AHH!

content:

Veni loved being alone in the forest. Full of flowers and trees and sunlight and joy.

Eight-year-old shoes skipped across rocks, while she laughed and pointed at anything she found exciting. This meant she was laughing at just about everything, from the blooming spring flowers to the pretty little songbirds in the sky. Her sunflower dress fluttered in the breeze, and she made sure the hem didn’t touch any low-hanging branches – this was her favourite dress. She breathed in the fresh air and listened to the chirpings of the nightingales who were enjoying the early morning. What fun!

Before she knew it, she had found herself by the river. It wasn’t wide, but it was swift, deep and awfully loud – and awfully cold. Veni hated it when her feet got cold. Even though it was February, when winter was bowing out before spring, the water was still flecked with shards of ice.

Veni tried to remember what she was doing here in the first place – she’d gotten far too distracted. Oh yes: Mother had tasked her to collect water from the river for lunch, using that old leaky bucket that they’d been using forever. But Veni was clever: she’d deliberately left the bucket in the basement at home before she set off, so now she had to walk all the way back to retrieve it. And that meant even more time in the forest!

Veni giggled to herself at her own mischief. She decided she should spend some time at the river bank before returning.

The river bank was craggled with rocks and garnished with mud and sand. Looking across the gap, the same old forest continued on the other side: lots of trees, lots of flowers and surely lots of fun! She’d never been over the river, but Father had told her all about what lay east of the river. Some place called “The Occident”, which was the neigbouring realm. Then a vast sea, and on the other side of that was a faraway island called “The Orrient”. She was awed by those mythical names – she imagined realms full of flying dragons and fairies. But Mother said it was not like that at all, that it was filled with bloodthirsty monsters that would catch her and take her away to far away places. She said there were dangerous men who tried to swim across the river to escape their punishments, because on this side those laws wouldn’t apply anymore.

But whatever, Veni didn’t care right now. She just wanted to feel the water! Crouching down in the sand, she brought a single finger to the surface of rushing water. It tickled her, and she squealed in delight.

Something splashed in the water. Veni got up with excitement and peered into the rushing water. It could be a fish. Or a water spirit! She’d always wanted to see a real spirit, ever since Father told her all about them.

But bursting out of the middle of the river was a human-like figure, flailing their arms about like the wings of a duck. He looked like a boy, older than she, and he looked like he was swimming – how fun! Perhaps water spirits looked human.

“Hi!” Veni said, waving. “Are you a water spirit?”

The boy caught sight of her through his matted dark hair, and his eyes widened. His mouth bobbed out of the water and he said, “No! I’m… Dying!”

The entire situation looked awfully funny to her. “Come on, silly!” she laughed. “Just swim over here!”

“I can’t!” The boy paddled towards her in vain; but with every stroke, the water struck him all the harder. “H… Help…” He fell back under.

Veni frowned; maybe something was wrong. Maybe he couldn’t get out of the river himself. She had to save him! She started to run back the way she’d come. Father would help! But… She would have to run all the way home to find Father, and then they’d have to dash all the way back here. That would be tiring, and her feet were sore!

So she looked about herself and grabbed a long branch from the forest floor. A few bugs and other creepy crawlies skittered about as they fled their woody home. Veni shook the branch, making sure the little critters had made it off the branch safe and sound. She crouched at the water’s edge and dipped the branch in. The further she plunged it in, the harder she had to grip it (with 2 hands!) to keep it from floating away with the current. But now the boy could grab the branch, and she’d pull him to safety!

Veni imagined herself falling in by accident, and being dragged off to wherever the river led; that would not be a good thing!

…Now what? The boy (or water spirit) hadn’t resurfaced, and the passing water formed clouds of foam that spiraled this way and that, obscuring her vision. She danced the stick in a figure eight, and the splashing water pelted her arms and face with ice cold droplets. She took a small step forward.

“Hello?” she called, teetering ever nearer. “Are you there?”

Suddenly the branch was yanked from her grasp and she toppled forward. Her chest scraped painfully across the rocks. She was slipping into the river! Face staring right into the raging current, she scrabbled to find a rock, or hanging root, or anything to stop her from sliding headfirst into the torrent. But all she felt was mud and sand. Endless white foam enveloped her sight, blinding her with cascading panic. She screamed. Then everything went dark as she plunged into the river. Fists of ice punched her face and body, numbing her senses. Her legs kicked wildly, trying to turn herself around. For all she knew, she was spinning in circles as the river pulled her further and further down its path. She realised in a panic that she was getting her favourite sunflower dress all drenched.

Then an even deeper darkness took her.

