The Lure of the Unseen
The stone in my pocket felt warm, like it was telling me to think about the dark edge of the Blackwood again.
The villagers were even more scared after the stories at the market and the loud thumping sound last night.
They should have made me stay safe in Oakhaven.
But I felt something stronger than fear pulling me towards the trees.
I really wanted to know what was there.
Every day, after I finished my chores and Mom was resting, I just walked to the edge of the forest.
It felt like my feet knew the way.
My senses were ready to smell and hear the quiet sounds from under the trees.
The air by the trees was different.
It was cooler and smelled like pine needles, wet dirt, and sweet flowers I couldn't see.
It was a mix of smells, like the forest was breathing and telling me about all the life hidden there.
The forest had its own way of talking, and my heart wanted to learn it.
The sounds were different from the sheep and the blacksmith's hammer.
Here, the wind moved the leaves like quiet voices. Birds sang songs I couldn't see.
Sometimes, a deep, rumbling sound came from the quiet woods.
It made me a little scared but also excited.
Was that the creature I saw? Inside me, I was always trying to decide if I should be brave and learn, or listen to the village's warnings.
I would stand at the edge, touching the rough tree bark.
I tried to see through the thick leaves and shadows.
It felt like looking at a big, detailed painting, knowing there were amazing things hidden in it.
The villagers just saw a dark, closed wall.
I saw a hidden world full of secrets.
The Blackwood wasn't empty; it was like a promise of wonderful things I hadn't seen yet, waiting for me to find them.
My brain, who liked to learn about nature, thought the villagers' scary stories didn't make sense.
How could a place with so much life be bad?
How could shadows take souls?
I wanted real proof, things I could see and understand, not just old stories people whispered.
But the memory of those shiny eyes, the way they looked smart, made me doubt myself a little.
That wasn't just a story. That was real, something I had seen.
Inside me, I also felt a little scared, knowing the Blackwood had strange things that science couldn't easily explain.
One afternoon, I went a little further than usual.
I saw a bright color deeper in the trees.
It had some shiny mushrooms, glowing green in the dark.
I had never seen anything like it.
It showed how strange and special the life in the hidden parts of the forest was.
As I knelt down to draw it, I saw something move out of the corner of my eye.
A pair of eyes, shining from the little bit of sunlight, was watching me from the shadows.
They weren't the shiny eyes of the creature I saw before.
They were smaller, round, and looked like an animal's eyes.
A fox, maybe? Or something else, something that looked at me carefully.
Even the animals I knew seemed to act differently, more aware, inside the Blackwood.
I stayed still, not breathing, and watched the creature.
It was dark and smooth, hard to see clearly in the shadows.
But its eyes looked strangely smart.
It watched me for a long time, its head tilted like it was thinking about me, before quietly going back into the shadows.
After seeing it, I felt strange – not scared, but like I was being watched, like I had stepped into a world where I was the one being looked at.
Inside my head, I had lots of questions.
What was that creature? Did it live in Blackwood all the time?
And why did its eyes feel like they knew things?
Seeing it made me want to learn even more about the forest and what lived there, to see past the scary stories and understand what was real.
Another day, I followed a bird's song deeper into the woods.
It was a beautiful sound I had never heard in the village.
I walked through bushes and over mossy rocks, getting further and further from the paths I knew, into the middle of the Blackwood.
The air here smelled strongly of wet dirt and something else, a wild, musky smell that made the hair on my neck stand up.
The way the light and shadows played made it look like things were moving when they weren't.
My senses felt stronger.
Every leaf that moved, every stick that broke, sounded loud in the quiet.
The deeper I went, the more the forest felt like it was alive around me, with its own beat and secrets.
I finally saw the bird high in an old tree.
It had bright blue and green feathers I had never seen before.
I stood there amazed, drawing it in my book, lost in how beautiful it was.
Suddenly, I heard a low growl, closer this time. It shook the ground under my feet.
It wasn't the far-off rumble I had heard before.
This was close, like an animal, and it felt dangerous.
My hand froze on the page, and my heart beat really fast.
The memory of those shiny eyes flashed in my head, scary and clear.
I stood up slowly, listening carefully, looking into the shadows.
The bright beauty of the forest suddenly felt like it was hiding something dangerous that I didn't understand.
Inside me, I felt two things at once.
The wanting to learn that brought me here fought with the feeling that I needed to stay alive.
Should I stand still and hope it didn't see me? Or should I run and risk making it know I was there?
A stick broke loudly to my left, and a big, dark shape started to come out of the thick plants.
It was bigger than a wolf, and it moved smoothly and strongly.
My breath stopped. Was it him?
The hidden world of the Blackwood was starting to show its scary side.
As the creature stepped out into the sunlight, I could see it better.
It looked like a wolf, with thick, dark fur and strong muscles.
But its eyes… they had that same strange smartness I had seen before.
And there was something else, something I hadn't noticed last night – a sad, almost human look in them.
It watched me, its eyes looking right at me, and for a moment, I wasn't scared.
It felt quiet between us, like we both knew something.
Then, I heard a loud clang like metal hitting something, and a man shouted angrily.
The creature's head turned quickly towards the sound, its eyes suddenly looking fierce and protective.
It made a low, rumbling growl, but it wasn't looking at me anymore.
It was looking towards the sound.
Its strong body got ready to jump.
And then, from the trees behind me, a rough voice yelled, "Got you now, you beast!"
A heavy net fell from the branches above, catching me completely.
I was trapped, helpless, just as the creature I was watching was about to do something.
I was caught, and the hunter's happy voice echoed through the forest, not knowing what the real "beast" was.