My most recent short story, "Echra and the Forest." it's not my best, I don't think, but I like it. It's kind of cutesy, which I don't usually do.
"So, you live in the forest?"
Echra peeked over the edge of the hill at the cloaked and hooded figure sitting below. At the sound of his voice the small figure jumped up and dashed away into the woods. Echra thought for a moment about following, but his father's warning kept him in place.
He walked back to the town, determined that next time he would talk to whoever it was. Everyone in town was busy with their own problems or caught up in their lives so much that he could scarcely make a friend.
At dinner that night he decided to ask his father again.
"I saw the cloaked person at the edge of the forest," he said. "They ran away when I tried to say hi."
A clink as his mother dropped her fork. She looked with concern at his father, who glared intently at Echra.
"I told you to never go near those who live in the forest." he said angrily. "It's dangerous. You could be killed."
"That person didn't seem like a dangerous sort. I watched him for a while, he seemed... lonely."
His father leaned forward with his hands folded in front of him. "You saw his face?" he asked. "You must never get close enough to see their faces. They know to stay away from the town, those people of the woods. Don't encourage them by getting near to them." He leaned backwards. "Clearly you don't have enough to do around here. If you can't find a friend to play with, I'll be doubling your work duties from now on."
Echra tried to protest, but his father cut him short. He ate the rest of his meal in silent contemplation. After he finished and cleaned up he headed back outside for a walk.
He passed a group of children playing and thought for a moment about asking to join them, but he just couldn't make himself do it. They were a group he didn't belong to. He felt like such an oddity every time he had tried, so he just kept to himself.
The path down to the forest looked inviting to him and for a moment he thought about going down again. With a look back at his house he paused before walking slowly down the path.
A whistle cut through the bustle of the town and he looked back- his father stood at the door of his house shaking his head. With a sigh, Echra turned back. As he did so he thought he glimpsed a brown cloak at the edge of the forest, but when he looked again it was gone. He trudged back to his house, hopped in bed, and went to sleep.
?He woke early, before dawn. This was the last time, he told himself, that he would go to the forest. Last time he had been brave enough to talk to one of the people who lived in the forest, this time maybe he'd get to hear something back from them. It couldn't hurt to try, no matter what his father said.
The front door creaked loudly as he opened it, he paused for an anxious minute to see if it had alerted anyone. Satisfied that he would not be noticed, he tiptoed out. Then he was off and running down the path to the forest. He practically dove to lie at the top of the hill to peek down. Disappointment flooded him as he saw nothing but grass and brush below him. He sighed and waited. Before he knew it, he was nodding off.
A sharp knock on the head woke him up suddenly. He looked down at the bottom of the hill, then around beside him. Seeing nothing nearby he looked back down at the line of the trees. A light thump next to him gave him a start and he looked around again. Then he saw it, a person standing in a tree holding a handful of acorns.
With a grin he waved. "Hey!" he called out. "Do you live in the forest?"
The cloaked figure nodded.
"Want to come up on the hill with me?"
The cloaked figure shook its head.
Echra took a deep breath. "Ok!" he said "I'll come down to you then!" and with that he slid down the hill.
A rock jutting out under a bit of grass caught him and before he knew it he was tumbling head over heels down the hill. He sat and held his head for a moment, blinking away a few tears. Then there was a thump next to him as the figure from the tree landed next to him. He looked up.
"Oh," he said. "You're a girl!"
The girl turned her head to the side, holding her hands in front of her face. She nodded bashfully.
"Can... can you take the hood off so I can see you?"
The girl dashed backwards to hide behind a tree. She poked her head out with her hand on the top of her hood, as if unsure if she should reveal herself. Echra looked around, a bit nervous himself. He tried to stand up, but found out painfully that he had twisted his ankle. He collapsed on the ground with a whimper and more than a handful of tears coming to his eyes.
With a gasp the girl rushed forward. She reached for his leg and held his foot gingerly. "Are you ok?" she asked shakily.
Echra tried his best to stop the flow of tears. "I... It hurts," he whimpered. "I need to go home!"
The girl shook her head. "Don't worry, I can help!" then to Echra's amazement her hands started to glow. A soft, warm light that surrounded his injured ankle.
There was silence for a moment, broken only by Echra hiccuping as his tears dried up. They stared at each other, and Echra was stunned by the deep green in her eyes. Slowly he lifted his hand to pull back the hood of her cloak. She made a motion as if to stop him, then lowered her hands.
"Oh..." he said. "You have horns!"
She buried her face in her hands and turned away. Echra reached out and put his hand on her shoulder. "Hey," he said uncertainly. "What's wrong? Your horns, um, they're very... pretty."
She did not turn around. "Mariel." she said quietly. "My name is Mariel."
Echra was silent for a moment as he thought of what to say. "That's a very pretty name, too." he said at last. "Why do you have horns? My father told me that people lived in the forest, he never said anything about stuff like that."
Mariel turned back to face him, although she kept her gaze on the ground. "We're demi-elves." she said. She pulled her hair back to show her pointed ears. "Lots of people don't like us because we're not humans. They think we send wolves and bears to attack them."
After thinking for a moment Echra spoke up. "Do you?" he asked.
"No! of course not!"
"Well," said Echra as though stating the most obvious fact in the world. "Just tell people you don't do it, then they can like you again."
"We do!" said Mariel. Her slender frame shook as she cried. "We do, but humans don't listen!"
"I... I'm listening."
Mariel impulsively reached out and hugged him, then dashed back to behind a tree. "I'm sorry." she said. "I just wanted to make sure you were real."
Echra stood blinking for a long moment. Then he spoke up nervously. "Um... could I... make sure you're real... too?"
After a moment of silence, Mariel held out her hand. Echra reached out and grabbed it, squeezing a bit. "Yeah," he said. "You feel real."
They both stood there for a moment in silence before they each started giggling. Echra took a step forward when a cry from the town rang up Echraaaaa! Mariel pulled back immediately and disappeared into the forest.
Echra stood facing the forest for what seemed like forever, his heart pounding in his chest. The sound of his father running up to the top of the hill snapped him out of his daze.
"Echra!" his father bellowed. "What are you doing?! Get back up here immediately!"
With a heavy sigh, Echra turned and headed up. He didn't think about what he would tell his father.
?He thought about Mariel