Chapter 7: Forest Freakout
We said our good-byes to Mihn and we were back in the nipping air that was nocturnal Toad Town.
"Is it just me, or did it get colder?" I asked, shivering.
"You're always cold, silly goose." Kory teased. "It's the same temperature."
"Look yonder, both of you!" Toadsworth exclaimed in a hushed voice. We looked to see that the guards were no longer in their positions.
"Wow, lucky break!" Kory gasped. "Let's go before they come back!" They both started running while I didn't budge an inch.
"Hope, aren't you coming?" Kory, after realizing I wasn't running with them, turned around and started walking back to me. I violently shook my head.
"Miss Hope, please grant me pardon to say that this is childish the way you're acting. I can assure you that the only real danger in those woods is losing your head to fear."
Still I wouldn't budge.
"Hope, don't make me carry you in there." Kory threatened. I don't get how that was really a threat, in all honesty, but that's what he said. It may actually surprise you that his 'threat' as he calls it worked in getting me at least to the forest's edge.
"Nooo!" I hollered when we reached the first gate inside the forest. "What if we get lost forever? Toadsworth, isn't there any way for us to navigate this Grambiforsaken death trap?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact, there is." I loathed the cheerful disposition he so obviously exuded in that black night. "All we have to do is look for the differences in the scenery and we'll be there in absolutely no time at all! Wonderful, no?"
At the time, Kory had no objections to what he thought was an infallible plan. And then there was me who couldn't shut up out of worry for over thirty minutes.
"Hope, calm down! Will it make you feel better if we all hold hands?"
I nodded furiously and yanked Kory's hand. I kinda feel bad now that I realize how hard I squeezed it, but I remember a feint feeling of comfort creeping through my body when I did. It worked its magic slowly, but surely. I looked up at him with a big ol' smile on my face. He didn't look back and I'm totally okay with that. It gave me a chance to admire the way his fiery red hair blew in the unusual gusty breeze that night.
Right as I was getting comfortable with my sight of him, I was immediately yanked out of my blissful daydream and back into the scary reality that engulfed all three of us.
"Why don't we pass the time with another story? I'm slightly curious about Hope's fear of the forest."
"Hey Hope. Since you're still feeling uneasy about this, how about I tell this one?" Kory asked.
Without really thinking about it, I nodded. Now I was looking around at the plant-life of the forest more than where we were actually headed. You know, for one of my biggest fears, I was actually in awe at how lush, yet overgrown, the forest was. It had all sorts of peculiar flowers and premature mushrooms.
Once or twice, an owl caught me by surprise overhead. They're majestic creatures of the night, I must admit, the way they glided through the air and their melodious notes when they hooted. The mere marvel of the forest made me forget that I was stuck inside its deciduous bowels.
Besides, I knew that story that Kory was talking about all too well…
It started as a harmless thing with one of my other friends when I was in middle school. Back then I wasn't afraid of the forest. I wasn't a lot of things back then, but that's getting ahead of myself. She was being a butthead and I wasn't going to let her get away with it that day. During recess is when she got on my last nerve.
She was talking non-stop about the Forever Forest all day and wouldn't shut up about it. That's when I finally bellowed, "If you love it so much, why don't you go live in it?"
"You don't really mean that, Hope!" she said.
"No, I do! I triple-dog-dare you to go in!"
Later that day, we met up near the entrance to the forest. Word got out to all the other kids, so we had a pretty sizable crowd. Kory was standing close to the front since he was one of the first to find out and arrive on the scene. There was a buzz of anxiousness going around the crowd of tweens behind her and me.
"Why's she going through with it?" "Ask Hope, she started it." "Anybody got popcorn?" "NO!"
Finally when the crowd quieted down, I spoke to her.
"Well, are you gonna go?" I wish now that I could have erased the stupid little smirk I had on my face when the time came for her to go.
With a hearty gulp, she faced the forest and entered.
I guess it's safe to tell you that she never came out. We waited until nightfall for her to come out of the forest, but she never did. Out of anyone there, I think I was the most nervous because it was I who did this to her.
I never forgave myself that we lost a dear friend, a great fellow student, and an inspiration to us all.
"And that's why she hates the forest." Kory finished off the story.
After that, it fell very quiet. I suppose Toadsworth was still taking in the gravity of the story… or I was still in my own little world.
