"Quil," I heard someone yell out my name. I turned around immediately, staring at the one who called me.
"Yes mom?" I asked, staring at the female Flaffy.
"What did you do with all the berries?" my mom asked.
"Excuse me?" I asked myself.
"The berries we collect every winter," my mom said. "What did you do with them?"
"I didn't do anything," I said defensively. "I never touched the berries."
"I saw him take them, mommy," a Mareep said, sniffing as she slowly walked up. "He even pushed me to the ground as he walked away and hid them."
"Maria!" I growled, sighing. I then realized that I was going to be blamed again, no matter what I said. Maria was always a trouble maker. And what was worse, she always managed to get herself out of it.
"Where did you hide them, Quil?" my mom asked.
"I didn't take them," I said.
"Quil," my mom said, rubbing her head. "I really don't like having these conversations with you. You were such a good kid until Maria came along. What happened to you?"
I was silent, unable to answer her. I took a glance towards Maria who already had a smirk spread across her smug face. My mom was impatiently tapping her foot, waiting for an answer.
"I don't mean to be bad," I said finally. "I just can't help myself."
"Well you're going to have to learn to be nicer to your sister," my mom said. " As well as behaving better. Now go and get the berries and bring them back."
"I would if I could," I said, knowing what was coming. "But I can't."
"Why not?" my mom asked, her eyes narrowing. I could even feel it coming. I glanced at my sister again who had a smug smile of victory all over her face.
"I ate them," I said, wincing as the yelling came.
"You ate them?" my mom said, totally ticked off. "Are you stupid? Do you know how long it took your father and I to collect those berries? The winter is almost here and berries are hard to find before then."
"I'm sorry," I said, depressingly.
"Sorry isn't going to cut it," my mom said. "It just puts more work on your father and I. He's going to be more ticked off than me when he finds out."
"When I find out what?" came my father's voice as he returned from his daily walk.
I felt myself shrink back even more as my father stepped into the clearing.
"What's going on?" he asked.
"Ask your son," my mom said, pointing right at me.
"Quil," I heard my father say. I looked up at him, straight into his demanding eyes. "What did you do now?"
"I-I ate all the berries you and mom collected for the winter," I said meekly.
I knew what was coming next. I could see it in my father's eyes as they furrowed in anger.
"You what?" he asked silently in an angry whisper.
"I ate the berries you and mom collected," I replied again.
"How much?" my father asked.
I gulped in fear, too afraid to answer.
"How much, Quil?" my father asked, his voice raising.
"All of it," I answered him.
My father stared at me, his anger starting to show. I never liked it when he got angry. I always got punished, no matter what I did. My father took a deep breath to yell and then came the yelling.
--
My stomach growled suddenly, snapping me out of my trip down memory lane. The forest was a bit dim, and it made me worry that my eyesight would end up blurry again like it did when I left my home.
Time sure does fly when you're reflecting on the past so much. I haven't even realized that it was well around lunch time. I stopped, looking around for something to eat. There were some bushes nearby with a few different berries.
I smiled as I walked over and picked some of the good ones out, along with a totally new berry I never had before. This new berry was huge and red shaped. I couldn't tell what it was. I began eating the other berries, tasting the juiciness of the berries flow down my throat. My stomach began filling up as I ate.
I sighed as I replayed my memory over and over again. I could have told my mom that Maria had done something with the berries, but Maria was persuasive in her own way. She would only tell mom another story and she would believe it. But then I smiled, because I remembered the look on her face when Flare returned.
I finished up my small lunch, saving the new berry I picked for later as I continued walking and remembering.
--
My dad had finished his yelling at me and I was even more depressed than ever. I was in trouble, again, Maria had gotten away with whatever she did, and we were going to be without food all winter long. I could feel the tears welling up inside. It wouldn't have mattered if I cried. My parents were already upset with as they were.
"Guess I'm going to have to scrounge whatever's left out there," my dad said, turning to my mom.
"There's barely anything left," my mom said. "You'll be lucky enough to find something for all of us that will last the morning."
I curled up into a tight little ball, not wanting to uncurl anytime soon. I heard my father give a frustrated sigh. "I have to try at least," he said. "I'll be back as soon as I can." He turned and glared over at me as he began heading back out.
However, in that moment, Flare came running in yelling, "Mom! Dad! You'll never believe what I found."
"Not now, Flare," my mom said, rubbing her head again. "We're in the middle of a crisis."
"What happened?" Flare asked.
"Your brother ate all the berries we saved up for winter," my dad told him. "And it's going to be hard to find anything at all now that winter's upon us."
"I don't think you have to worry," Flare said. "I found us a whole bunch of berries."
"You have?" my father asked.
"Yeah," Flare replied, nodding his head. "They're all in a tree nearby. Come on, I'll show you."
Flare took off running, my dad following. My mom ran too, only she waited outside our clearing. I looked over at Maria whose eyes were wide with surprise. I smirked as she looked over at me.
"Guess you won't be having them all to yourself now, will you?" I said, causing her to glare. But she immediately regained her sweet composure as mom jumped back in.
"Quil," she said. "Go help your father and brother. They found a huge pile of berries."
I got up and went to assist, dragging the berries back carefully on a giant leaf. Once back in our clearing, the berries were placed back where they originally were. My parents were happy to have them back and began dividing them up for the winter.
Flare walked over to me and sat down. He glanced over at Maria, my gaze following his. Maria was off in the corner, sulking in self-pity. I smiled as Flare brought my attention to him.
"I caught her last night dragging the berries away," he said. "I knew you'd end up in trouble again, so I followed her."
"How did you manage to not get caught?" I asked.
"I have my ways," Flare said. "I'm your brother, Quil. I could care less if she blamed it all on me. But I have to keep you from getting into trouble. You're too nice a guy."
"Thanks for helping me," I said with a smile.
"What are brothers for?" Flare asked with a smile of his own.
--
I smiled at the memory of that incident a few months ago. It seemed like ages since that happened. And here it was, already in the summer season. Flare helped bail me out of trouble as much as he could whenever Maria targeted me with something big. There were a few times she targeted Flare to get him into trouble. Unfortunately, she gave up after the fifth time, realizing that Flare was going to be trouble.
Maria would have been turning two sometime during the next week. I like keeping track of birthdays, even my annoying sister's. That way, I would expect her acting becoming more better.
The air around me began cooling off just a bit as I walked on. The area was starting to grow darker. I knew that I would soon have to stop and find someplace to sleep for the night. Walking all day through a forest was tiring. Trees were always a good place to settle into. Because of my fur color, I easily blended in with the roots and dirt.
Luckily for me, I came across a very large tree surrounded by many others. The roots were huge enough for me to hide in between. The area soon grew black and all sight was lost. I couldn't see any of the trees anywhere. The only thing I did see were the roots I was in between.
I stayed quite still, daring not to move unless something was around. My stomach growled again, letting me know it was hungry. I still had the mysterious berry I picked earlier and took a bite out of it.
Immediately my whole mouth was set on fire. Tears immediately welled up and streamed down my face. The berry was entirely too hot to eat. The bad thing was that there was no water around.
I whimpered, trying to cool my mouth, but the burning was still there. My stomach growled again, demanding food. I would have gotten up, but there were strange noises in the forest. I stayed put where I was, afraid, hungry, and in pain.
The area only got darker than it had as the burning began to swell down a bit. My eyes began to droop for staying up so long. Finally, not being able to stay awake, I blacked out, though the darkness looked the same to me.