I finished the story and turned to look at the whitening faces of the travelers. “Well, that was a lovely story,” Ma’s sarcastic tone didn’t fully reach the travelers, as they took a big gulp of air and nodded. “y-yeah,” The talkative one seemed shocked straight out of words. “It’s getting late, you men should head to bed.” Father spoke up, “I’ll show you to the guest room.” The men left the living room, and ma turned to me. “I think it’s amazing that you can repeat the story as it was first told to you.” She smiled lightly, “But those men won’t sleep much tonight.” I smiled to myself, the gypsies who passed through here weren’t like the ones in my story. They were kind souls that believed in animals that were spiritual and that magical god like creatures lived in an undiscovered territory in the south. Word from the south was that once someone entered the mystery region, they disappeared. People in the south weren’t exactly known for being outdoorsy though so I figured the territory was just a really dense forest and they just got lost. “You should go get some rest, honey.” Ma said as she kissed the top of my head, “I have a feeling you will be in the forest before the sun rises.” I nodded and slipped from the room, walking up the creaky stairs. I moved in and out of moonlight beams. The moon peered in through the window at the end of the hallway, lighting the floor and walls. I walked into my room and closed the door behind me. My room was painted gray, all the furniture matched the walls with a little green as an accent color. I prepared for bed, then opened my window a crack for fresh air to pass though during the night. The trees made inky shadows on the forest floor and all colors turned to dark blues or grays while everyone slept. A void bird stood attentive at a branch near my window, its shiny eyes looked into mine. I had hunted many animals but sometimes I couldn’t kill a certain one. Like this very bird that I was preparing to shoot earlier. It stood now where it had for the past few days, perched on the same branch. I simply turned and climbed into bed, leaving the bird to its own devices. I could still see it from my bed, so I watched it peer over the forest from its spot. It started singing a quiet song that floated in my window like a lullaby. I feel asleep with the soothing song washing away any thoughts.

 When I woke up the void bird was still there, its black body swallowing the dim light. It was not yet dawn, but I got up anyway. After I dressed and made my bed the bird was gone from its branch. I was not phased by the fact it was gone because the same thing had been happening for days. I made my way downstairs grabbing a small roll of bread and a cheese square for lunch and tucking them in my small pack. I was out the door just as the sun peeked from behind the tips of trees. Today’s excursion was to the river a few miles deep in the woods. There were sweet mushroom that grew near it, on the forests mossy floor. Setting out for the river I wove through the trees still moist from the morning dew. I didn’t walk along the path, I never did. The forest always guided me, so I took my own path. My parents said I could speak forest, they joked that if they got lost, I would find them. Even when I was little I never got lost, so my parents were never worried when I left for the forest alone early in the morning.

 The birds this morning were quite active. They fly over my head, landing on heavy branches making them dip slightly. I smiled to myself as I listen to the bird’s chat. “Did you hear about chee chee the flock of swell birds chee chee,” A charale gossiped, even I knew what flock they were talking about. “I heard they were chae chae just passing?” Another charale adds. Their shrieks unique to each bird help me define who is talking. All my life I remember being able to hear the birds talk, I could hear other animals too, but they required me to focus and interpret what they were saying. Bird talk came to me naturally, no computation to hear those annoying bickering sky animals. My walk slows as some of the noise of the forest dials down. The silence gets closer as I duck into a bush preparing for a predator.

 A hole on the sky moves across the rising sun and misty clouds coat the tips of trees. The chatty charales lose their voices with squeaks after spotting it. The dark figure slices the sky as it lands on a branch low to the ground a few feet away. Its head swivels facing me, I sigh and stand up. “You need to stop doing that!” I scold the void bird, “If you won’t speak that fine, but you can’t just scare the other animals into silence because you don’t want to.” I frown the bleak eyes staring back at me. If birds could make any humane expressions this one would be wearing a cocky smirk. Much to his amusement I was still frustrated that my new birdy stalker refused to talk. I continued on my way toward the river with the void bird following. The chatting resumed as my stalker flew to a new branch every time I walked a few more feet.

 I arrived at the river a few hours before noon. A family of finherbal birds floated in the water above a swarm of speckle fish. I sat on the bank and ate my lunch before going to harvest sweet mushrooms. The sweet mushrooms grew at the edge, between the water bank and the forest. They had prickly little stems that supported a deep purple bulbus top. If you ate the mushroom the wrong way, they gave you prickagit sickness. I got it once by accident and it lasted two weeks feeling like my stomach was being prickled by hundreds of needles. I tied the stems in a piece of fabric and placed a bundle of sweet mushrooms in my pack. It still wasn’t noon; it was to early to head back, so I decided on a nice swim.

 I tied up my hair in a bun, so it stayed dry. I striped before easing into the chilly water. The speckled fish swam into hiding when they noticed me. I couldn’t help but glance up at the void bird watching my very bare figure under the clear water. “Stop looking you peeking tom!” I exclaimed with a faint blush on my cheeks. The bird actually turned around on the branch it was currently inhabiting, as if embarrassed to be caught looking. I floated around in the rippling water, it washed off the musk of the forest as best as it could but no matter how much cleaning you did, I always smelled faintly of the outdoors (Not in a bad way). I swam around a little before laying on a patch of grass to dry in the sun. I closed my eyes with my arms behind my head. I was completely bare, but I never really felt exposed. I thought back to the way the void bird had looked at me earlier though. The way his eyes bore into my mind made me think he was anything but bird. I peered up at the branch he was still perched on, his back was still facing me. His feathers were ruffled to keep in warmth, and I wondered if he was a man what kind of personality would he have?

 Once I was dry, I got dressed and called out to the bird. He turned and looked at me with his intriguing eyes, before following me back into the forest heading home.