Chapter 4

Tricks of the Mind

Do not compare me to a flower

I will not wilt,

I will not sway,

So take your water far away.

Do not compare me to a flower

I will not grow,

I will not bloom,

Surely, you can only bring me doom.

"I think we may be lost."

Molly looked around the forest uneasily, it was around noon when they came in but the trees made it so dark that she couldn't tell what time it was. Was it past three? Five? It felt like hours since they had been in there and both of them were getting tired. Plus, there was no sign of Luke, or any other human thus far. Molly could understand why no one ever came in here.

"Oh, no! We've been here before," said Finn, pointing out a stick that was stuck in the ground at the base of a tree. Molly had been doing that every so often so that they wouldn't get lost but it obviously hadn't helped.

She sighed and sat down on a tree stump, Finn joining her.

"What do you think we should do? It's not like we can call anyone. Since there aren't any cell phone providers out here I just left mine at my Mom's house. And no one would hear us if we started yelling, either."

"Well, I can fly above the trees and see if I can't find the exit?" Finn said.

Molly paused and almost smacked herself in the forehead. Why hadn't she thought of that earlier?

"It's no good?" asked Finn, reading the frustration in her face.

"No, no, it's a great idea. I was just thinking how stupid I was not to have thought of it earlier. Could you please, Finn?"

Finn nodded enthusiastically. "Sure! I'll be right back! And you're not stupid Molly, you're great!"

Molly gave him a weak smile and waved goodbye as he flew above the tree canopy. She stood up and walked around the trees, looking for more mushrooms to take back and sell.

Finn had said she was great and so easily too. But, what did Finn know about her anyways? He's been with her for not even two full days and he's already treating her like she's some great person. She wasn't…she was just normal. It was awkward for her to hear all of these compliments all of a sudden. People were never particularly mean towards her in the past but, aside from her friends and family, she'd never been seen as someone special. Just the quiet girl that was always in the art room. No one had ever paid much attention to her.

She sighed and leaned against a tree. "There's nothing special about me…"

"That's not how you should talk about yourself," said an unfamiliar voice coming from behind a dense patch of brush.

Molly screamed and backed up several feet, watching as a man emerged from the brush, wielding a giant ax. She hastily searched behind her for the branch sticking out of the ground and made sure she had a firm grip on it.

The man's face was still shrouded in darkness and he continued to walk towards her, his ax making thump, thump sounds as he used it as a walking stick.

"Who are you? What do you want?" she asked in a small voice. When he didn't answer and continued walking her way, she pulled up the stick and raised it above her head shouting, "If you take one more step toward me I'll bash this into the side of your head!"

The man dropped his ax and threw up his arms to protect his head.

"Woah, woah, I'm not going to hurt you, I promise!"

Molly was breathing hard, the stick still raised above her head.

"Look, see? I'm moving away," he said, taking a few cautious steps backwards.

Molly lowered her stick and took a better look at the stranger. Now that he wasn't covered completely in darkness she could tell that he had a flashy bandanna on his head covering bright blue hair and a band-aid covering his nose. In fact, he looked around her age. Not that that mattered, she reminded herself. Younger people could be the most dangerous sometimes.

"I'll ask you again, who are you?" she said, louder this time.

"Again? Oh, is that was you asked earlier? I couldn't hear you so…well, my names Luke, I live over in the Garmon Mine District. It's nice to meet you! Sorry if I gave you a scare…sometimes I don't really think, haha."

Molly suddenly felt very stupid. She had almost knocked out the very guy she was looking for in this stupid forest. She moved her hand to her face and chuckled in disbelief.

"No…no, it's okay. I'm fine so…it's okay. Uhm, I'm Molly. I'm the person taking over the old farm. It's…nice to meet you, too. Although I wish it was under better circumstances, haha. Sorry for almost hitting you."

Luke beamed and picked up his ax again, coming over to stand next to her.

"So you're Molly? We've all been waiting for you to get here, I'm so excited! It's not often we get new people on the island, unless they're tourists. This is EXTREME!" he said, pumping his fist in the air.

Molly flinched away and Luke, noticing this, apologized again.

"Sorry, I'm just so excited to meet you! But don't worry, I won't hurt you. See this ax? The only thing I use it for is cutting trees down. Well, one time I almost took off one of Bo's fingers but…that was an accident!"

