Third Time's a Charm

The third time I noticed its presence, I had just stepped down from the wagon to check on my wheel for the third time in the night. The damn thing kept pulling more and more towards the forest and I was growing tired of having to pull the wagon back to the road every five minutes. My arm was growing sore and my patience was running thin.

I was in the middle of Redwood's trail and the waning moon cast little to no light over the dark road, so I couldn't see much of what I was doing to be able to fix anything on that damn crooked wheel.

Wooly stomped his hoof on the ground and at that exact moment, I caught a glimpse of a shadow moving in the forest. When I looked up to see what it was, there was a small silhouette leering closer to the edge of the trees.

"Oh, it's you again," I muttered, leaving my crooked wheel for a moment to properly address the creature.

As I took one step closer, I realized it wasn't the ghostly woman from before standing by the trees. It was a scared-looking young kid, pale as a ghost with a trembling body half hidden behind the trunk.

"Hello there." I greeted, watching him with caution.

The boy's gaze was locked on me, watching attentively. I felt a tug and a pressure at the back of my skull but it passed too quickly for me to pay any attention to it.

The vague shape of the boy shimmered then, like a vision that changes focus, it quickly morphed its features before it settled on a new appearance.

"It's… an illusion," I muttered impressed, as he stepped from behind the tree.

It had now the much more appealing shape of a young man, very dashing and handsome, with inky dark hair falling softly over his eyes, a lean, fit body with marbled skin that made him resemble a sculpture from one of those rich palaces in distant lands far away.

"Please, help?" He said, his voice raspy and low, like the rustling of leaves scraping on a dirt road.

He wasn't a woman or a small boy anymore, but he still had gone for the same helpless act. He was also trying the seductive and ethereal look he had done for the lady, shirt half open exposing a smooth, muscled, bare chest and the same pleading look on his big round innocent looking eyes.

"Help me." He tried again, standing by the edge of the forest, unmoving.

I watched him from afar, before asking, "What can I do for you?"

"I'm stuck. You help me. Come." he said, pointing to his feet. His wording was strange, sounding foreign and not quite right to the ears.

"I…" I hesitated and glanced at the ground. It was too dark under those trees to see if his foot was really stuck on something. The grass was tall where he was standing, with a cluster of wild red flowers covering his feet.

He reminded me a lot of an old boy I fancied in my village while growing up, but he seemed much older, taller, and much, much, more beautiful… And even though he sounded genuinely afraid and in really need of help, there was something definitely odd going on there… I couldn't turn off this warning alarm blaring at the back of my head.

"Come. Help." he insisted, motioning for me to get closer.

His dark hair fell over his eyes as he bowed down, trying to appear small and as non-threatening as possible, but still, in those quick seconds as he dipped his head lower, his eyes glinted with an eerie light, reminding me of all the alluring disguises he had been trying to use to coax me, and of the true nature behind that handsome face.

"Yeah, sorry, but there's nothing I can do for you there, my friend," I said, suddenly blinking out of my daze. "Not sure I'd be of any help anyway, can't seem to fix a lousy wagon's wheel for what it's worth. Plus, your predicament seems to be beyond my capabilities of repair." I told him, giving one step back and away from the forest. "I suspect it isn't much help you're looking for anyway. I'd guess it is more of a meal you require, and I much rather not be that for tonight."

"No!!" he pleaded, reaching a desperate hand out towards me, and in his haste, he took one small step forward, revealing a not-so-stuck foot after all. He stopped right before the shadows cast from the trees, right where the red flowers stopped growing on the grass. "Don't go! Come closer!"

I continued stepping back, towards my wagon. "Sorry, bud, but I have to get going. It was a neat trick, though. A much better choice for bait this time around, I may say." I confessed, giving him a half smile before hunkering down on the wagon's rider seat. It sure was a shape that was very pleasing to look at, I'll have to admit.

"But as we can all see, your foot is no longer stuck there, so you don't really need any help, do you? And I do really need to get going. You have a nice evening, sir." I tipped an imaginary hat to him and clicked my tongue at Wooly, waving one last goodbye to the sound of angry hollering that shook the forest's treetops behind me.