Hello, my name is Michael Cook. I’m just your everyday average kid. Well, I was. I’ve been on lots of adventures. I have been face-to-face with a wolf pack,
I once almost starved to death, and I have even jumped off of a cliff into a ravine and lived. So I hope you know not to mess with me. I think you are wondering how all of those life threatening events happened. Well, let’s start from the beginning.
When I was 8 years old I lived a great life in New York City. I had shaggy green hair, dark green eyes, and nice tan skin from being in the sun at central park. I always wore a gray hoodie, long denim jeans, and green sneakers. My dad would take me to school every day where I could talk with my friends, me and my parents would take walks around the city just for fun, and at the end of our walks, we would go to central park so I could play on the playground.
But one day when we were walking down the street from dinner, I didn’t know that that would be the last time I would see New York City for a while.
On the right of me was a street full of taxicabs and motorcycles. On my left was some tall buildings that, at the time, looked like the height of a few rocket ships stacked on top of each other. The sidewalk was littered with trash and beer bottles.
I never understood why my parents would take me down that street on our walks, because of all of the dark alleys and crime. But I just followed my parents and we always got back to our apartment safe and sound.
I stopped walking. Ever since we left dinner my stomach started to feel like a monkey was swinging on my intestines and was pulling on them down to my feet. But now it hurt so bad. I thought it was just maybe something bad in the pizza I had, but I somehow knew that was not it. Whatever it was made me want to puke, but yet again I knew that I was not going to puke. I started to hear thunder and lightning all around me. I looked up at the sky but there were no clouds. As soon as I saw that there were no clouds my head spun with confusion.
I know that there is some kind storm coming but the sky is perfectly clear. How could it rain right now? I thought.
“Hey Michael, you okay?” Dad asked with a concerned voice. “Why did you stop?
“I’m fine. Just have to itch my foot.” I lied. “Does it seem like it’s going to rain soon, or is that just me?”
“Honey, the sky is clear,” Mom responded in a nice soothing voice. “And the weather app on my phone says it’s not going to rain until tomorrow.”
“Michael, why would you think it would rain?” Dad said confused.
As if on cue, the sky all the sudden became dark and gray. Then the winds started to pick up. The winds were so strong I thought my shirt was going to be pulled off! Then came the rain. It came down so hard it felt like every rain droplet was a chunk of ice even though it was just rain, not hail. My stomach stopped hurting.
“Ho- wha-” Dad tried to say. “How would you know it was going to rain, Michael?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “I just somehow knew that the storm was coming.”
“Hey Dave,” Mom whispered to Dad. “Do you think he is a, you know.”
“But that’s not possible,” Dad whispered back. “Unless they were, you know what’s.”
“I don’t know?” Mom asked. “They did not seem like, you know what’s.”
My head spun with questions. “What do you mean I am a, you know what?” I wondered. “Just because I have green hair does not mean I am differ-”
On my left, a shadowy figure walked out of an ally. The second my parents saw the figure there faces filled with horror. For a few seconds time seemed to stop. Once my parents stopped staring they ran away behind me as fast as they could.
I would have chased after them but something in me told me to stay and talk to the shadowy figure. I don’t know why I stayed to talk with the figure but I knew I would get some answers if I talked to him. The figure walked towards me. I wanted to run, but I forced myself not to move.
“Hello Michael.” The figure announced.
As he walked up to me I could figure out details about him. He had long dirty blond hair, sky blue eyes, he for some reason had a large bow slung over his shoulder, A quiver full of arrows, and the most obvious was his ears. They were long, pointy, and for some reason looked tanner than the rest of his skin. He was wearing a gray shirt with a green jacket over it, some dark denim pants like mine, and leather boots. He was about a foot taller than me. The figure seemed about 10 years old.
“Ho- How do you know my name?” I stuttered.
“Because,” The boy told me in a confident voice. “I was told that you would be here by the Elf King. But that doesn’t matter right now, we need to leave and get to Forest Grove as fast as possible.”
