Remember...
[indent]The first thing I remembered, I was lying face up on the ground, completely disoriented. And wet. At first I went numb, thinking that I had…well, you know. I sat up so fast that the blood rushed to my head, making me feel dizzy as I looked around in awe at my surroundings. I was in the middle of a wood, the trees just beginning to lose their leaves, the dead leaves that littered the ground laced with frost. And my pants were wet because I was sitting in the middle of a stream. But more importantly, I was in the middle of the woods. “How the hell did I get here?” I said out loud, my breath coming out in steamy clouds.
[indent]Apparently, I wasn’t alone in the woods. I heard a gasp and turned my head to see someone standing nearby, dressed in a bright red cloak with the hood drawn. She dropped the wood she had been gathering and rushed over toward me. I scrambled to my feet, glad to get out of the water that was slowly soaking through my clothing. I stood there shivering violently as the woman came to my side. I noticed that she was young, pretty, and seemed genuinely concerned about me although she couldn’t have known who I was. And I was probably on her property, too.
[indent] “Oh, sweetheart, what are you doing out here in the woods all by yourself?” she cried, undoing the cloak and throwing it around my shoulders. “Come inside. I’m not leaving you out here alone.” She gently pushed me towards the house, holding the cloak to make sure it didn’t slide off my shivering body. I was too cold and confused by the situation to object.
[indent]As soon as the door opened, I was drawn in by a wave of warm air followed by the aroma of freshly baked bread. I practically floated inside, mouth watering. She sat me down forcibly at the table and fussed over me for a few moments before hurrying off toward another part of the cottage. “The soup will be just a few minutes,” she promised, disappearing into the kitchen. I took the cloak and sort of folded it before laying it down on the table next to an empty wicker basket. The strangest thing was that this woman somehow seemed familiar, as if I had known her my whole life. I bit my lip at the thought. It was ridiculous. I had never seen her before, so why did I seem to think we had somehow met?
[indent]I jumped as someone pounded against the door so hard that dust floated off the top and drifted into the beams of sunlight shining through the cracks. Whoever was at the door finally turned the handle and it opened, swinging softly on its hinges. Into the room stepped the most frightening person I’d ever seen: a huge man cut like a lumberjack, his face a wild tangle of hair and beard, carrying an axe that looked recently sharpened. It took only a few moments for our eyes to lock. Confusion flashed across his watery blue eyes, quickly replaced by anger. “You have three seconds to tell me who the hell you are, and why you’re in my house.”
[indent]The woman appeared in the kitchen doorway and frowned at the giant of a man. “Oh, honey, don’t be so hard on him. I found him in the woods all alone, poor thing. He’s our guest, okay?” The man glared at me, and I tried to smile harmlessly, but it turned into more of a grimace of fear. He snorted and shuffled toward the fireplace, but he didn’t argue with the woman who I assumed was his wife. An odd couple if I ever saw one.
[indent]There was an uncomfortable silence for several minutes, and I was trying to decide how to start a conversation when the silence was rent by the sound of a wolf’s howl. It was low and eerie, and it sounded uncomfortably close. Almost as if it was right outside the door. The chair near the fire groaned and complained as the giant of a man shifted his weight, almost as if he was uncomfortable, and I realized that he hadn’t released his grip on the handle of the axe since he walked in. There was a sound of scratching and whimpering at the door, and then suddenly the handle began to turn. The lumberjack started toward the door when it burst open, and five of the biggest, most terrifying wolves I had ever seen crowded into the room. Their hackles were raised, and they glared at the lumberjack, who brandished his axe threateningly at them.
[indent] “Beasts, how dare you trespass in my home!” he roared. “What do you want?”
[indent] “You know what we want. Where is the blood tithe that you owe us, for the death of our kin?” one of the wolves growled. His eyes settled on me shivering at the table, and his lip curled into a snarl. “This boy will do.” He started toward me, but the lumberjack moved into his path.
[indent] “Here it is,” he said, throwing a deer that was slung to his back on the ground at the wolf’s paws. Strange how I hadn’t noticed it before. “You have what you came for. Leave before I owe you another yearly tithe. NOW!” he bellowed. The wolf glared at him for moment, but then sank his teeth into the carcass and dragged it toward the open door.
[indent]The woman suddenly appeared behind me and ushered me away toward the kitchen. For some reason my mind wasn’t registering anything. None of this made any sense. Was it all a dream? But how could it be a dream?! I could feel my wet clothes chafing my skin, and I could smell the aroma of bread mingling with the lingering scent of rotting decay. Dreams weren’t this realistic. But if it wasn’t a dream, what the hell was going on?
