Missing

There are days where I feel at peace and days where I feel like I am being punished.

And today, feels like a punishment.

I was pulling weeds out of Baynard's farm while the scorching sun mercilessly came down upon me.

Sweat trickled down to my neck as I continued working and I shouldn't be complaining, I have been postponing this task and more weed grew overtime and now here I am, suffering.

But I was used to it. I've been living this life ever since I was seven years old when Baynard, who was my neighbor, decided to raise me when my mother had suddenly disappeared.

I've always hated thinking about it.

Did she abandon me?

Or did something bad happen to her?

Is she dead or living a new life? Without me?

I took a deep breath to compose myself, it's been thirteen years and yet it still brought a pain in my heart whenever I thought about her.

Putting my focus back to my work, I pulled the last weed out with all my strength. I took the pile of pulled out weeds and dumped them in the compost pile.

Breathing heavily, I made my way back to my house to change out of my dirty clothes and wash up. Baynard wasn't home yet, he'd go out everyday to sell some harvest and sometimes it would take as long as until after sundown for him to return.

So no, I wasn't worried when it was already dark and hadn't returned yet.

I got myself ready for bed, putting my covers on me as I closed my eyes and succumbed to sleep.

"It's time for bed, Koen." I heard my mother's voice call out to me.

I looked towards my left and saw a beautiful woman who was around her late 20s and early 30s.

Her dark brown eyes, that was something we both shared, looked tired but happy to see me.

She picked me up, hugged me tightly and murmured in my ear, "Sweet dreams, my love."

"Goodnight, mom." I replied, it wasn't in my control though. It was as if my dialogue was predetermined and there was no way of changing it.

So I played along even when I already knew what was going to happen.

She tucked me in and kissed my forehead goodnight as she took the lamp with her and closed the door.

Leaving me in my room, dark but dimly lit from the window where the moon was shining brightly.

As I was about to drift off, I heard some muffled noises downstairs.

I didn't think much of it. Mom was a baker and would sometimes try some new recipes in the kitchen while I slept.

I groaned as I woke up, the sunlight hitting my face perfectly which made me squint my eyes and quickly sit up on the bed to avoid the light.

Once again, I dreamt of her like I always did every other night. It's like my mind wants me to relive my most painful memory and I hated it.

I sighed deeply as I got out of bed and put on some more decent clothes and went downstairs to get myself breakfast. Shuffling my feet down the stairs, I looked for signs of Baynard being home.

He wasn't.

"Baynard?" I called out, he would be away most of the day selling his harvest but he never goes out this early.

I observed the kitchen, nothing was moved and everything stayed as it was when I went to bed.

Baynard didn't return home last night. He is gone.

I ran back up to my room and grabbed my cloak and small bag, which had some silver coins in it.

Not this again. I thought to myself.

I can't lose him, not like mom.

I just had to find him, dead or alive, as long as I knew what happened. I just needed to know.

The village square was the most obvious place I could look in, it was filled with busy people selling their goods. Baynard's stall was empty and by the looks of it, his harvest was sold out.

I went to the stall next to him, Richard was the owner and he sold all sorts of accessories.

"Good morning Koen!" He greeted me, "It's been a while since you've been in the square."

"Morning Richard, have you seen Baynard?" I greeted him and went straight to the point.

"This morning? I don't think so." He answered, looking a bit confused.

"What about last night?"

"Oh well in that case, he went inside the Achovell Woods." He informed me and shrugged like it wasn't a big matter.

Now that was something most people wouldn't do, unless it was to forage or hunt some animals, no one would step foot inside the Achovell Woods.

It's a large forest and reportedly it has been said that the deeper you go in there, the more likely you get lost. Either you get killed by an animal, eat some poisonous plants or go insane.

That is why Achovell woods is unexplored. But that is also why I just had to go in there.

I said my goodbyes to Richard and bought myself some rations from the other stalls. A bottle of water and some berries stashed in my pouch.

With a deep breath, I gathered the courage to go inside. I kept reminding myself the entire time that this was for Baynard.

The trees were big, bigger than the average ones one would see everyday, and the air smelled musty. The ground was mostly covered with moss and some rocks, birds chirped in the distance.

And thankfully, there were footsteps that were the same size as Baynard's shoes, so at least I knew where to start.

I don't know how long it has been but I ran out of rations about a day ago.

I was starving and dehydrated and I was not going to risk myself dying by picking out unknown berries and plants.

That is not a gamble I was willing to take.

Baynard's footsteps disappeared after a few hours when I found them and I've been walking straight ever since. I kept trudging through the forest. I'm not sure if I'm going insane but I do feel light headed the majority of the time now.

Now all of a sudden, I heard a growl behind me and some heavy footsteps.

My heart was pounding and I noticed my palms starting to sweat. My skin had tiny bumps all over and my breaths were getting shorter every second. I slowly turned around and saw a black bear. It was smaller than average which gave me a bit of hope in the chances of my survival.

The bear kept growling, taking slow steps towards me. I wasn't thinking straight.

In fact, the only thing I could think of was to run.

The bear chased after me, I ran as fast as I could and after a moment I no longer heard the heavy footsteps. I turned around to see if it was still following me and from a distance, it stood still like it was in a trance.

My memory of this is a blur, I could only remember the adrenaline coursing through my veins making my senses sharper, every sound and movement was vivid.

I did not have a plan on how to escape this nor was I taking careful steps while running and before I could even realize it, I slipped into a ditch.

My head landed on something sharp, everything seemed to slow down for me. I felt the hard object dig into my scalp and the pain it caused was unimaginable; something I wouldn't wish upon anyone.

But despite my attempts, I could not move any longer no matter how hard my mind commanded my body, it did not grant me the kindness of listening.

I was terrified that I would die, either from this or from the bear. Either would be painful. I decided to spend my last moments to accept that this was my end but at least then I'd finally be with my mother in the afterlife, right?

A silhouette of a humanoid covered my sight, their face was covered by the shadows and their hair, I could not get a good look of their face. I did, however, hear her voice.

It was soft and full of worry, her words were muffled but it spoke good intentions towards me.

Was that an angel?