My brain started to hurt because of all the questions I had. “What’s Forest Grove?” I asked. “And why should I trust you. You just made my parents run away.”
“I will answer all your questions once we get to Forest Grove.” He answered. “Oh yeah, I should introduce myself. Hello, I am Allium.”
“Like the flower?” I wondered.
“No, not like the flower. Why does everyone say that?” Allium mumbled.
“Well I am not going anywhere with you until you answer some of my questions.” I demanded.
“Fine, but just some quick ones,” Allium responded. “I am an Elf. I work for the Elf King. And you are a Dryad. The first boy one too. But to sum it all up, let’s just say that your blood will not look good on the sidewalk.”
I know, what I do next was very dumb but remember, I was only 8 years old. And also when you hear that your blood may end up on the sidewalk, you would probably want to prevent it.
I walked up to Allium. “Fine, take me to this, Forest Grove of yours.”
“You made the right choice, Michael.” He answered. “Before we start, do you know what your bone flex levels are? Of course you don’t, you just found out you are a magical creature. So you are just going to go with it. You’re not going to say ‘Dryads are real. Same with elves. Cool!’”
“Nope,” I exclaimed. “I figured that you would get mad if I kept asking questions here.”
“Good choice!” Allium said. “Here we go!”
He grabbed my arm with an iron strong grip. (Note to self: Never run from Allium, he has a strong grip.)
Suddenly everything became gray and fuzzy. I could only see Allium’s soothing face. It went black. Time seemed to freeze for a few minutes. My arms and legs started to get sore. My legs and arms started to hurt even more and more. Then I could hear loud cracking. The pain in my legs and arms felt 100 times worse than it did a few seconds before. The searing pain felt like a 500-degree knife stabbing my joints. I tried to scream but the air was sucked out of my lungs.
After a few more seconds of the worst pain ever, I could see again. The pain in my arms and legs only felt sore now. I was lying on some sort of cot in the middle of a small room. The roof was made of oak wood with lanterns hanging down from the ceiling. There was a tall door on the right side of the room. On the left side was a wood desk. The top of the desk had a bunch of papers on it. 2 elves were looking down at me. One of them was Allium, and the other elf was an old man with long ears, so I knew he was an elf. He had soothing pink eyes, yellow teeth, pale skin, gray hair, and a long gray beard that hung over my face. He wore black robes and leather boots.
“He’s awake now, thank you, Poppy.” Allium said smoothly to the man.
“That man’s name is Poppy?” I asked. My voice felt as good as new somehow.
“I didn’t think that would be the first you said when you woke up but okay.” Allium answered. “And to answer your question, yes his real name is Poppy.”
“Is everyone’s names here just flowers?” I wondered.
“Only the elves that knew they were an elf when they were born.” Allium replied. “So how are you feeling after that elfation?”
“Elfation?”
“It’s like teleportation but for elves. Normally you first elfation is the worst. Even at the distance I had to travel to get myself to New York City was bad enough, but this being your first time elfatating and with both of us elfatating, I imagine you went through a lot of pain kid. No wonder you passed out!”
“It felt like all my bones shattered into a thousand pieces.”
“That’s because they did! Poppy is our doctor and he had to give you new bones.”
“Wait, What! I have new bones!”
“Na, just messing with you. All Poppy did was use some bone glue to fuse all your bones back together. It was like the world’s biggest jigsaw puzzle.”
“Well I hope I was a big problem to fix. I came with you and went through a lot of pain so I am expecting some answers!”
“Okay, okay, okay. I will answer some of your questions.”
“Good, so what I want to know first is, I thought dryads were just myths and I thought dryads were only girls?”
“To answer the first question, half the myths in this world are real, and to answer the second question, I don’t know. There has never been a boy dryad ever but us elves and dryads can smell the dryad blood in you.”
