mom, I really tried, I really really tried!" I pleaded. I had gotten a D- on an important math test.

"Then why did you fail?!" shouted my mom Paula.

She got up from her chair and slammed her fist on the table.

"If only you weren't so bad at everything, you could actually accomplish something!"

I tried to choke back my tears, but a few still escaped.

"You think just trying will get you anywhere!?" Mom yelled again while glaring at me.

"There are no participation awards in life, no one will thank you for just trying!"

I wiped away some of my tears. Mom got up and turned her back, massaging her temples.

The clock was ticking anxiously in the background. I lowered my head, clasping my hands over it in an effort to drown out the sound.

I stood up in a huff, still lowering my head, watching the table and my legs.

"Well, maybe I don't care whether I succeed or not!" I tried to muster with my shaking voice.

Mom just scoffed and turned to look at me, brows furrowed: "Don't be ridiculous!"

This time I looked up, straight into her scrutinising eyes: "Maybe there are other things that matter more in life?"

She snorted a short laugh "Like what?"

I looked down again. I hadn't really thought of this yet.

"Well-"

"Well what? Love?" she barked "Love isn't going to pay your bills!" She rolled her eyes.

But maybe someone will love me in the end? Like in my books. Mom doesn't love me. But I wouldn't have been born if I had absolutely no chance.

I looked up, meeting my mom's burning look. I felt rage bubbling up inside me, after all this time.

"At least I would be happy!"

Mom stared at me in disbelief. She slapped me across the face.

"You will be happy when you have food to eat and a roof over your head, you idiot girl!"

I lowered my head, bringing a hand to my now stinging cheek. This had happened several times before.

"You need to be succesful in order to survive!" Mom yelled again, her voice rumbling with anger.

I couldn't hold back the tears this time. I bit my lip and balled my hands in fists to try and surpress them. Anger replaced sadness.

I pushed my chair back and quickly stomped to the corridor.

"Where do you think you're going?" Mom shouted, turning to look at me.

I didn't even flinch this time. I quickly grabbed my shoes and ran out the front door.

I could hear mom walking towards me. I looked back to check if she had followed me outside.

Thankfully, she just pulled the door shut.

I slowed my pace, setting course for the train station.

It was a warm May night. The sun had already set, but it was still a bit bright. The sound of grasshoppers echoed throughout the neighbourhood.

Walking down the road, I kicked a rock around. 

Snapping from anger like that wasn't common for me. It had only happened a few times before, mostly when I was boiling over from stress and sensory overload.

The train station was only a ten minute walk away from home. Upon arriving, I checked the timetable. 

The next train was coming in just seven minutes. I sat down for the time being, letting out a huge sigh I didn't know I had been holding in.

I would be making my way to the Ikimori forest. It was one of my favourite spots: an abundance of green, oxygen producing plants and lack of other people. The perfect place for calming down or breaking down, depending on the day.

Sitting on the bench, I managed to cool down a little. I zoned out, staring at the train tracks, getting a slight break from my thoughts.

I hadn't realised how long I had stared at the tracks until the train arrived. Did I even blink?

As expected from a Thursday night, the train was almost empty, save for some salarymen heading home from working overtime. 

I took a seat on the right side. It had a view of rice fields and some mountains in the distance. A much preferrable sight to the left, which was filled with houses upon houses upon houses.

I never willingly sat on the left, staring at something like that, knowing how many people were cramped in there in their copy-paste houses. It gave me jitters. 

Most days going to and coming home from school I didn't have the luxury of choice. It was either the left or standing up for 45 minutes. Standing up on the train always made me nauseous, as if the amount of people suffocating me wasn't bad enough. I usually played Tetris on my phone to help take my mind off it.

Luckily not many people travel this late at night. I leaned my head on the cold window, staring out at the distance. 

Bad thoughts came back to haunt me.

I should have been able to do it.

Why do I have to be so stupid?

Why do I even try if I always fail and let everyone down in the end?

Lost in my mind, I almost missed my stop. Luckily I heard the doors open and jumped out. 

Going through the pedestrian tunnel, I turned left to head to the forest trail. It was well hidden, as it wasn't paved nor used much.

I saw it one morning on my way to school when I had to sit on the left. I forgot to charge my phone during the night and couldn't play Tetris, which meant I had to look outside to avoid other peoples' gazes. Mom got mad and hit me that day for not answering her call.

Crossing the entrance border of tall trees, I looked down at my feet. The road could fit two people, or one with a large personal space bubble.

The trail was just a narrow gap inbetween tall trees and bushes. It really made you feel small. The forest floor was filled with blueberry bushes, although they weren't in season yet.

I grunted and furrowed my brows.

"I don't care about your stupid achievements or your stupid success!" I muttered angrily under my breath. 

Unbeknownst to me then, there was a pale boy with long blond hair walking backwards infront of me.  At the time, I couldn't see him yet.

"So what if I end up someone meaningless or even a bum on the street?"

He was making silly faces, pulling his cheeks and blowing raspberries.

"Ugh!" I was sucked into the flood of emotions.

Not being able to pay attention, I tripped on a tree root, falling flat on my face.

