A Simple Wager

The crackling of dirt follows us as we make our way down the small dirt road. On either side of us are fields of wheat that stretched on for hundreds of meters. The rising sun gently reflects off the fields making them look like a golden ocean. A worn-down stone fence is the only thing preventing the fields from overflowing onto the dirt path.

"So Maria, what do you wanna wager today?"

Walking atop the mossy fence, a small boy asks me a question without looking at me. Instead he seems fully invested in his current task. With both arms stuck out, he carefully makes his way forward. Bending at the hip, he wobbles back and forth, just barely maintaining his balance as he jumps from stone to stone.

His small frame is only accentuated by the baggy clothes he wears. It almost looked like a grown man had gone back in time, leaving him in clothes that didn't fit. His small head peeked out from the hole in his shirt. Greasy brown hair shot out in every direction which just barely licked at his eyes. Freckles dotted his tanned face but neatly avoided his small eyes.

The boy's name is Edward, but I've always just called him Ed. I wouldn't say we became friends by choice or anything; rather, it seemed to just happen. You see in our village me and Ed are the only two of the same age. Naturally, we sort of gravitated towards each other. I guess we were just destined to be friends.

"Hmm... I don't really know I haven't really thought of anything."

Bringing up a hand, I massage my chin as I think of Ed's question. I haven't really thought of anything to wager yet. I've been so focused on making dolls that I haven't even really given much thought to anything else.

"How about a silver coin?"

"No. I only have a handful of coppers right now."

A sigh escapes my lips as I respond. To be honest, I didn't even have that much. If I added up all the money that I had, it would probably only be about ten coppers, and that was if I was lucky. I wasn't anywhere close to having enough to bet a silver coin. Which, to be honest, was pretty pathetic. But it does remind me of something else.

"You went into town with your family recently, right? Do you have any kind of food you can wager?"

"Yeah, I got some sweet cake left. What food do you have?"

Let's see what food do I have that I can wager? Nothing really comes to mind. But I can't pass up on that sweet cake! I can't remember the last time I've had one. Now that I think about it I guess there is one thing that I can wager.

"How about a link of sausage?"

Hearing my words, Ed hastily jumps down from the wall to walk beside me. His attention is now fully focused on the conversation. I can feel him glaring at me, hoping that I'll look over and make eye contact. But I just keep staring forward, pretending not to notice his glare.

"You have sausage?"

One of Ed's defining characteristics. Well I guess it can apply to any boy when you think about it. He is absolutely addicted to meat. Anything meat related and Ed is all over it. If it was up to him I'm sure that he would only eat meat.

"Yeah, we just killed one of the pigs, and my dad used some of the meat to make sausage. He gave all of us a little bit of it. I've been saving mine for a special time."

"Really?"

I really wish he would stop staring at me, but I know if I say anything about it, he'll know I'm lying. Despite his looks, Ed is relatively smart. Growing up in a family with seven siblings, he's gotten good at telling when people are lying. Unfortunately for him, his current opponent is me. As long as I kept my guard up and don't say anything unnecessary, I can get away with a little white lie.

"Well, I did hear that your family killed some of their pigs recently. The only thing I can't believe is that you would save something."

"How rude! I may be bad with money, but I do know moderation when it comes to food."

"Sure sure. I'll take you up on your offer. I bet my sweet cake and you your sausage. Sound good?"

"Yeah, too bad you'll never get that sausage."

Ed ignores my comment and begins running down the trail. After about fifty meters, he turns around and continues jogging backwards. Bringing his hands to his mouth, he starts to yell something at me.

"Hurry it up! I want to get started!"

"You can just start! I'll have to wait for a little bit anyway, so you might as well go on ahead!"

I yell back towards Ed while keeping my pace. Hearing my response Ed lifts up his thumb as a sign that he heard me and continues down the path. A couple hundred meters in front of him is a large forest. The dirt trail continues in the forest, seemingly getting swallowed up by darkness. Despite that, Ed charges right into the forest without so much as a second thought.