“Okay, that answers like, 1% of my questions. Why did I know that the storm was coming now? I have been outside during lots of other storms, why did I know this one was coming?”
“Because dryads normally find out that they are a dryad at age 8 unless their parents told them so before.”
“That explains a lot of my questions. But what I still don’t understand is why my parents ran when they saw you?”
“Some humans are afraid of Forest Creatures, some want to kill them, and some just want peace. But there are too many humans in this world that want to kill us, instead of helping us. I am guessing your parents were afraid of us Forest Creatures.”
“Why do humans and Forest Creatures fight.”
“No one knows, it’s just like everyone was born to hate each other.”
“But how can I be a dryad if they are both humans?”
“Well I am guessing you were adopted.”
“I guess that would make sense. I mean they never really told me about when I was a baby and they always sounded secretive.” I tried to sit up but my arms were too sore.
“Wow, you are very chill about all this. You just learned that you are probably adopted and you just found out that you’re the first boy dryad ever. And you are just like, totally cool with it.”
“Well, normally in stories a random normal kid’s life is changed all the sudden, they go off to save the world, and it always works. So I know what happens next. You are going to send me off to try and make peace with the humans.”
“It would be way too dangerous to send a kid your age out to do something like that. The Elf King just wanted me to bring you here to Forest Grove to keep you safe from the humans. My job is to find Forest Creatures and bring them here to Forest Grove. Forest Grove is currently one of the few safe places for Forest Creatures.”
“Who is the Elf King? You keep mentioning him.”
“He is the king of the elves. He knows when a Forest Creature finds out that they are a Forest Creature.”
“Why is Forest Grove so safe?”
“Because it is in the middle of nowhere. No humans know where this place is. If any humans found it, that would be bad news for us.”
“Hmm, that makes sense. So when can I go back to my normal life in New York?”
“Now that your parents know that you are a Forest Creature, it’s not safe for you to go anywhere outside of Forest Grove.”
“I guess that makes sense, but I can’t just leave my life behind and stay here with magical strangers that use magic.”
“Only elves can use basic magic to make potions.”
“As I was saying, I have to go to school and my parents are probably wondering where I am right now.”
“Trust me, your parents won’t care what happens to you now that they know you are a dryad.”
“I don’t think my parents would be that mean.”
“I know humans, they are cruel and selfish.”
“How would you know?” When I asked, Allium’s face filled with emotion.
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Sorry I asked.”
“Don’t be. I will answer all your questions but I just can’t answer that one.”
“So what do us Forest Creatures do for fun here?” I asked, trying to lift up Allium’s mood.
“Elves like to hunt but dryads don’t eat meat, well except for when they don’t know that they are a dryad. Dryads normally hangout with each other, garden, and work at their shop in the market.”
“Market?”
“The market is an area a little ways from here where Forest Creatures can create a shop and sell stuff to other Forest Creatures.”
“Nice, so where do I live exactly?”
“Dryads like to make tree houses and live in those and elves like to make houses underground.”
“I thought dryads were linked to one tree and lived inside the trunk of the tree.”
“I said that half the myths in this world are true but I never said they were exact.”
“Okay, so I need to build my own house?”
“Yep, that’s another one of my jobs. To teach the newcomers how to build a house.”
“That will be fun. I have always wanted to live in a treehouse because all my life I have been stuck in the city. But right now I think I am a little too weak to build a house.”
“I understand, just take a nap for a while and that bone glue should fully fuse by the time you wake up. A few of my friend are coming by to give you a tour.”
“Cool.”
“See ya in a few hours.”
As Allium spoke that last sentence, I closed my eyes and fell asleep.
I woke up to a knocking on the door. I was in the same room as I was in when I went to sleep but I was alone in the room. I tried to get out of my cot to answer the door. It was tough, but I finally got out of bed. I stumbled over to the door. When I opened the door my eyes were blinded by the sunlight.