Awake now, coughing and gasping. Veni was soaked, and she shivered all over. She was on land again, back on the river bank. The shrilling of birds spiralled above her head.

A terrible thought dawned on her. If Mother and Father found out she’d got into a scrape like this, she’d be in awful trouble! She examined herself; her hands were mightily bruised and scraped, but she could conceal them well. But there was nothing she could do about her wet, dirty clothes – Mother was going to be furious!

Maybe it was the cold getting to her, but Veni found that thought terribly funny. She couldn’t help but giggle, and then laugh aloud. For just a moment, she felt a joy she’d never felt before – a joy purer than even the songs of the nightingales up there in the sky.

Then in a second, the feeling passed.

Lying not far away was the sleeping figure of the boy she had seen in the water. So he’d made it out too! She’d saved him! He was even muddier than she, despite the power washing of the river. His hair looked like Mother’s mop after hours of spring cleaning. She groaned inwardly – Mother was going to make her do all the chores after this kerfuffle, wasn’t she?

Timid, she edged nearer to the boy. There was a leather bag strapped to his back, and despite its opacity something glowed green from inside, a pinprick of light. Was it a magic wand? Maybe he was a wizard! But that wouldn’t explain why he’d had so much trouble crossing the river. If he was a magic-user, he’d have flown right over!

She poked him in the shoulder. “Are you alright?” He didn’t respond, and she wondered how long she’d have to sit here for him to wake up from his nap. Should she go find Father now? Wait for the boy (or water spirit (or wizard))?

Just before Veni was going to get up and leave, the boy groaned and his eyelids drooped open. They were brown and dull, but something looked off about them. Veni bent down and put her face up close. Deep in his irises was a flicker of green, just like the green that shone through his bag.

The boy’s eyes snapped open.

“AHH!”

“AHHH!”

Veni jumped back. Then, more ladylike, she said, “You’re awake!”

A trembling arm rose from under the boy’s stomach, and patted the bag on his back. “Ruck… Rucksack. Take it off.”

“What?” Veni pouted. “I don’t wanna, you’re icky.”

The boy groaned again, but this time it wasn’t in pain.

“Idiot kid,” he muttered. With his other arm he eased himself into a sitting position, chest heaving like an ocean wave.

Veni wrung her hair dry, then absentmindedly wiped some water off her knee. “I saved you. You should say thank you.”

More groaning. “I saved you. What were you thinking, trying to pull me up with your bare hands?” The boy sneezed, then shook away his grogginess.

“Bless you.”

“What’s your name?”

“Veni.”

“Where are we?”

“The forest. Are you a wizard? Or a water spirit? Or just a boy?”

“I know it’s a forest.” The boy peeled off his bag and tossed it aside. The green light faded. Veni saw a line of deep crimson drawn upon the boy’s right underarm. It was still dripping. “I meant, what side of the river are we?”

That was a good question. Veni looked around, and saw the exact spot of forest floor where she’d picked up the stick. A single beetle still crawled about in a daze, wondering where to go after losing its home.

“My side!” she proclaimed. “My dad said this forest is called the Taskwoods. Because, you know, lots of tasks to be doing here.” She tried to giggle, but the boy wasn’t amused.

He frowned, and his head lolled back. “Taskwoods. Taskwoods…” He perked up. “Taskwoods… In Habitica?”

“Yes!” She nodded with vigour, like how her schoolhouse teacher would nod whenever she solved an arithmetic puzzle. “Habitica! That’s what our realm is called. Land of the Purple Gryphon! Then over the river is this place called The Occident, and far over the sea is this place called The Orrient. Father told me all about them…”

But the boy was no longer listening to her. He coughing in a fit, chest heaving even harder while his arms spasmed as if struck by lightning. It took a moment for Veni to realise that he was laughing.

“Habitica! Yes! I’m free!” He jumped up, aches forgotten and raised his arms into the sky. “Where all sins are forgotten and and all vices redeemed! That’s what they say, no?”

Veni recalled what Mother had said about the other side of the river. There were dangerous men who tried to swim across the river to escape their punishments.

But surely this boy wasn’t one of those dangerous men, right?

He nabbed her hand, shaking it like a dog toy. “My name is Atro. And I’m free!” Then he fell back down to the water-soaked ground, a cough-laughing lunatic.

Veni wiped her now muddy hand on a leaf. “Okay, so can we go home now?”

This is a revised version of a story from 12 Sep 2022. I remember having fun writing this one back in 2022, because I got to do something I’d never done before: write in the perspective at a young age and of the opposite gender. Hope it’s still a fun read.