Thinking about that made me want to let go of Kory and find a quiet, secluded place in the forest to just cry my eyes out. I actually almost did if not for the fact that my hand felt locked in its overexerted clasp. So instead, I cried next to Kory… very silently.
"WWWAAAAAAAAHH! I'M SORRY! Waaaaaahhhhh… I… I just wanna…" sniffle, "go home… waaaahhh."
The two boys were stunned to see me in this state. I'm sure you are too since I stretched the truth only slightly.
Oh don't give me that look! You wouldn't outright say you broke down completely if that were you, would you? No? Didn't think so. May I continue now? Thanks.
Anyway, as I was saying, the two boys didn't know what to do with me.
"Hope, what's wrong? Was it the story?" Kory asked, panicked.
I sniffed and said through my tears, "No."
"Then what is it, Miss Hope?"
"I… I don' wanna talk about it…" I said that because I didn't know what to say.
"Well, I'm at a loss." Toadsworth casually mentioned to Kory. Of course, I misunderstood him, so I screamed at the top of my lungs.
"WHAT? WE'RE LOST?"
Before any of them could say otherwise and get me to calm down, I wrenched my hand from Kory's and started running away in order to escape and get back to the entrance. I didn't care if Dark Bowser and Fawful would kill me if they found me; I just wanted to get out of that nightmarish forest for good.
I was in for a shock when I bumped into Toadsworth.
"Well, hello there. I see you discovered that the forest is divided into various circular paths." He cheerfully exclaimed.
I cursed him for his cheerfulness.
"Hope! Don't run off like that. What if you really did get lost?"
"I'm sorry!" I sputtered. "I didn't mean to. I won't do it again."
"A wise decision on your part. How about you distract yourself with a game of some kind until we get to Lady Bow's mansion?"
Lady Bow? Is that who he was referring to last night in Club Wii? I would soon find out after getting through that intolerable forest.
"What kind of a game?" Kory asked. His answer was a pair of shrugged shoulders and a tug on his hand to keep going.
It was an hour later before anyone talked again.
"Toadsworth, we've been past that exact tree stump three times already. Are you sure you know where you're going?"
"Blast it all! If it weren't so dark I would be able to navigate this dense overgrowth like the back of my hand. If I ever get appointed back in the princess' castle, I'm recommending a yearly trimming to keep this from growing out of control."
"How about just banning anyone coming in here?" I facetiously suggested, falling to the ground in exhaustion.
"Wait Toadsworth, are you suggesting that we're l-o-s-t?"
I know he spelled it so I wouldn't freak out, but c'mon. We were in high school; I think I knew how to spell simple words like that back then.
"Now don't jump to hasty conclusions! I think that we have strayed from the intended path slightly is all."
I started hyperventilating.
"Hope! Steady breaths! Oh, gosh. Do you have a paper bag?" Kory asked Toadsworth.
"Sadly no. Why not use the pack on your back?"
"That's a great idea!" He slung the bag off his back and carefully handed it to me (he didn't want me poking my eye out).
In and out, in and out, in and out, until I felt comfortable again.
"You did this to me." I accused. I couldn't help wheezing.
"Hope, relax. You're with us. You need to calm down. I know, how about you think of something that makes you happy. That ought to cheer you up!"
"But everything happy now makes me saaaad…" I whined.
"Yeesh, and I thought I was a worrier." I heard Toadsworth mumble before he looked away to try and find out where we were.
"Well, think of me then," he said.
That took me by surprise. I hadn't thought to think of the one person who was sure to make me smile through thick and thin. I started thinking about all the times he came over to my house and helped me with various things. He was so kind to me and to my family, never showing any disrespect or harm. He was especially gracious when he heard the news of Father's passing abroad. He was always there for me.
This was no different.
"There, feeling better?" He asked a few minutes later. I slowly nodded and he helped me to my feet. "Now come on. We should see if Toadsworth found the way yet. I think he walked this way."
We walked around the dirt circle until we found Toadsworth in front of an obviously placed sign.
"It reads, 'To Lady Bow's Mansion'. That means we're here! Quick, let's go!" Toadsworth ran through the wooden pole and raced to the end of the path. Before Kory and I followed suit, I stopped Kory.
"Hey, thanks for earlier. I really needed that." I blushed.
"No worries." He said. Then he pecked my forehead with his lips, making me jump in surprise. "Now, c'mon. I'll race you out of here—"
I was out of there faster than an overturned Koopa zooming down a downhill slope.