Chapter 2

Walk in the Woods

Felix gazed up at a small section of sky that was visible between the treetops. School was out for the day and he had a few hours to himself before he was expected home for dinner so he decided to spend it out in the forest. When the final bell rang he slipped off into the vast forest that completely surrounded his hometown. Why he decided to come out here he didn't know, he just felt like he should. So now he was simply walking about the woods taking random trails with no specific destination in mind. However, he wasn't alone. Wolfie must've spotted him walking off and decided to follow along. At first Felix hadn't realized that Wolfie was there, but after nearly a half an hour of aimless walking his friend started to complain.

"Felix, why are we out here?" Wolfie whined.

"No reason." Felix muttered.

"No reason? How can you not have a reason?" Wolfie asked incredulously.

"I just feel like it, alright?" Felix snapped.

"But why do you feel like it?" Wolfie wondered.

"If I knew I would tell you." Felix sighed.

"Well make something up then." Wolfie grumbled.

"Why should I?" Felix asked, confused by the odd request.

"Just humor me." Wolfie sighed.

"Fine, I came out here to look at the trees." Felix replied.

"That's a stupid reason." Wolfie complained.

"You said to make up a reason so I did. It's not my fault that I can't fabricate good reasons." Felix calmly reminded him.

"So what." Wolfie grumbled sourly.

Felix decided not to reply. The two of them walked still further into the ancient forest. All around them the trees grew denser, older, and more twisted. The layer of dead needles grew thicker beneath their feet muffling their footfalls. The atmosphere went from cool and pleasant to stuffy and eerie. Somewhere in the distance a crow cawed harshly making Wolfie yelp. A rogue gust of wind made the tree tops groaned and sway high above them. Felix was aware that Wolfie was starting to freak out in this creepy section of the woods but he felt almost compelled to continue on. For some unknown reason it was very important for him to keep going. If Wolfie didn't like it he could turn back whenever he wished to. It wasn't like Felix had asked him to come along with him into the forest.

Then after pushing through a particularly dense clump of bushed they emerged into a rare clearing. It was wide enough that the tree branches couldn't close over the hole leaving a roughly circular patch of sky. The layer of pine needles here was shallower and clumps of weeds and herbs poked through it to reach for the nourishing sunlight. The air here was cool and sweet though it still stunk of pine more than anything else. There were all sorts of evergreen trees here; both the common cone shaped ones and the rarer spherical kind. All around the clearing were brown shriveled pine cones who had completed their biologic purpose and were no longer needed. It was a beautiful spot, very peaceful, but also remote. He spent many hours of his childhood exploring this enormous forest and he had never stumbled across this particular place before. But despite knowing that, he felt as if he had been here.

And with that thought the trouble started. A sudden spike of pain struck him just behind his eyes causing him to clutch his head in agony. It was like an instant migraine. When his Uncle got migraines they slowly would creep up on him until he had to sneak off and hide until his pills kicked in. This was sudden and overwhelming. The light was suddenly unbearably bright and the sound of Wolfie's concerned voice made the throbbing stabbing ache worse and worse. He felt dizzy and his knees were shaky. As the pain intensified he began to feel nauseous and was torn between keeping his lunch down and keeping his head from exploding. Never in his life had he ever felt so bad.

"Felix! Felix what's wrong?" Wolfie asked frantically.

"My head hurts." Felix wheezed weakly.

Then, as suddenly as it appeared, the pain began to recede. It didn't vanish completely, but it became more manageable. He no longer felt like puking his guts out or that his was going to explode. The light and sound didn't make his head hurt worse anymore and his grip loosened on his aching skull. Blinking against the lingering ache he found himself half collapsed on the ground and swaying a bit. He tried to stand up but found that his legs didn't want to cooperate. After the third try he gave up and just sat there rubbing his temples. This was just plain weird.

"Felix?" Wolfie asked hesitantly.

"What?" Felix grumbled.

"Are you okay?" Wolfie timidly inquired.

"No. My head doesn't hurt as much, but now I can't get up." Felix complained.

"Are you sure you can't get up?" Wolfie asked worriedly.

"Yes, Wolfie I'm sure." Felix snapped pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Well, then give me your arm and I'll help you up." Wolfie commanded.

Felix obediently raised his arm for Wolfie to take and his friend attempted to haul him upright. At first Wolfie was unprepared for Felix's added weight and he overbalanced causing them both to tumble to the ground. Felix could see that Wolfie was obviously frustrated and a little frightened by what had just happened and Felix couldn't blame him. Wolfie tried again this time with greater success. Now that Felix was standing, well sort of standing, Wolfie tried to get him back home. For a good hour or so Wolfie had to half-drag, half-carry him back to his home. The strange headache seemed to have leeched away all his spare energy, leaving him with just enough to stay conscious and talk to Wolfie when he said something to him. The sun was beginning to set when Felix arrived home at his doorstep. A quick glance at his watch told him that he had ten minutes until dinner.

