The forest was quiet and calm, a gentle breeze blowing through the tops of the trees. The grass grew in patches, revealing paths that had been walked on, leading through the trees. There was no sound, no crickets in the distance, no birds tweeting in the tree tops, no frogs in the nearby stream. Just silence.

Then, all at once, there was a loud crash, followed by a vehicle rolling down a hill and through a metal fence. The car was damaged beyond repair, the woman inside crushed protecting her baby.

The child, miraculously surviving, was thrown from the car and into a bush near by. She still was wrapped in her soft pink blanket, though it was stained in her mothers blood, as she cried into the night. She was scared, she was confused, she was only a child. So she cried.

Across the forest, there was a stir, a disturbance. It was as if the forest itself had been awoken by the sudden interruption in its natural cycle. There was something new for it to take care of, and it wasn't sure how to respond. And so, He appeared.

He was tall, tall as the trees, dressed in all black, seeming to have many arms. He walked so fluidly, it seemed as if he never touched the ground. He hands hung at his sides, but stroked each tree as he passed close enough. The breeze brushed his head gently, his head long and completely white, no sign of a face to obscure the perfection. But, even so, he could smell the blood, see the crash, and hear the child.

The crash.

The blood.

The child.

As he moved towards the shattered pieces of the car, he was baffled by it. A car, here? The highway was miles off. They must have been driving on a dirt road and lost control. Such a pity. But, it didn't bother him in the least. It was one human, and dinner served right to him. Things turned up in his forest all the time, one less thing in the world wouldn't make a difference.

The child whimpered again nearby, causing him to turn towards her. She had been crying for hours, just trying to reach out to anyone who could help. Curious, He approached, keeping just out of her peripheral. Even from his high up angle, she looked positively dreadful.

And smelled even worse.

A branch cracked under His foot, a careless mistake he had never made before. The child looked up at him and ceased her crying, she merely sniffled feebly, staring at the interesting man before her. How he must have looked to her, tall as the trees, dressed to the nines, but not a face to describe what he was feeling. But she did not cry. She just stare at him, making her baby sounds, hoping he was real.

For a long time they stayed like that, staring at each other. Neither moved, neither made a sound. Hours, days, or maybe just seconds seem to pass before the child whimpered again. She shifted a little, as much as a baby could, rolling onto her stomach. She started to crawl, but looked weak as she crawled towards Him. She stopped just as she reached Him, reaching to touch his foot, but falling short as he stepped back. Then, started crying again.

Perplexed, he tilted his head. Just what was she looking to accomplish? Did she really see no threat in him? But then, how could she? She had not lived long enough to experience the scarier things in life. And so, He crouched down the get a better look at her. She met his gaze, or at least it seemed that way, her crying back down to whimpering again. She looked dreadfully tired and her stomach growled in hunger. In addition there was a foul odor coming from her, bu it wasn't one He could identify. She reached up to touch his knee, slowly inching closer, her little arm shaking, trying to support her weight. But He merely stood and turned away, starting to walk.

He slumped his shoulders and sighed as he walked away. She was a persistent creature. What was it she was so determined to do? Humans were the one thing he chose to not understand.

He stopped again when he heard her screaming, much louder this time. What now? Could she possibly want his attention that much? Reluctantly, and with his new found curiosity, He wandered back to the child, keeping to the shadow of the near tree. The child had rolled onto her back again, only this time, a large spider was crawling across her stomach. It was harmless, even He knew that, but the child sounded as if she were being attacked. She thrashed about, which in her weakened state seemed to just be fussing, and screamed as loud as she could.

Before He could understand what it was he was doing, he walked over to the child and brushed the spider off of her with one of his arms. She ceased her screaming and looked up at him, her face stained with her tears, which continued to spill down from her eyes. She sniffled, rubbing her eyes and her nose, before reaching up to Him.

He tilted his head, confused by the gesture. What did it mean? Did she want something?

"Uh...! Uh!" she seemed as if she were trying to say something, "Uh... uhp! Uhp!"

Oh... up. She wanted up? To be picked up maybe? Curiosity drove him further as He picked her up with his main two arms, cradling her the way he had seen on discarded pieces of paper he found.

She sniffled and whimpered a little. She quickly made herself comfortable and closed her eyes, relaxing in his arms. This confused Him entirely. No human has ever been so comfortable around him. Esepcially not young children. He imagines it for a moment, the children running and screaming, crying for their parents. The scared look in their eyes. It brought him such delight.

He looked down at the girl again, tilting his head. She had fallen asleep, still shaking. She wasn't scared, was she just cold? He wrapped the blanket tighter around her. She felt skinny; he could almost feel her bones.

He just looked up and carried her off. A strange situation he seemed to be in. On the one hand, he could leave the child to just perish in the forest, but her crying would just worsen. Did that bother him? All the children he's brought to the forest were under his control. But... this one was different. She seemed unaffected by anything he did. What it must take to frighten a child so brave! Maybe he just didn't like the crying.

But on the other hand, there was the issue of taking her in. An issue, because he didn't know anything about taking care of a human child.

But, as he looked down at her, sleeping as she was, he didn't think of that. Was it his loneliness setting in? He'd never noticed it before this day. If he could figure out how to care for her, maybe he wouldn't have to be lonely.

On his empty face, a smile began to creep across, where one had never crossed before.