There were 2 girls at the door. One had wavy brown hair, elf ears, green eyes, a happy smile, green hoodie/dress thing, and leather boots. (Why does everyone here were the same thing?) She seemed about 10 years old. The other one had long blond hair with twigs tangled in here hair, light purple eyes, leather boots, and a white dress with a brown leather jacket with green strips on it. She seemed about 9 years old.
“Hello, I am Ashlyn and this is my friend Tulip!” The girl with blond hair exclaimed. “We heard that a new dryad arrived yesterday. You are a boy. How?”
“Why would you think I know?” I asked. “And finally, someone with a normal name!”
“Finally, someone who thinks everyone being named after a flower is annoying.” Tulip mumbled.
“Oh, stop complaining, you are named after a flower too you know.” Ashlyn lectured.
“You think I choose to be named after a flower, Ms. I Have a Normal Name!” Tulip complained.
“Guys stop fighting!” I yelled.
“Sorry.” Both of them said at the same time.
“Sorry, me and Tulip fight a lot. It runs in the family.” Ashlyn said nicely.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Our families have always been mortal enemies,” Ashlyn explained. “Since my grandfather borrowed one of Tulip’s grandmother’s tulips.”
“No,” Tulip said. “Your grandfather stole the tulip. That’s why my mother named me Tulip. Because your grandfather stole my grandmother’s tulip.”
“But you still seem like you are good friends?” I asked.
“When we first got here,” Tulip explained. “We became friends but after a while, we started to complain about simple things. Then I looked it up at the library-”
“Wait,” I interrupted. “There’s a library?”
“Yes but that’s not the point,” Tulip answered. “So I was at the library and found out that mine and Ashlyn’s family were in the middle of a feud. So ever since we are still friends just we fight a lot.”
“Blah, blah, blah.” Ashlyn complained. “That does not matter right now. The whole reason why we came here was to greet you and give you a tour!”
“That would be nice,” I said. “I hear that this will be my home forever, so it will be nice to know where everything is.”
“So this is the library.” Ashlyn pointed to something on our right.
Above us, you could hardly see the sky because of all the trees. On the right of me was a small lake with an island in the middle. There was a fancy oak bridge leading to the island. In the center of the island was a bunch of trees clumped together to make a large building.
“Maybe later we can go in there,” Ashlyn said. “But for now we have so much more to lo-”
“What’s that?” I asked as I pointed at the lake.
There was some kind of creature in the lake. It looked like a dolphin on the outside but when it opened its mouth it had razor sharp teeth.
“That’s a Squrka.” Tulip explained.
“What’s a Squrka?”
“It’s a cross between a dolphin and a shark. It basically is a dolphin that does everything a shark does. But they are surprisingly tame with Forest Creatures.”
“I would still not go near them.” Ashlyn advised. “They can be mean to Forest Creatures if you try to get too close without a treat.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” I responded.
After that, they brought me to Tulip’s house. It was a small cave inside a mountain with some torches and a bed inside.
“It’s not the biggest house but it is something.” Tulip said.
“Hey it’s better than mine.” I joked. “Because I don’t have one.”
“Oh you’ll see.” Ashlyn mumbled.
“What was that?” I asked.
“Nothing.” Ashlyn said a little too fast.
Next we went to Ashlyn’s house, it was a huge treehouse kingdom. It was built into a dozen trees and had green glass all over it as windows.
“How is that a house?” I asked with a shocked face. “I would think that would be for the creator of Forest Grove because it is so big.”
“It actually is!” Ashlyn exclaimed. “My mother was the founder of Forest Grove, well before she disappeared. I don’t want to get into details.”
“Um, okay, hey I forgot to ask this. So I can tell Tulip is an elf because of the ears but what are you Ashlyn? You don’t have green hair.”
“I am half dryad and half human. My mom was a dryad and my dad was a human. I can do everything a dryad can do but I can hide in with humans easily.”
“Nice!”