"Thanks Wolfie, you can go home now." Felix sighed as he clung to the doorframe.

"Are you going to be alright Felix?" Wolfie asked worriedly.

"Yeah, I think so." Felix sighed stumbling over the threshold.

"So I'll see you tomorrow then?" Wolfie inquired.

"Yes, after Saturday Mass." Felix muttered.

"Right, auf wiedersehen!" Wolfie called over his shoulder as he walked off.

Felix gave a little wave before heading to the dinning room. He still felt strangely weak and was forced to cling to walls and shelves to stay upright and move along the hall. At the doorway leading into the dinning room he paused to look in. The table was set but his parents were nowhere in sight. Carefully he stumbled his way across the open space of the room and collapsed into his chair. He still had some time before his parents would come in with dinner so he leaned back and closed his eyes. His head still throbbed with a dull constant ache and he was utterly exhausted. He could only hope that food would help restore his missing energy. If it didn't his parents would notice and they would ask questions that he didn't want to deal with. If they believed his story about the mysterious migraine they would worry and take him to doctor after doctor until they could get an explanation for it. And they would redouble their prayers, which meant so would he.

"Felix, what are you doing?" His mother demanded. Felix's eyes snapped open.

"I was sitting with my eyes closed." He replied carefully.

"And why is that?" She asked.

"I have a headache." He answered. His mother studied him for a moment before she decided to believe him.

"Well after dinner I will get you some painkillers." She replied and left to bring in dinner.

As his mother left the room his father entered. His father was a stern deeply religious very traditional man. He was the patriarch and absolute ruler of the house and when he made a decision it was not to be challenged. His face was full of hard lines from hard work and his hands were scarred from his carpentry career. His teeth were stained yellow and his breath and clothes permanently stunk of tobacco smoke from his pipe smoking habit. His hair, once pure black, was iron gray with flecks of white moving up from his temples. His eyes were a dark slate color that always looked cold and forbidding to Felix. His father never truly smiled, but he certainly frowned. While he never raised his voice above normal speaking tones he could make it terrifying when needed.

Felix's attention shifted from his stiff father to his mother who had just returned with some sort of casserole. In her day she had been one of the prettiest girls in Winzeldorf. Her eyes were a brilliant blue that shone like stars from her pale delicately featured face. Her slender build contrasted sharply against his father's more bulky frame. For some reason she found his father wonderful and charming and when they were both 19 they married. For nearly five years they had a wonderful life together, and then he came along and changed everything. If she had raised him without his father's influence Felix thought that she wouldn't be quite as strict. But she was submissive to his father and would go along with anything that he decided without any complaint. There were a few times when Felix thought that she might speak against his father, but she never did.

After the food had been distributed his father said a long complex grace that threatened to put Felix to sleep. As his father finally finished Felix said his own silent prayer of thanks and dug in. At first it took a lot of effort to get the food into his mouth, chewed, and swallowed. But after they got into his system and began to take effect he had the energy to shovel in his food. And he was so hungry. Before he'd simply felt exhausted and sleepy but now the hunger hit him full force. He could never remember feeling so hungry in his life. He knew that this was catching his parents' attentions but he couldn't make himself slow down. But by the fourth large helping they'd had enough.

"Did you skip your lunch Felix?" His mother asked.

"No mother." Felix answered between mouthfuls.

"Then why are you eating so much?" She wondered.

"I don't know; I'm just really hungry." Felix replied.

"It must be a growth spurt then." His father decided and the issue was closed.

Felix supposed that his father could be right. He'd never heard of migraines triggering growth spurts but there were first times for anything. Compared to his father, Felix was short. So far he had taken more after his mother in the looks department. He was shorter than his father and he was skinnier. His father stood at about 6'3" while he barely made it past 5'7". And where his father was large and muscular, he was lean, almost slender. His father's face was rough though not really ugly while his own face was smoother and almost bordered on feminine in appearance. His father looked older than he really was and Felix looked younger than he was. In fact, it seemed that the only thing that Felix had inherited from his father had been hair color. Felix's hair was the same deep black that his father's had been while his mother's hair was a dark brown.

After a few more helpings of his mother's delicious casseroles Felix finally managed to fill himself. His father said one last prayer for the night and the family was dismissed. Felix carried the dishes to the sink and started to wash them free of traces of food. As he worked his mother appeared with the promised pills and he paused only long enough to down them. By the time he had finished the dishes and made it back upstairs to do his homework, his persistent headache was beginning to finally fade. With a sigh of relief Felix threw himself into his homework trying to forget about what had happened to him earlier. But halfway through his last assignment he realized something. That clearing was that same one that was in my dream…