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// I Alone 
// Story: I Alone 
// by RazgrizS57 
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I knelt down to get a drink of water from the pond. I was thirsty, so very thirsty. And I was lonely. I had been lonely for so long, but not anymore. I wasn’t lonely anymore because I had me. I felt happy whenever I was with me.

Me looked up at I and I looked down at me, and together we drank cool water from each other’s lips. My view of me seemed to ripple with the water as I drank, delicately, and it happened every time we drank. The dance me did was funny and it brought a smile to my face, and my smiling made me smile and that’s when I knew everything was right. Just the two of us, me and I, laughing and having fun together at the water’s edge.

However, I couldn’t ever go into the water. It was too wet and it made my body cold, and I've never liked the cold. To get warm again I’d have to curl up under the warm light, fighting back shiver after malicious shiver. Things would also get stuck to myself if I were wet, like dirt and leaves and they were very troublesome to remove, sometimes impossible so they just hung there. I didn’t know how me could live inside the pond for any amount of time, but that’s where me lived and I understood that. I lived in the forest and me lived in the pond. Although, I thought it was kinda funny that the pond lived inside the forest too. It was a home inside a home, one I couldn’t step inside.

I wasn’t thirsty anymore. I took a step back and looked down into the pond where me looked back at I. It looked like the forest had become a part of me by the way various sticks were embedded in all those hairs. But that’s how me always looked. I like that about me. Me was unchanging. Me was reliable, and I always knew that if I had to leave the pond for whatever reason, I could return and me would be there waiting. We were the best of friends, me and I.

I was hungry now, though. Unfortunately there was no food near the pond, so I’d have to leave me for a while to go find some. Usually there’s a bush of berries not too far this way, but I also knew there were some fine grasses this other way. I probably would have gone for the berries had it been safe. But it wasn’t safe anymore.

I watched as an angry tree stalked out of the foliage with a hungry look in its emerald eyes. Its long, wooden legs creaked with every step it took. When it opened its mouth, two large canines hung spitefully and its rancid breath could probably be smelled from anywhere in the forest. This wasn’t my first encounter with an angry tree before, but they were undoubtedly agile, therefore difficult to get away from.

It growled menacingly at I, hunched near the ground as it methodically advanced, ready to pounce at any moment. I had to run away to be safe, but my back was to the pond. I looked over my shoulder into the pond and saw me, and me looked back at I with a clear expression of fright. Me was defenseless there in the humble pond me called home.

No. If I were to just run away there’d be no telling if the angry tree would go after me instead. I didn’t even know if they like water, but I wasn’t about to take any chances. Me was the only friend I had, so I had to protect me. I had to make sure the angry tree chased myself so I could lead it away from me. I knew me would do the same for I.

I threw a rock at the angry tree and ran. I ran as fast as my four hooves could carry myself through the densest parts of the forest and away from the pond. I could hear the angry tree bark furiously as the rock smacked its face. I hoped I hurt it. But I could also hear the angry tree move, and it was faster than I, sadly. It wouldn’t be long before it caught up. Its steps were more precise than my own, and they were getting louder and ever closer.

But, unlike the angry tree, I was smart.

As soon as I could feel the angry tree’s rancid breath waft against the wisps of my tail, I ground my forehooves into the dirt and kicked out. There was a sickening snap of wood as my hooves connected with its jaw, but there was no time to check the damage. I had to keep running. No angry tree gives up that easily, even with a broken jaw. There was no doubt in my mind it was still after I.

So I ran. I dodged. I weaved. I jumped over every mound and ducked under every hanging branch. The angry tree’s paws thudded behind, and every time it would get too close I’d suddenly change direction, regaining a decent amount of space. But this couldn’t go on forever. I was getting tired. I didn’t even know where I was going. I just had to stay away from the pond and lose the angry tree.

Then I found a rock beyond a wall of light. It was a big rock, all rounded and large. It just sat there in the middle of a clearing. That’s when I had an idea. I was smarter than the angry tree.

I jumped onto the big round rock and spun around sharply. Soon thereafter the angry tree broke out of the foliage in front of myself with vigor. What remained of its jaw hung loosely connected by a few sparse twigs and its eyes glared death at I. It didn’t expect myself to stop and practically present myself to it, so it slowed down a bit in surprise. But it kept going, and it pounced.

I ducked and the angry tree sailed overhead. With that I too jumped, but in the opposite direction. I jumped to where the angry tree had jumped from, and in doing so I kicked at the big round rock. As I hoped, it rolled, and it rolled towards where the angry tree should have landed.