The forest itself seems to stretch on for forever on either side of the entrance. In general, kids weren't allowed to go and play in the forest. In the past, bandits and wild animals have attacked people who go into it. Apparently it was so bad at one point that most people who traveled through it had to bring some sort of protection. Occasionally a dead merchant would be found thrown to the side of the road.

Recently though, things have changed, and the forest has gotten far safer. In fact, from what I hear no one has run into any problems for almost a year. As such, the village elders have been open to the idea of allowing us to play in the village. As for why the attacks have gone down, I have no idea. Some say it's because God smited the evil of the forest. And I guess that is a possibility but I doubt God would waste his time with a tiny forest.

Before I know it, I'm standing at the entrance where Ed disappeared into. Despite being right in front of the entrance, I could still only see a couple meters. No matter how many times I saw it, I was always creeped out by it. I don't know how Ed can just run in here so recklessly. Let alone travelers who go through it all by themselves.

Let's see... Might as well prepare while I'm waiting to start. Reaching into a bag hanging around my hip, I pull out four small dolls made of straw. They were rough, but it was definitely possible to see that they were supposed to be dogs, I hope. Despite all my practice, I still really suck at making dolls.

Gently I throw the dolls up into the air. By the time they hit the ground, all four have grown to the size of a normal dog. Although now they looked even less like dogs than before. I guess since they grew bigger, the imperfections on them, naturally, were only drawn out even more.

The dolls themselves started poking around the dirt path as if they were real dogs. This, was my strange power. That being, I could make dolls and then bring them to life. As to how I was able to do this, I really don't know. It's just been something that I've always been able to do. It's like trying to ask someone how do you make your heart beat. They won't know how to do it, it's just something that they do naturally.

At first, I thought that I was special because I was the only one who could do something like this. But then my father told me that apparently lots of people have strange powers. But most of them live in the capital, so you don't really see people like me all that often in small villages. Other than that my dad didn't really know all that much. The only real contact we have with the outside world is travelers and merchants. There's also another town a couple kilometers east but I've never been.

Dragging my eyes off the dog-like dolls, I look over at the sun. The sky is no longer red anymore, which means that morning has finally ended. I guess that means it's time to go find Ed. It would be bad if he ends up winning, and I have to steal some sausage from my dad.

With a soft clap of my hands, all the dolls stop what they're doing and look over at me expectantly.

"You know the drill, go find Ed and tell me when you find him."

As soon as I finish talking, the dolls dash past me and go into the forest. If you blinked, it probably would have looked like the dolls just disappeared. I turn my body around to face the entrance of the forest and prep myself to go in. With the thought of sweet cake pushing me forward, I make my way into the forest.

Unlike in the fields, the forest is far colder. I guess with the trees blocking most of the light that would make sense. An uncontrollable shiver runs through out my body. I know if I run, I probably wouldn't be so cold, but I really don't want to run. I'll just warm up naturally as I wait for the dolls to tell me they found Ed.

Surprisingly my power didn't just let me make living dolls, it also allowed me to know wherever they were. It was almost like a map in my head, which I could use to see where the dolls were. Although it isn't really a map, more like a marker that says they're over there. Also, the dolls can even send small messages directly to my head. If I had to describe it would be like the voice in your head saying something that you didn't think.

Whenever I tell my family or friends about this, they think it's pretty creepy. But I can't really figure out why. This has always been natural to me, so I can't really imagine life without it. I mean after all it feels like I'm telling myself something

Found.

I guess one of the dolls managed to find Ed, but that was awfully quick.

Turning my head around, I can still see the entrance to the forest is probably less than a hundred meters away. If they really did find him, then this would be the quickest game yet. Typically it takes an hour or two to find him, so this is definitely strange.