A very loud bang echoed.

For a few seconds I laid there, almost knocked out from the huge boom.

I opened my eyes slowly, just a little bit. It was warmer than before.

I blinked twice. I raised my head to look down. I was laying on top of a boy. 

I squealed, then nearly took flight jumping away from him, to a safe distance.

Still kneeling on the ground, I stared at him with fear. No one had been in the forest with me just a moment ago, I was sure of it. 

Fear turned into worry, as I realised that he was not moving or waking up.

"Hey!" 

I scooted a bit closer to him.

"Hello?" I said now, louder.

Still no response. Panic started to set in.

I crawled up next to him and put my hand on his chest to try and shake him awake.

"Hey wake up!"

He didn't seem to be dead, as I could feel him breathing, with his chest rising and falling. 

I shook him more violently now, with both hands.

"Wake up!"

I rose up on my knees and looked around to see if anyone else was there.

"Help! Somebody!" I yelled out into the woods, even though it was empty besides us two.

The boy winced slightly.

"Somebody? Please!" Maybe someone will still hear?

The boy squinched his eyes and groaned audibly. Noticing this, I turned to him and sat back down.

"Hey, are you okay?" I asked, genuinely worried. He brought his hand to brush hair away from his face and rub his eye, seemingly not noticing me.

I reached out to lay a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey-"

He suddenly sat up and scooted away, staring right at me.

"Are you okay?" I wasn't sure if he understood what I was saying. He didn't look like a local with his light blond hair and almost ghostly pale skin. 

"You can see me?" he asked out of the blue, like he was afraid of me.

"Well yes-" I answered unsurely. What the hell is going on?

I saw pure, unadulterated fear run across his face. You could almost feel his aura change in the air.

"Oh no." he breathed, scooting even further.

"Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no-" he kept muttering as he shot up and ran away, faster than I could even react.

I sat there on the ground, staring at the direction he went in. He ran down the road and then lept into the trees.

I was really, really confused. 

He appeared out of thin air? Why was I laying ontop of him?!

I shook my head to try and get rid of some of the worry. I looked around the forest. It was the same, apart from me now sitting on the ground.

Whatever just happened, I had to keep on going along my trail if I was to get back. Mom would hopefully have calmed down by then too.

This was the first time I had ever talked back to her. Or ran away from home like that.

She often goes on business trips, which means I can relax some. Well, relax is a bit much, but at least she wouldn't be breathing straight down my neck. Those times, I could freely come here and enjoy nature or read my books without being disturbed.

I sighed and got up from the ground. I tried to wipe the dirt off of myself. Mom would always get very mad if I stained my clothes, saying I can't be so reckless with my things. Well, it's not like I choose to stumble or be kicked to the ground.

I looked around again. Nothing.

I suddenly heard bushes rustling behind me. I know wild animals roam around the forest. I froze in fear.

The rustling stopped, being replaced by fast-approaching footsteps and heavy breathing. 

I still couldn't move. I thought I was going to pee myself.

I felt something grab my wrist and tug me forward. 

I shrieked and almost fell again.

"Come on!"

It was the boy from before. He kept pulling me and running. 

I was too stunned to speak. I couldn't help but go along with him. 

I noticed there was yelling in the distance. It was growing slightly louder.

I now saw that he had a lot of hair. He seemed to have a ponytail that was folded up several times, probably to keep him from having it get stuck everywhere.

He abruptly jerked me to the right. I screaked and went airborne for a few moments, but was forced to run again, since he was not stopping.

We were now sprinting through bushes and shrubbery. Branches were scratching my exposed ankles.

We neared a small drop. He skillfully slid down and ducked behind the hill, while I just fell flat on my butt.

"What the hell?" I yelled. It hurt.

He tried to shush me, but I really wasn't feeling it.

"What the hell is going on!?" I yelled again.

He grunted and grabbed me in his arms, slapping his hand over my mouth. He sat back down behind the hill, peeking over it.

I tried to wrestle myself out of his grip. My cries were muffled by his hand. He was squeezing me painfully tightly. He hardly budged from my thrashing.

"Just shut up for now!" he snapped at me. I was taken aback by the strong urgency in his voice. I decided to accept my fate. For now.

We were quite deep into the forest. You couldn't see the trail anymore. It was dark. I could feel fog condensating on my body. 

My captor suddenly took an unexpectedly deep breath, and held it. He was really tense.

After a good 30 seconds, he loudly let it out. I could feel his grip loosen.

"I think we're okay for now," he sighed in relief.

I didn't really understand what was going on, but I definitely felt better now that he wasn't tugging me across a forest or squeezing me to death.

"I'll let you go, but you can't yell." he said to me. Those words were seeping with silent aggressiveness. He was not joking around.

I nodded as much as I could in his hold.

"You'd better." 

He softened his grip and I instantly jumped out of it. I wasn't really a fan of stuff like that. I like my space. I took a big breath in relief.

"Can you tell me now what the heck is going on?" I whisper-yelled to him.

"You're not supposed to see me." he spoke calmly.

He could definitely see the cluelessness plastered all over my face.

"You are a human. I am a forest spirit."