I wanted to make sure it rolled over the angry tree and crushed it, but there was no time. If I was wrong and it was alive, I would be killed. So I had to keep running. I didn’t hear the angry tree after that event, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t still pursuing. I just had to keep running until I got too tired and then I could hide. So I did.

I found a hollow trunk of a big log and scrambled inside. It was really musty and smelled bad, but at least it wasn’t rancid. I didn’t hear any angry trees coming after myself, but I still had to be safe. I wasn’t dumb so I laid still. I hid there until the light had faded away. I was upset because of that because I would have to wait longer. When the light goes away and everything gets dark, the forest becomes very, very dangerous. It’s the time when all the bigger predators come out, so I always hid during the dark and try to sleep, waiting until things get light again. But I couldn’t sleep. Out of fear or caution I didn’t know. I could only think of me. I hoped me was alright.

I spent too long waiting out the dark, all alone by myself. My belly grumbled a little from the meal that had to be cut short, but I couldn’t really complain about that. I could eat again when the light came back. At least I was alive, and because of my bravery so was me. I knew me would surely love to hear about how I distracted the angry tree and drove it away from the pond.

After a very long, sleepless time the light finally returned. I carefully sneaked out of my hiding place, listening for every sound but none of them belonged to angry trees. All I heard was the sound of the forest, so I knew everything was right. Life could resume normally for me and I. Except I was a little lost. I just had to make my way to the pond. I had to find me again, but I knew it was now safe.

So I wandered. Everything from my hooves to my ears and eyes were as attentive as ever, snooping out every detail for a mere resemblance of a way back to the pond. That’s when I saw another large wall of light. At first I thought it was the clearing with the big round rock, but, much to my surprise, it wasn’t. I had just stumbled across the end of the forest.

I didn’t know the forest had an end. All the trees stopped to form a wall which spread from horizon to horizon, and everything beyond it was bare. It looked like a fire had leveled all the trees a long time ago, leaving only the green grass behind. I saw every dipping valley and arching hill, felt cool wind flow smoothly into my face, and the tall grasses danced in a way that was very inviting.

And me was there. Except, it wasn’t me. No, it was another me. This me wasn’t at home in the pond. I didn’t know there could be another me. I froze still. I had never seen a me before outside the pond. And this was definitely a me. 

This me was a bright contrast to the me I knew and loved. This me’s fur coat was a very bright yellow, the yellow of light itself and of the most delicious flowers. This me also had fascinating hair, much longer and smoother than the me I knew, and it was lovely shade of the lightest colored blood. If blood could be light, not dark, that’s what color it would be. This me was the colors yellow and lightly colored blood. The hair was also free of sticks and mud and looked abnormally soft and smooth, I noticed, and a pair of wings stuck out and let the wind course through their delicate feathers.

Butterflies obliviously danced around this yellow me, swirling with the wind and looking like they wanted to play. But me was busy looking at myself with a face of pure, abject terror. No, this was not terror. This me looked like that one time the me I knew did when I returned to the pond after being away for a long time. Me had given myself a mixed look of fear and concern then. That’s what this other me was giving myself. Fear and concern. Worry. Confusion. Nothing was right. This was not the me I knew. I was scared. 

I didn’t know what to do so I continued to stand there outside the forest end, staring at me while me looked back at I. We both stared at each other, silent, frightened. I wanted to bolt right then more than ever but my legs were locked and refused to budge. This me’s mouth then slowly opened and said something I didn’t know the meaning of. I felt even more scared, because I hadn’t said it too. Me and I always said the same things, perhaps even thought the same things, but not this me. This me wasn’t me nor was it I.

The other me took a step forward, blue eyes wide and beautiful, practically overflowing with inviting comfort and kindness. But it was a trick, I knew it. I didn’t know this me like I knew me, and this me didn’t know I like me did. This had to be some sort of deceptive trick. I’ve lived in the forest my whole life, and everything that looks beautiful is always a trick, just like those dangerous blue flowers. Or like the copper scales of a four-headed lizard. Or like the white caps of those nasty things that grow in the ground. Even an angry tree looks a little majestic in how it moves. Everything that is beautiful is out to get those like I. Fortunately me wasn’t beautiful. The me I knew was trustworthy. This me was not.

Then this me took another step towards myself and that’s when I had enough. My hooves finally found the will to move and I wasted no time darting back into the forest, back into my home. The other me wailed something as I sped away, but I didn’t understand the words. They had to be lies anyway.

So I ran. I wished I had never discovered there was a forest end or other mes. I ran from the forest end and back into its depths, hoping to find the pond where I would reunite with the me I knew and loved. I knew me would be relieved to see I.








Written by, RazgrizS57