Molly couldn't help but laugh. It wasn't just how he acted but the expressions on his face that made him funny. She could tell exactly what he was thinking. Now she knew what the others had meant about Luke being…well, Luke.

"Oh no, you're laughing at me. I'm not making a very good first impression, am I?" he said, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Well, seeing that the first time I saw you, you were coming out from behind a bunch of bushes carrying a giant ax…there was pretty much no way to redeem yourself after that, haha. But you're fine, don't worry. I don't think I made a very good first impression either. You probably thought I was some crazy girl with a stick."

"Yeah, you did look pretty hysterical," Luke responded, receiving a playful punch from her on the arm.

He pretended to be injured and made faces, causing Molly to just laugh even more. He reminded her of a friend she had back at East Shore. He was always goofing off too.

"So why're you in Fugue Forest?" Luke asked.

"Actually…I was looking for you."

"You were? Why's that? Couldn't wait to meet me?" Luke said, moving his eyebrows up and down.

Molly rolled her eyes. "Not likely. Your dad, Dale, and Bo were worried and asked me if I could come in here to try and find you."

Now it was Luke's turn to roll his eyes. "Pops is always worrying about me, I don't know why though. I'm not a kid anymore!"

"Well, getting lost in a forest isn't exactly the most mature thing ever…" Molly said, trailing off.

"I wasn't lost!" he protested.

"You weren't? Then why were you gone for so long?" asked Molly.

"I was just chopping trees. I brought a backpack full of some food and water, and I built a kind of tree house out here a couple of years ago so I could spend the night in here."

"You want to spend the night in this place? And how could you not get lost, it's a total maze!" Molly exclaimed.

"Naw, I've been exploring in here long enough that I know my way around. But, yeah! All the time! It's really fun. Do you wanna come along one time?" he asked innocently.

"Uh…I think I'll pass," she said, trying to decide if he truly was just asking to be nice or if he meant something else by that statement. Guys did not invite girls to spend the night with them without bad intentions.

Luke just shrugged. "So, you wanna head out? You were lost weren't you?"

Molly blushed indignantly. "I…was just leaving, I would've been fine."

"You're lying, I can tell. You can't fool these eyes; they have a lie detecting radar in them! But now that Super Luke has arrived, you are no longer in danger, my lady! Just follow me and I'll have us outta here in no time!"

"What? That's ridiculous, people don't have lie detecting radars…but I am glad you came along," Molly said appreciatively.

Luke said no problem and they started off. Just as they started walking, Finn flew down from above the trees right ahead of them and, noticing Luke, skirted around him to sit on Molly's shoulders.

"You found Luke? Wow! Good job! Plus, I found the exit, so no worries!"

"Well, more like he found me. And that's good. Luke says he knows the way out but I still have my doubts," Molly whispered as quietly as she could. Since Luke didn't turn around, they were safe to talk in whispers.

"Oh? You'll tell me later, right?" Finn asked.

Molly smiled and nodded her head. She was glad she had met Finn. Even though they barely knew each other he still treated her like a friend he's known forever. Without Finn Molly thought her first day here would have been too overwhelming.

Twenty minutes later, they all walked out of the forest and into clearer air, the sun just beginning to set beyond the horizon.

"Wow, we really were in there awhile, huh?" Finn said. Molly nodded, thankful that they were finally out. She didn't think she'd be going back in there for awhile…

"Okay, well, we made it out safely. Mission accomplished!" Luke said, punching the air.

"Thanks, Luke!"

Luke replied with a "No problem" and suggested that they head back home, offering to walk her to her house. She agreed and allowed him to walk her back, listening to Luke talk about his dad and Bo. Even though he complained about Dale, she could tell he really loved and respected him. She could also tell how much of a brother Bo was to Luke. Apparently Bo had come to the island three years ago to apprenticeship under Dale for carpentry. He used to live in the city just like Molly but when he was thirteen, instead of going to high school, he decided to come here.

Molly couldn't imagine making such a decision back in middle school and admired Bo for his determination and dedication to his dream of becoming a carpenter. Someday she'd have to ask him how he came to love it so much.

A few minutes later they were at her beat-down house and Luke said goodbye, heading toward the mountain path that would lead him home.

Molly yawned and went inside to make some dinner with a couple ingredients she brought from home and went to bed soon after. She smiled as she drifted off to sleep, remembering Luke and all of his funny stories and mannerisms. She hoped that they could become good friends one day. Soon, Molly and Finn fell asleep, exhausted from their long day in the forest.