[indent]I didn’t even realize we were in the kitchen until the woman started talking to me. “Look, sweetheart, I’m going to take you into town to get a room at the inn, okay? It’s not that you’re not welcome here, but I think you would be more…well, comfortable in town. It can be dangerous out here in the woods.” By the way she bit her lip and glanced out the doorway to where her husband was standing in the front room, I knew that there was something she wasn’t telling me.
[indent] “You…you’re Little Red Riding Hood, aren’t you?” I said weakly. I couldn’t believe this was happening. How could this be happening? She wasn’t supposed to exist, and yet here she was, standing in front of me.
[indent]She winced slightly at the question. “Some people still call me that, yes. I usually go by Red now, sweetie. Come, we need to get you into town before nightfall.” Someone cleared their throat loudly nearby, and I turned to see the lumberjack standing in the doorway.
[indent] “I’ll take him, Red. I don’t want you outside when the wolves about,” he said with remarkable gentleness. “Come on, boy,” he said, roughly grabbing me around the arm and dragging me toward the door. “Red, lock the door behind us. Don’t open it for anyone until tomorrow morning.”
[indent] “What are you staring at?” the lumberjack snarled at me as I gawked at nearly everyone who passed us on the street.
[indent] “I’m not staring,” I muttered, eyes locked on a hook-handed man who was passed out drunk on the street, surrounded by a swarm of fairies. I mean, insects. Fairies don’t exist. “I don’t believe in fairies,” I murmured under my breath. Almost immediately, one of the insects screamed and plummeted to the street below.
[indent] “What was that?” the man asked.
[indent] “N-nothing.”
[indent]The lumberjack grunted but didn’t question me any further. He mumbled under his breath as I continued to stare, this time at a boy with skin that had the same texture as wood. The boy grinned at me and made an obscene gesture before disappearing into a tavern.
[indent] “What’s your name, boy?” I jumped, startled by the sudden question.
[indent] “Um…it’s Peter.”
[indent] “Here it is,” the lumberjack growled, grabbing my arm and pushing me toward the door of a nearby building.
[indent] “Um, the ‘The Mother Goose’?” I cocked an eyebrow at the sign overhead that displayed the old Inn’s name.
[indent] “Be respectful, boy. This Inn has stood here for longer than most of us can remember.” I hardly heard what he said, too busy watching somebody throw a goose out the window and wondering if they were trying to be ironic. Then, I heard someone sobbing and looked around, trying to figure out who it was. To my surprise, I figured out that the sound was coming from the goose!
[indent] “Um…are you alright?” I asked uncertainly, walking to the goose’s side. It lifted its head, and I noticed the black markings around its eyes and beak. Not a goose then, but a swan. Its feathers were a creamy white, beautiful although they were ruffled. It turned to look at me, head held high, regally even.
[indent] “You condescend yourself to speak with me, human?” the swan spat, snapping her beak angrily. “If not for this curse, you would not speak thus, for I would not allow such a peasant to address me. Know you not that I am royalty?”
[indent] “I was just trying to be nice…” I felt a heavy hand on my shoulder and looked up to see the monstrous figure of the lumberjack looming overhead. But this time, his glare wasn’t directed at me.
[indent] “Jack, you miserable beast slayer!” the swan honked. “Come no closer, fiend! I bid you adieu, peasant.” With that, she ruffled up her feathers and waddled away, honking loudly to anyone who would listen.
[indent] “Beasts, they’re all the same. You can’t trust any of them…even the most beautiful.” He shook his head, and before I could ask any questions, disappeared into the Inn. I hurried after him, confused by what had just happened. I wanted some answers.
[indent] “Umm…Jack?” I said, borrowing the name that I heard the swan use.
[indent] “What do you want, boy?” The lumberjack was talking to the innkeeper, apparently trying to get me a room. It seemed like he wanted to get rid of me fast.
[indent] “N-never mind…” So much for getting some answers.
[indent]The lumberjack named Jack grumbled and turned back toward the innkeeper. While he was distracted, I fidgeted for a moment before finally deciding to sneak away. I had to figure out where I was, and how I had gotten here. The people sitting around the inn’s lobby were all so strange, but at the same time familiar in some way. I couldn’t understand it. Unless…
[indent] “Do you need some help, sir?” a voice purred. I looked around to find the voice, but there was nobody in sight. “Down here,” the voice said, and I felt a tug on my pant leg. It was a tabby cat with bright orange fur, wearing a pair of cracked leather boots. With the day I had been having, I wasn’t even surprised to see it.
[indent] “Oh! You’re not from around here, are you?” And then the presence was looming over my shoulder again. Why wouldn’t he let me talk to anyone without seeming to threaten us both? I was starting to dislike the man, although I still hardly knew who he was.