Pushing branches out of the way, I leave the dirt trail as I start to make my way over to the location of the doll. As for as I can think, there is one of two explanations. One is the dolls actually did find Ed, this is the best result. The other is that they found someone else. As to who that person is, it's completely up in the air.

In fact, this has actually happened before. I used to think that they would only let me know when they found Ed. But apparently, when I tell them to find Ed, they don't search for Ed. They instead just search for a person, any person. Because of this, one time the dolls found and scared the life out a traveler who was passing through the forest. Poor guy probably almost had a heart attack.

As I get closer to the doll's location, I can hear the sound of a couple people talking. Normally I would just walk up to them since it's probably a traveler but I'm pretty far off the trail right now. I've never seen travelers go so far out just to set up a camp. Plus, it's light outside right now. If they were travelers, they would be leaving as soon as it's light out to make a good time.

Crouching down, I try to get as close as possible without making any noise. Due to a large amount of foliage my progress is slow. It feels like no matter how close I get, I just can't make out what they're saying. There are so many bushes around hear maybe it would be better if I just left these guys alone. I'm afraid that if I get any closer, then they'll hear me. But I can't just leave; the curiosity who they are will be the death of me.

Torn between two paths, I sharpen my resolve and begin crawling forward slowly. After what feels like an hour, I can finally just barely make out what they're saying. Unfortunately, a large bush prevents me from actually seeing the people. If I try to go through it I'm sure they people will hear me. So straining my ears, I begin to listen to their conversation.

"I don't know. That's not my job."

"You're the closest one to Owl, though."

"So? Not like I remember anything he says."

"Well, we got no guidance, so just to be safe, go find em."

"I don't want to!"

"And I don't care! Do you want to explain this to him?"

"Ngh! No..."

"Then go!"

I can hear the man grumble something as he starts to walk away. Surprisingly I don't hear the sound of the moving foliage as he leaves. Almost immediately, silence grips the surrounding area. How the hell did he walk away and not make any noise! It took me forever to get where I am just he just casually walked out.

Now it's just me and the other guy who stayed behind. I have no idea who they're looking for but it sounded like they work underneath something. Its possible they're members of the Empire searching for an escaped fugitive. That would make the most sense, despite that thought I still don't feel like revealing myself to him. Theres still the possibility that he's a bad guy.

After a couple minutes of waiting a sudden noise fills the air. A scream pierces the pierces the surrounding area. Instinctively I cover my ears upon hearing the sound. At first, I thought it was the man who stayed behind who started screaming, but I could hear the shouts of other people.

"SHUT HIM UP!"

"I did my job, this is on you!"

"FINE!"

A few seconds later, a dull smack comes from over the bush, and the screaming stops. If I had to guess, whoever was screaming got probably got punched. I almost feel like thanking the men I thought my ears were gonna break because of that screaming.

"This kid is the one?"

Kid? What does he mean by a kid? I thought they dragged over another man. Besides that how the hell did they get so close without making a sound. It was completely silent and then someone just started screaming. Just what the hell was happening on the other side of the bush?

"I think so, I mean he was hiding."

Hiding? So I guess it was some kind of escaped convict or something. But they don't seem to know who they're looking for. Does that mean that they just went out and grabbed someone who was hiding and dragged them back. But then isn't it possible that...

"Hey, kid, wake up! I said, wake up!"

"Wha..."

"What's your name kid."

Please, please, please, please...

"..."

"Did you get that?"

"I think he said, Ed. Or maybe he just said end me. Either one works for me."

Oh no... No, no, no, no, no! I can feel my heart drop at hearing those words. It can't be...

That can't be Ed! It just can't be thats impossible! Wait. Calm down, there's no way that it's Ed. Yeah it can't be, how could the have gone out and found him and dragged him back here in just a few minutes. It just doesn't make any sense! This must be someone else; there's no way that it's Ed over there. Yeah, that makes sense. When you think about it logically, it has to be someone else. It has to be someone else right? Right!