Chapter 2: Radagast the Strange
"And who do we have here ?" I took a few steps back as I held Sparkle to my chest. Both of her ears were up in alert.
"Who are you?" I shot back with a slight scowl on my face. I didn't want it to seem like I was Intimidated by this short dirty man. Which I totally was.
"I am the care taker of these lands." He said looking me directly in the eyes. Oh, so I was trespassing.
"Oh, I didn't know that I was trespassing. I'm sorry i'll just go home." I said taking a step to turn around.
"And where is that?" He asked.
"Uh...over there." I said pointing in the random direction that I was turning in.
"Which leads to where?" He pried.
"I can't tell you that." I said and he raised an eyebrow. "You're a stranger." I explained. I took a few more steps back signaling that I was leaving.
"Yes, I am. And you are lost and alone with just a small dog." He stated patting the bird on top of his head twice.
"I'm not alone." I said with determination. I looked down at Sparkle. It was a bad idea to let a stranger ,who was a man,know that a high school girl was lost in the woods alone. And nothing but a small dog who is afraid of objects that were even her size. Yup, didn't like the sound of that.
"Than where are your companions?" He pried even more.
"They should be back any minute, sooner than later." I said trying to get rid of him. He smirked at me.
"Well, I shall wait for them with you." he said sitting down.
"That's not necessary sir-" I started to say.
"Nonsense!" He said loudly. I already wanted to come clean about the lie, just to avoid the embarrassment when my "companions" didn't show up.
"Okay...I don't have any companions with me, well other than my dog Sparkle." I admitted tentatively.
"Hmm...Is that so?" He said with slightly raised eyebrows.
"Yes." I nodded and said. Should I run? I asked myself."Could you point me in the right direction?" I asked looking at him, slightly widening the line that separated my lips. He nodded.
"Where is it that you are from?" He asked with a raised eyebrow and a scowl.
"I live on Spencer Street." I said. It couldn't be a long drive from here could it? Or am I just losing my mind and going further in the wrong direction. His head tilted to the side.
"Are you sure?" He asked looking skeptical at me.
"Of course ! I know where I live." I said looking at him. He scratched his chin with a thoughtful expression.
"I've never heard of any place or village by the name of "Spencer Street"." He said looking up. The name "Spencer" sounded foreign to his lips. A scowl drew itself on my forehead as I looked at him strangely.
"Village..?" I was confused until I thought of gated communities like Country Village. "Do you mean a gated community?" I asked.
He looked back at me with raised eyebrows and said "No."
"Then what do you mean?" I asked confused.
"What village do you come from?" He asked in a tone that said "are you stupid?".
"I'm not from a village." I said carefully.
"Then where did you come from?" He asked standing up. My eyebrows we scrunched together.
"From my house on Spencer Street in the city of Tallahassee. The city I hope i'm still in." He looked at me very stranger after I said this.
"I've never heard of any "Tallhasey"." He said mispronounced. Okay he's weird. Maybe he could point me in a more helpful direction, I thought positively as worry started to swell in the pit of my stomach. Come on I can't be that lost.
"Do you have a phone I could maybe borrow?" I asked. Hopefully he does. He looked at me as if he had never heard of it before.
"No, i'm afraid not." He said.
"Oh." I breathed. Well i'm here lost with my dog Sparkle and a dirty small man with no phone, in what I thought was just a small cluster of woods, turns out to be a lot bigger. This is just great. Oh god I want to go home! I was staring at the barks of the trees while thinking until the small man got my attention again.
"Would you like to come back with me to my home?" He asked, but he said it in way as if it bothered him. I blinked at him surprised. Why would he invite me to his house? Was he really this kind or does he have some sort of sinister plan.
He examined the look on my face and said "Well I can't leave a lost young women alone now can I? Follow me if you're coming." He said. He didn't even wait for me to answer. As he stepped further away from me in another direction I thought about whether I should follow him. My eyes wavered back and forth trying to make a decision. I decided to follow at least 10 feet behind him at all times, just in case his character were to suddenly change.
The woods began to get a little spacious yet more wilder as I followed him. It looked like it had never been touched by men, it was so wild. As I watched at the care taker's back I realised that I didn't even know his name.
" ...what's your name?" I asked. He looked back slightly.
"Hmm..? Did you say something?" He asked still walking forward. I stepped over a large root and let out a breath. Pushing my hair back from my face I repeated myself.
"I asked you what your name was." I said. He stopped walking and looked back at me.
"My name is Radagast, and am the guardian of this forest." He said.
"Forest?" I repeated confused. Maybe it's one of those mystery names like Greenland and Iceland.
"Yes, Dol Guldur." He said then turned around and continued walking. I must have missed a lot of parts that these woods showed from the outside. I have never noticed these woods were connected to something larger. Then again this was the second time I was in our backyard, it just looked to creepy to go whole street was remote and secluded it was a mile from everything. Well that's Tallahassee for you.
"Do I have to wait longer or are going to tell me your name?" He asked. Oh yeah! I never told him. I put my head down slightly in embarrassment.
"Oh! I'm sorry! My name is Jessica." I said. Then we came out of the woods and walked onto what looked like a large long dirt path on the side of a cleft that lead down a hill. The sun was shining brightly on everything.
"I've never heard a name like Jessica before. Than again I haven't really been around many people as of late. The times easily chance." He said.
But it was as if my ears became deaf . I kneeled down to release Sparkle from my arms and she went around in a circle taking in her surroundings. I walked to the middle a road that was on the cleft and looked downt at everything. There were more and more green trees that went out in the distance, it looked as if it went on for miles. Beyond the forest I could see mountains in the distance. They were so far away that they appeared to have a grayish color to them.
I was speechless. I felt as if a hole could just swallow me up. I was lost and possibly insane. All of a sudden I couldn't feel my legs anymore and I dropped to my knees. Tears started to pour out of my expressionless face.
"Are you alright?!" Radagast asked. Sparkle came by my side.
I stared down at the "Forest" below me and miserably and asked. "Where am I?"
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