[indent] “Mind your own business, Puss.” The cat gave an incensed flick of its tail before clunking away in its heavy boots. “I can’t stand beasts that try to act human,” the lumberjack snorted once the cat was out of earshot. “Beasts are what they are, and that’s all they’ll ever be.” He put his hand on my shoulder, but I angrily shrugged it off, to the surprise of us both.
[indent] “I’ve…I’ve had enough!” I shouted, turning around to face the stunned lumberjack. “Why does everyone treat the animals here so bad? Where I come from, animals don’t even talk, and we treat them…better…” The moment the words came out of my mouth, I knew that they weren’t true. Where I came from, animals were always being found in inhumane conditions. But of course I had jumped to conclusions and started to blame others, just like I always did. I never felt so ashamed and confused at the same time.
[indent] “Look here, boy. You’re right.”
[indent] “No, I want…I am?”
[indent] “Yes, I should have told you everything from the start. How could I expect you to trust me otherwise?” The giant of a man sank into one of the lobby’s empty chairs, while I stood there, completely bewildered. “I’ve always had an uneasy relationship with mother nature. In my youth, I used to be famous for slaying giants. Jack the Giant Killer, they called me. I murdered giants in horrible ways, yet I was regarded as a hero. Even after I retired and became a simple lumberjack, I couldn’t escape from who I am. I saved Red from a wolf, but in order to do so, I had to kill the wolf myself. And for that death, I owe his kin a blood tithe every year to repay the blood I spilled. It is fortunate for me that the giants don’t ask the same.”
[indent]I stood there, finally understanding who this man was. I felt slightly sick, but at the same time I understood that he felt remorse over what he had done. But, that didn’t excuse him from how he treated nature. I was about to say something scathing when there was a pounding at the door, and the sound of a wolf’s howl. And then, the door burst open wide and once again, I found myself face to face with a snarling pack of wolves. Only this time, they seemed to be howling in distress and pain rather than anger.
[indent] “You murdered the rest of our pack! The meat you gave us was poisoned!” the lead wolf howled. “We take all the blood in this village as payment,” he barked angrily, “starting with your wife.” Suddenly, my blood ran cold as there was a shrill scream from somewhere far off. No…
[indent] “NO!” The lumberjack raised his axe and lunged toward the wolves, swinging the axe like a madman. It came down on one of the chairs, splitting it in two. The room was suddenly filled with the sound of screams and chairs scraping on the floor as everyone panicked at once. Terrified, I flung myself under one of the tables to hide. The lead wolf and the lumberjack charged at one another, and I knew that they were going to kill each other.
[indent]The wolf flung itself at Jack, knocking the axe out of his grip and sending them both reeling to the floor. They struggled for a moment, but finally the monstrous wolf managed to pin the man to the ground. He laughed horribly in triumph, drool hanging from his lower lip and teeth gleaming, ready to strike the final blow and rip out the man’s throat. And then, the wolf shrieked once and fell over dead, an axe buried into its shoulders.
[indent]I staggered back, hardly sure what I had done. One second, the axe had been on the floor, and the next it was in my hands. I had killed that wolf with hardly a second thought.
[indent]The lumberjack groaned and pushed the dead wolf off of his body. “Get out of here!” It wasn’t his voice screaming at the remaining wolves, but my own, a brave new voice that I hardly recognized. The wolves tucked their tails between their legs and ran out the door, howling and whimpering. And once again, I felt a hand on my shoulder. But this time, I wasn’t afraid.
[indent] “Well done, boy. You’ll be remembered now, just like the rest of us. They’ll remember your name.” And I knew that he was right.
***
[indent]The man finishes reading the journal that he had written the entry in twenty years earlier. He reflects on how fortunate it was that he thought to write down the memories before they disappeared altogether. This place tends to distort memories, so that everyone who comes from that place forgets where they were from. This is now and forever their home, but they will be remembered by those who still reside in that place. Only a few will still remember who they once were. They will remember that place where animals stayed silent, where magic was only a myth and where only small children believed in happy endings. Most of them will forget. But they will be remembered.
[indent]He smiles as he closes the journal, whose memories have long since fled from his mind. A young woman smiles back at him from where she is sipping cocoa in his favorite chair. “Thank you for inviting me into your house, sir! It’s so cold out there…and I have no idea how I ended up in the middle of the woods!” He laughs at this, but his laugh is slightly strained. Soon the wolves will come, the first test she will face in this other place. Already he can hear them scratching at the door, whining for blood. But she will pass the test, just as he did. He knows it. “Pardon me, sir, but you look so familiar…”
