The
Formidable
Forest
A short story
Written by Aathmika
“Julie….Earth to Julie!!” I woke up
to the sound of my teacher
screaming at me.
“Yes Miss Honey”
One stormy night, my family and I
finished supper, and soon it was
time for bed. I was very sleepy
and exhausted today because of
the hard work I have been doing.
I walked into my bedroom and my
mother tucked me up with my
cozy blanket. And soon I fell
asleep….
A spark of light flashed across my
eyes and I found myself within
a dark forest and I couldn’t find
anything except trees. I found a
pathway where it was raining
heavily. I first hesitated to take it
but I soon came over my fear and
decided to go in with confidence.
“Ugh!! It’s raining cats and dogs
here!”
To my surprise, the rain stopped
and cats and dogs started falling
from the sky!
I was scared if a black cat would
cross my path…(I am very
superstitious)
“Aaaaa!!!”
Well, to my surprise, a black cat
was standing inches away from
me.
“I shall help you”, said a voice.
Who was that? I first wondered
whether I can believe that
mysterious voice but getting out
of this forest was my priority.
“Think no more. I shall light your
merry way out of here.”
I thought for some time and
decided that I should follow it.
“Lead the way”
“But you have to answer the
questions which I ask you. If you
clear your task successfully, then
I shall lead you to your home. Do
you agree?”
“Alright”
“You have three lives”.
“Here is your first question: What
is full of holes but still holds
water?”
“Um…. A sponge?”, I said
doubtfully.
“Right!” the voice said.
Answering the first question
calmed my nerves and I gushed!
“Second question: What is always
in the front but can’t be seen?”
“ The Sun”, I said.
“Wrong! It is the future. You have
lost one life.”, It said.
It made my heart race out of my
chest and got me thinking
whether I was ever going to get
out of here.
Before asking the third question,
the voice gave me a choice to
find the way home instantly
without answering the remaining
questions for a favor in return.
I was excited with confusion,
wondering what would be the
favor. I was not sure to say yes or
no to it. After a deep thought, I
responded.
“I would take up your choice
depending upon your favor."
“That was smart of you. Your
path will be shown within a blink
of your eyes if you could put any
one of your family members to
answer the remaining questions.”
There was no way I was going to
do that. I was so frustrated that
my brain and thoughts were
muttering to my soul “If I could
only see the voice, I would kill it
instantly.” As this thought was
running in my mind, I was muted
for a few minutes. Suddenly the
voice gruffed.
“You cannot take so much time to
decide.”
“I will find my way by answering
your questions,”
“Hm…a bit disappointing. Then
again, I appreciate your
audacity .”
“Third question: What gets wet
while drying?”
“A towel!”, I said confidently.
“Right!”, it said.
As the voice moved on to the
fourth question, I could sense the
sweat on my forehead falling
across my eyes. My palms were
closed with my fingers folded
sweating inside.
“Fourth question: What can fill a
whole room but does not take up
space?”
My brain was saying “Oh no! I
don’t know the answer for this,
but closing my eyes I responded,
hoping that my guess could be
correct.
“Is it gas?”
“No. It is light. Gas does take up
space. You have only one more
life left.”, It said with a
threatening smile.
That made me cry within and not
let it know to the voice.
Motivating myself that I have got
one more life to find the way
home.
The wicked voice once again
came up with a choice. I asked
what it was, knowing that it would
not be helpful since it is from an
inconsiderate person(or whatever
that thing was).
“You can let the person whom
you hate the most take up the
last question.”
Without any second thought, I
agreed.
“Okay.”
“Who is it?”
“You should not back off.”
“Certainly not.”
With a huge relief and a sense of
light in the dark tunnel, I
responded.
“It is you.”
“What?!”
It was a chance for me to laugh.
“No backing off from your
promise.”
“I am no good to keep up my
promise after what I have done.”
Now this action of the voice
creates doubts and fears in my
mind, thinking that even if I give
three answers correctly, the voice
will not help me get home.
Fearing this, I started running as
fast as I could to the chase of the
voice following me.
“I will not let you go or find a way
home.”
As the voice became louder and
louder, I was running gasping for
my breath searching for the way
home. For a moment, I turned
back without stopping my
running, to look for the voice. I
tripped over a stone and fainted.
After a few hours, I could hear
someone tapping to wake me up
somewhere deep in my mind.
With a lot of fear and shock, I
gave out a frustrated response
“You moron voice, I shall answer
the last question!”
As I was saying this, my eyes
were closed and my mother
shook my shoulders.
“What happened?”
I was surprised to see my mother
before me. I pinched myself to
check whether I was dreaming.
Then I concluded that I was just
dreaming.
My mother patted me and asked,
“What happened?”
“Nothing,” I said.
The next morning, it was time to
go to school. I entered the bus
and I heard my friend asking
someone, “Here is your last
question: What has a head and a
tail but nobody?”
“I know! It is a coin! Am I right?”,
I said not knowing that the
question was asked to someone
else.
Then I heard a voice just like the
demon’s, but nobody talked.
The voice said, “It was very nice
of you to not put any of your
family members in danger. I
appreciate your bravery.”
IS THE VOICE REAL?
IT IS A MYSTERY……
The End
