Footprints

"Ricky! Mama said you have to get up."

Ricky felt the pudgy finger of his little sister poke his cheek, waking him.

"Really? Are you sure you aren't just bored?"

Miya heaved a sigh with a tiredness of life that did not match her youth or small stature.

"I wish. Mama is going to start putting me to work as soon as you leave."

Ricky sat up and looked at his little sister with an empathetic smile. He patted her head.

"You better get changed, then. Do you need help?"

Miya looked up at Ricky with teary eyes.

"B-b-b-but…!"

"That's a no. Well, good luck!"

Ricky threw his duvet over Miya as he quickly got dressed and left the room.

When she heard the telltale sound of the board outside the room creaking under Ricky's feet, Miya removed the duvet and glared after her brother. There was no sign of her tears.

"Traitor! I will have my revenge!"

Miya swore with a clenched fist before sighing and leaving to help their mother around the village.

Ricky gathered his things after leaving the room. He grabbed a piece of bread.

'Nice.'

It was softer than usual. The baker had been by this morning.

Their house was already on the outskirts of the village, so Ricky didn't have to go far before he reached the forest. Still, he let their neighbor know that he was heading out so someone knew where he was and when to expect him back.

After that, Ricky followed the trail into the forest before leaving it and walking along the various animal paths as he scoured the forest floor for herbs.

His mother didn't want him to be a hunter. Ricky wanted to be a hunter.

The compromise they reached was that Ricky could enter the forest as long as he stayed clear of the animals and only gathered herbs. He also couldn't go deep into the forest. The only thing his mother cared about was his safety.

Ricky knew and understood that. After all, his father had died when hunting.

But there was so much more money to be had by hunting animals than by collecting herbs and flowers. He wanted to take care of his family.

Ricky sighed.

His mother never agreed with that argument. He was still a child. He should let his mother take care of him and his sister, even if they were barely scraping by.

Ricky kicked a stone out of frustration. He expected it to fly into the forest.

It didn't.

The stone was firmly lodged in the ground.

"Eeeshit!"

Ricky cried out in pain and hopped on his other foot while cradling the victim of the stone's cruel prank in his hands.

However, the forest floor wasn't the best place to hop around on one foot.

Ricky stumbled into a protruding root and fell face-first into a nearby brush.

Irritated, he crawled out on the other side.

"Stupid forest."

Ricky placed his palms against the ground and was about to push himself up when he saw a footprint in the dirt.

"Hmm?"

Ricky frowned. That was one strange footprint.

It looked almost like an ordinary child's foot. He would know since he had seen many of those when Miya tracked dirt inside the house.

But it only had three toes. The strange part was that it didn't look like the wielder of the foot had lost any toes. There weren't any strange gaps, and the three toes were larger than usual.

Ricky looked around until he found the second print, confirming there were two feet in the pair.

Ricky stood up and looked back toward where he came from. He didn't want to get lost, and the tracks led away from the village toward a place he hadn't gone before. They led deeper into the forest.

The wise decision would be to either finish his herb-collecting first and then head back or go return to the village at once and talk to the adults.

'Too bad I'm not known for my wisdom.'

Ricky brushed off the leaves and dirt from falling down to try and suppress his curiosity and nervousness as he started following the traces of the strange-footed child.

The child hadn't made any attempts at hiding its passing, even if it had avoided using the animal trails, so Ricky didn't have a difficult time following it. He had spent a lot of time in the forest looking. And before he passed, Ricky's father had taught him what to look for.

'No. It is my duty.'

Regardless of the fact that he might encounter dangerous animals by heading deeper into the forest, there was a child at risk. They might only have three toes, which Ricky didn't think anyone in the village had. But as a brother himself, Ricky couldn't just leave them alone.

Ricky steeled his resolve as he tirelessly followed the tracks while also keeping an eye out for his surroundings. It would be pretty tragic if he found the child but not his way back to the village.

More time than Ricky thought would pass went by without a sign of the child itself other than the footprints, broken twigs, and torn leaves. He couldn't help but become worried.

But after some time, he discovered another set of footprints.

'They're not alone?'

Ricky frowned and kept following the intersecting footprints until he arrived at a clearing. The footprints left the trees without hesitation and led straight into the open area.

Ricky paused.

He could feel something.

He hid behind a bush and peeked out from it to see what he had found.

Something told him he should be careful this deep into the forest.

Ricky's eyes opened wide as his mind gradually processed what he was looking at.

"...!?"