2 A Night in the Forest

Axel cautiously looks around and stands up when he doesn't see anything dangerous in his vicinity. The sun was up and beams of light were shining through the canopy. There were trees and bushes all around him. Axel could hear the rustling of leaves and felt the cold breeze against his face. Over in the distance, he saw the mouth of a cave. The surroundings seemed very peaceful.

'Where am I now?'

Axel wandered around the forest, but kept track of his starting point if he needed to go back there. He wandered for about an hour in a random direction before he heard the sound of rushing water. He quickly walked toward the sound and found a 10 foot wide river with reeds and grass growing around it. He first looked around the river, and after seeing nothing around, he bent down and scooped some water to drink. After quenching his thirst, he sat against a tree while listening to the sound of the river. He contemplated how he got here and his purpose.

'The screen that I saw said to survive until daylight.'

Axel didn't see anything that could harm him in the forest. In fact, he didn't see or hear any forest creature. He also didn't believe that he would die of starvation from spending one day in the wilderness.

'Wait... where are all the animals?'

He didn't hear any birds chirping or any rodents running around. Axel stood up and rushed toward the river. He looked in the water and couldn't spot any fish swimming. Panic rising within him, Axel dropped to the ground and searched. He didn't find any insects either. With his heart thumping wildly, he felt scared and alone in this forest devoid of the living. After a few minutes, Axel calmed down when he still didn't see anything unusual besides the lack of life.

'There has to be a reason the screen said to survive.'

In the first place, Axel was skeptical of the screen. After seeing this strange place that didn't have life, including insects, he decided to accept it for now. Axel felt that the screen wouldn't give unnecessary instructions. It was his gamer instincts that were telling him this. Axel reviewed in his mind what he read on the screen.

'I have to survive until daylight, meaning I have to survive through the night. Since nothing is happening to me, it must mean that something is happening at night.'

Axel concluded that this must be the aim of this situation. The sun was starting to go down, and he quickly decided his course of actions. He remembered a cave he saw back at his starting point, and deciding that he would take shelter in it, he started to stride back there. Only after a few seconds of walking did Axel come back to the river to drink some more water. He couldn't find anything to contain water and didn't know how to make a cup or basket, so he filled himself to the brim and continued his trek back.

...

Axel made his way back and got a little lost in the process. He found some weird fruits that he never seen before hanging on the branches of trees. He decided not to eat them when he didn't know if they were edible or not. When he arrived back at his original spot, the sun was beginning to set over the horizon. The forest started to look more orange because of the setting sun and the shadows became longer. The wind was blowing a little harder and leaves were being carried by it. There was also an ominous feeling carried by the wind that gave Axel goosebumps. On his way back, Axel again confirmed that there were no living beings besides him in the forest.

Axel found the cave and rushed toward it in a hurry. Halfway to the cave, dark clouds suddenly appeared in the sky and partially blocked the setting sun. The forest became darker and harder to see through. The wind was increasing in strength and Axel's hair was fluttering wildly. He ran faster and faster until he was sprinting at max speed when he felt that something was very wrong. Rain was beginning to fall when the clouds appeared and now it was pouring when he got to the cave. He took shelter within the cave and gasped for air after he had collapsed on the cold stone floor. The opening of the cave was not very big and the inside was only around 30 feet deep.

Axel looked out the mouth of the cave as the forest became entirely dark. Rain was pouring heavily and the wind was blowing hard, making the branches of every tree rustle. The collective sound of the branches was very loud and seemed to get louder the more he listened to it. Every now and then a streak of lightning would flash and the deafening sound resulting from it would overcome the sound of the forest.

Axel moved toward the back of the cave and sat against it. He took off his wet sweater and dropped it on the ground. He watched the outside of the cave for any activity while resting. The forest was dark but the occasional streak of lightning would illuminate it for a few seconds. After watching the outside for a few minutes, he noticed something disturbing.

'Where did that tree go?'

There was a tree in the front of the cave that seem to have disappeared. Axel was petrified and stared at the trees intently. When the next flash of light occurred, the positions of the trees had somehow changed. Looking more closely, Axel found that the trees were moving very slowly. He also saw bushes moving, but at a faster pace than the trees.

Axel pressed himself into the furthest part of the cave and silenced his breathing. Some sounds which he once assumed to have come from the branches were instead coming from the roots of the trees that were shuffling. He observed the trees moving back and forth in front of the cave. He saw a tree with the same kinds of fruits he saw before and was relieved he did not eat those fruits, even if they were harmless.

The trees shuffled around but never entered the cave. It wasn't as if the cave was too big, as most bushes could fit in the cave. Intrigued by this, Axel observed that the bushes were avoiding the rocks that were scattered around the cave. He came up with an idea about why the trees and bushes were not coming to get him.

'They cannot move on stone because of their roots.'

Axel's fear subsided and he shifted himself into a more comfortable position. He thought he was safe from the plants because they could not get into the cave. As he sat in the dark cave safe from the plants, he could not get rid of the feeling that he was missing something. He thought about it for a few seconds and was alarmed from a thought he had.

'Why are there still no living beings in this cave?'

The cave was supposedly safe from the lumbering trees and bushes. Still, there wasn't a hint of life in the desolate cave. Axel got up at once and inspected the cave with fervor. After a few flashes of lightning, Axel spotted a patch of dirt in the ceiling above where he was sitting down. From the ceiling, a root was beginning to snake down.

Axel's heart thumped wildly at the realization that the cave was not fully safe. He should have been more cautious and inspected his surrounding in more detail. The long root had reached halfway to the floor and was moving around the cave, like it was searching for something. Axel frantically searched for a solution when his eyes came across his sweater that was lying on the ground. He quickly picked it up and tossed it toward the root while also moving further away from it.

When the root came into contact with the sweater, it burst forward and tightly wrapped around it. The root squeezed the sweater tightly and a different root came down from the patch on the ceiling. This new root was smaller and the end was pointy. The smaller root zoomed forward and pierced the sweater continuously. After penetrating the sweater and few times and leaving lots of holes, the smaller root retracted back into the ceiling. The larger root followed the smaller one back, bringing the sweater along with it. Axel stood there, looking at the patch of dirt in the ceiling with sweat flowing down his body. If he had noticed a bit later, he could have died.

Axel continued to look at the patch to see if the roots would come down again. To his relief, the roots did not descend into the cave again. Axel could hear tearing noises from above, thinking that it was from his sweater. The plant which descended its roots and tore the sweater did not move from its spot. This meant that the dirt patch was obstructed and no new plant could descend its roots until the current one moved.

Still, Axel did not settle down and continued to watch the patch while also looking outside for any danger coming in.

...

Light was appearing in the forest. The dark clouds cleared up and the wind calmed down. The trees and bushes settled into place and became still. The forest had an earthy smell resulting from the downpour. Sunlight shined into the cave and covered over an object that was against the cave walls.

Axel stayed awake all night and did not let himself lose focus. He was extremely tired with dark bags underneath his bloodshot eyes. When the light covered his body, his eyelids could no longer stay open and he fell into deep sleep.