The Mysterious Forest part 5

"'Okay, I've got my wish." Here it goes. I hope she doesn't make fun of me for picking the same thing. 

''I wish for the same as you."

''The same what?''

"the same wish as yours."

...

Oh my god, this is not going to end well. Gorge starts to sweat a bit.

"That's a great idea. Truth be told, I also wanted to extend this for longer. Holding the hand of a person that you love feels great."

Love,hmmmm... What is that? I'm curious. Is it similar to one of those things I previously inquired about? I really hope nothing scary happens. Should I ask her once more?

"Gorge, what's up with you tonight? You go quiet for tens of minutes for no reason. Are you getting sleepy already?''

"Nah, I'm good. I'm just braining some stuff."

"Braining stuff?"

"Yeah, you know that thing where you can speak to yourself with your brains? A braining."

"Haha, there you go making up new words again." Laughs Periphirilia

"Hey, that's not funny; that's a good word. Do you think that the night is over already? I haven't heard anything for a while now."

"Maybe, does it even matter? It will be gone by the time we leave this cave."

"Don't you find that a little frightening? Right now, there are probably terrifying monsters all around us."

"Yes, it's most certainly scary, but given how long we've been here, I don't think it will last very long. It should be morning soon."

"How will we even know if it's morning? If we check and it's still night, we might get eaten," says a confused Gorge.

''That's pretty simple; the answer is!- The birds. Birds go away before the night starts and come back when it ends, so when we hear birds chirping, we wait a couple of minutes, and it's definitely going to be safe to come out."

"So what do we just wait for now?" Gorge asks impatiently.

"It shouldn't be that long, likely about half an hour; we've been here pretty long already, and I have felt sleepy for hours now. I think the night will end any time now."

They can barely make out some sounds in the distance.

Is that chirping?

"I think I can hear it now," Says Gorge.

"Really? I don't hear anything."

"It's really quiet. Well, if it is the birds, we will hear them soon."

"You are right," says Periphirilia, relieved.

A couple of minutes have passed.

The sound of birds chipping can be heard clearly all around them.

"I can hear them now, too; since there are so many, it most definitely means it's daytime now."

"Finally, let's open up the entrance. Hey, Periphirilia, help me out."

I hope that huge thing on top of the cave is gone now.

"Hey, help me move the rocks!" Shouts Periphirilia

"On it"

They move the rocks and clear the entrance, but instead of a day, they find a sight more disturbing than the blob monster. A humanoid-looking creature is sitting on a large rock directly before them, illuminated by the moon as it looks at the sky. It has a face that resembles an elephant's and a human's. There are dozen of eyes on its face. On the inside of the skin of its torso, bird heads are protruding all over. They begin chirping when there is a breeze. Periphirilia and Gorge both stand there in complete shock and paralyzed by fear caused by an unexpected sight. The creature looks at them with a longing gaze.

We are most definitely done for now. He thinks.

"Move the rock right now!" After regaining some composure, he yells.

The creature leaps from the rock and begins to move in their direction.

"Hurry!!!" Gorge shouts at Periphirilia yet again. Her hands are shaking, but she complies silently.

The creature was inches away from them as they sealed the passage again.

"Pheww, we made it somehow, haha." Gorge laughs off the scary experience

"Barely. It's too early to celebrate; now we have no idea what time it is or when the day starts. While we could survive a couple of days in this cave, the chances of it working are very low. As more and more monsters keep discovering that we are hiding in here, the chances of the cave getting discovered or overrun increase significantly."

"Hey, your hands are still shaking."

Gorge reaches out and grabs her hand.

"Don't be scared. Remember what you told me when we first met? If you are ever scared, please tell me so that we can face it together. The same applies to you; if you ever get scared, I will face your fears with you. Anyway, what do you think that thing was? It looked really weird even by the standards of this forest."

"Thanks; I did not expect for my promise to be turned around like that. Hmm, I think that the scariest thing about that creature was that it looked oddly intelligent like it was almost human."

"Yeah, I think that one was suspicious too. I hope it doesn't try to get inside."

They both sigh in relief and relax, sitting back while holding hands.

Periphirilia suddenly jumps up.

"Oh, no, I fell asleep. Wait, you too?
Hey, good morning, wake up!"
Gorge slowly opens his eyes.

"Is it a day already?"

"I don't know; we both fell asleep, and I have just woken up."

"I think we should unseal the exit now," Says gorge.

"Yep, help me out," Agrees Periphirilia.

They unseal the exit yet again. Wow, it's so bright.

"Well, at least it's actually day now." Says Gorge

"Looks to be about 10 a.m.; not as early as I had hoped, but still early enough. So let's not waste any time and start working."

More work? I wonder when we will ever get to relax. Thinks Gorge

They start cutting the wood and constructing the raft while surrounded by all the vibrantly colorful daytime animals.

That one looks really weird, thinks Gorge, as he's looking at an animal like a frog with a face resembling that of a pig.

"It looks to be around noon now. Let's get some lunch. The work is going very smoothly. There is a good chance that we might leave today."

"What's for lunch?" Asks Gorge

"On today's menu is...whatever you catch. Good luck. I will keep working while you are looking for food."

That's a great deal, as long as I don't get lost or find something dangerous.

"Okay, I'm going now," Says Gorgre.

Gorge leaves the area.

Okay, I need to find something small and easy to catch. Does something like that even exist? As Gorge keeps walking, he passes by more and more unique creatures. Wow, that squirrel's got bat wings and the face of a rat; it doesn't look very edible. A red snake with tarantula fangs? Ew

Oh, come on, give me something good and defenseless. What the f*** is this? A turtle with the neck and head of a snail. Why? I would honestly just rather die—poor thing. Gorge continues walking while having not-so-nice opinions of the animals he passes. He then finds a small pond. Omg, these small fish are blind and have no fear of me. Wow, I can't believe another wish of mine came true perfectly, just like that.

Well, I have gotten the food. I might as well head back.

Gorge returns to the camp.

Periphirilia wawes to him.

"You won't believe this, but I'm almost done. I have finished repairing the whole in the side, dug sand below the ship to create a small decline, and finished building the raft.
Now all that's left to do is take those two large sticks, put them on the ship's sides, stab the underground of the raft, and push."


"So we're leaving pretty soon, huh?
I have gotten the food."

"Wow, that much? Where did you even get so many fish in the forest?"

"I have caught them by hand, of course; I'm a great fisherman after all."

"Okay, give me them. I'll cook."

Gorge gives her the fish.

Well, she was great last time, so I guess
There are no worries.

"Here you go." Periphirilia gave him his fish.

"Wow, these are so good, even better than last time."

"Thanks," Periphirilia blushes.

"Well, since we have eaten already, back to work, I guess."

"Yeah, honestly, I'm a bit sick of this place already."

"I just want to find the golden carp," Says Gorge.

"Okay, pick up your stick!"

"Done"

"Okay, let's do this. Push the stick under the boat with all our strength."

Yes, it moved. Gorge is getting excited in his mind.

"Keep pushing!"

The ship suddenly slides away from the small mab and declines until it reaches the waters.

"Yes, we did this," Shoyt told both of them.

"Let's high-five," says Periphirilia.

High wut?

They hit their hands.

"Let's go to the ship now; our adventure continues."