We kept walking through the forest. They showed me some other houses and some nice lakes.
“AHH!” I screamed.
“What?” Tulip asked.
“It’s a snake!” I shouted.
There was a long black slimy snake swerving through the grass.
“It’s just a black racer Michael.” Ashlyn said, soothingly, as the snake slithered away.
“Sorry, I just hate snakes so much.” I explained. “They are my worst fear.”
“Well you better get used to them.” Tulip said. “They are everywhere here. Luckily they are only black racers.”
“Ugh.” I said. “I still hate snakes.”
Tulip and Ashlyn showed me the market, which was just a bunch of tents with chests inside them. If you wanted to buy something from the market you would use these shiny, green, gem thingies. Almost everyone in Forest Grove had a shop at the market.
Ashlyn and Tulip showed me some other houses and a small wood cabin that apparently was the public shower place.
“And here,” Ashlyn explained. “Is where we think your house could be built.”
They showed me a small opening in the woods where the grass was so green and the flowers were so bright I thought I might go blind. There was a huge oak tree in the center.
“That is where your house could go.” Tulip said as she pointed to a tree on my left.
“This is a really nice place,” I answered. “Thank you guys.”
“No problem!” Ashlyn exclaimed. “Okay let’s go to dinner and in the morning we can start building your house.”
“You’re going to help me?” I asked.
“Why not?” Tulip insisted.
“Well thanks guys.” I said.
“No problem!” Ashlyn replied happily.
After that they lead me to the dining area. It was made of 3 fancy oak tables with stone chairs around all the tables. On the tables were metal plates and silver silverware. There was dryads, elves, and some other creature.
The other creatures had a big bubble around them. The creatures had blue hair and mermaid tails.
“What creatures are those?” I asked.
“Those are naiads,” Ashlyn answered. “They’re like water dryads.”
“But why do they have a bubble around them?” I asked.
“It is because they can’t breathe air,” Tulip explained. “There air is water so in order for them to be here with us they have a magical water bubble around them.”
“Why would they need to eat our food?” I asked. “Can’t they eat fish or something?”
“No,” Ashlyn said. “Them eating fish is like dryads eating meat. So the naiads come here for dinner to eat plants like us.”
“Oh my,” I remembered. “I just realized I have eaten meat like 1,000 times in my life.”
“It’s okay,” Ashlyn said. “Lots of dryads eat meat before they find out they are a dryad.”
“Good.” I said. “Wait, if dryads don’t eat meat then why are you wearing a leather jacket and leather boots?”
“It’s vegan leather.” Ashlyn responded.
“Oh.”
We walked over to a table where Allium was sitting.
“Hey Michael,” He said. “How was the tour? Did Ashlyn and Tulip for once not fight?”
“Sorry to disappoint you Allium,” I answered. “But no, they fought at the beginning.”
“Guys,” Allium sighed. “Michael is our guest. He is not here to listen to you guys complain.”
“I did nothing wrong.” Tulip complained. “Ashlyn started it.”
“No I did not!” Ashlyn exclaimed. “Tulip did!”
“Sorry about them,” Allium said. “They do this all the time. So how was the tour?”
“It was good,” I said. “They showed me a place where I could build my house.”
“Here is your food.” Out of nowhere, a dryad appeared behind me with a plate of fruit. “And here is your drink.”
She handed me the drink. Inside the cup was water.
“Um, thank you?” I said. “But I did not order anything.”
“Here in Forest Grove we have all the food already prepared and served to you at meal time which is every 4 hours.” Then she disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
“Sorry about her,” Allium explained. “She gives out the food to everyone here.”
“Cool.” I said.
I started to eat my food. It was a mixture of the best fruits I had ever had. There was apples, pineapple, strawberries, and a bunch of other fruits. As we ate the creatures around me welcomed me to Forest Grove and wished me luck with my new life. We ended dinner with lots of laughs and talk about what my new house will look like.