In the Forest
David “Goliath” Dukart

He stood at the edge of the forest, his head that wore a ratty old brown hat tucked into his chest and his eyes covered by black sunglasses that reflected the hot noon day sun.  Wearing faded blue jeans with holes and patches covering nearly every inch of the pants, a black shirt, and a white trench coat, stained brown at the bottom by being drug through the dirt, the stranger tossed the cigarette he was smoking down toward the ground.  Before it could hit, though, the toe of his right boot caught it, flipped it back into the air, and then stomped on it with amazing force and accuracy.  He lifted his head and let a small smile escape at the corner of his mouth.  This was going to be his ultimate challenge; a forest that no one entered alone…and survived to see the other side.  There were rumors of giant snakes, bottomless pits, and other such fantastic nonsense…at least, in his mind.  He was sure that nothing was that bad, that it was all the superstitious mindset of a small village struggling to make due in hard times, willing to blame any misfortune on things out of their control.
Yet, he couldn’t help but want even some of the rumors to be true.  He had crossed deserts, perpetually frozen lakes, never-ending mountains, and other natural perils, all with the promise of finding an adventure with a mystical side to it.  So far, his wishes had been left unanswered.  The monsters and demons of the places he had visited were nothing but exaggerated stories to entertain the old and keep the young at bay…at least, until they had a death wish to explore the world.
But this was no time to reflect on the past.  The stranger took one last deep breath, touched the small dagger on his right hip loyally, and plunged straight into the heart of the forest.
At first, the forest was fine.  The stranger stayed to the main path, and except for the occasional rock or unseen bump in the road, he was undisturbed by any of the wood-dwellers.  Slowly, though, the atmosphere of the area changed…became darker.  First, there were fewer birds twittering in the trees and flying off as he passed off.  Then, the sun’s position became harder to identify and left the air cold and lifeless.  The path became harder and harder to navigate, and finally he lost track of it completely.  This did not stop him, however; he knew which direction the next town was from the many maps that he had studied and he used his internal compass to point him in that direction.  Even if he got lost, the stranger knew enough about wilderness survival to find food, make shelter, and wait until the morning, if he were to become lost until night.
The stranger continued his way through the woods.  At one point, he thought he heard something rustling in the brush, but he shrugged it off, figuring it was some deer or elk trying to find its way through the bramble, same as he.  But as time wore on, the sound got closer to him.  Whatever was going through the woods, it was following him, most likely as food.
He kept moving, waiting until he hit a patch of land that was relatively free of underbrush.  There he stopped and unsheathed his dagger.  The stranger knew that whatever force followed him, it was not friendly.  And he knew this for only one reason; his heart was racing, sweat was coming out of every pore, and his hands were shaking.
He was scared.  And he never, not in his forty years of life, got scared.
Standing perfectly silent, the stranger waited for his stalker to make itself known.  If this beast was intelligent and had keen senses, it knew that the man was afraid, but it also knew that the best thing to do now was to keep as silent as possible.  The element of surprise was on its side.  The stranger suspected that it was very intelligent; by making itself known earlier, it had made the man anxious, and thus, more vulnerable.  This was no ordinary beast.  This was something that could accurately be described as…a monster.
Time stood still; neither assailant nor potential victim made a move.  The absence of ambient noise turned the entire forest into the most thunderous silence the man had ever known.
Suddenly, to the rear of the man, the beast made its move.  It jumped out of the bramble, claws outstretched, ready to sink into the still man.  However, the man did not remain idle for long.  As soon as the beast’s feet left the ground, the stranger pivoted around, having the monster miss him as a bull misses the fighter.  The beast, unused to being deprived of its meal, slid across the ground and turned to face the man.  In the darkness of the forest, no person could have seen the four eyes that lined the side of its elongated head, the six legs that protruded from the monster’s muscular body, and the terrible fangs that dripped of saliva.  Indeed, the man could not see all of this, but he felt the heat of its putrid breath coming from a mouth that had eaten anything it could sink its claws into, whether it was living or not.  He could also feel the bestial eyes boring into him, now intent on killing him not only as sustenance but also for revenge.
The two combatants faced each other, knowing that only one would leave this clearing alive.  Both waited for the other to make the first move.
That move belonged to the beast.  Tired of waiting for the patient man to make the first strike, it leapt once again, aiming straight at the man’s face with its horrendous and countless fangs.  The man once again sidestepped the attack, bringing his dagger up and slicing the beast with blinding speed.  However, this did not come without a cost.  Ready for the dodge this time, the monster outstretched one of its hind legs and the claws scratched the stranger’s right arm to the muscle.  Wincing, it became apparent that if he did not kill this perversion of nature quickly, this trek through the forest to find the ultimate challenge would be his last.
Without wasting any time, the beast turned and ran toward the man, intent on finishing him off.  As it got closer, it appeared that the man had given up and would let the creature finish him off, but when it was no more than two feet in front of him, the stranger leapt off the ground and twisted in such a way that his feet were up in the air and his face was toward the ground.  With the same speed as before, the man plunged the dagger straight into the head of the beast, piercing the thick skull and entering the brain as it passed underneath him.
The man continued to twist in midair and finally landed on his feet.  When he did, he brushed himself off and walked toward the beast.  Shuddering and struggling to stand, the beast knew that it was defeated.  It bowed its head to the man in honor of the person who had finally defeated it.  Although he could not see it, the man knew what it had done and returned the gesture.  The beast seemed to smile briefly, and with one final shudder that looked as though it could have shaken the very earth, it collapsed on the ground.
Retrieving his dagger, the man did the only thing he knew with the noble beast’s carcass; he lifted it onto his back and carried it with him, even though the size of the creature was surely twice that of his.
The rest of the journey was uneventful.  The forest seemed to remain silent in honor and mourning of its most powerful citizen falling in noble battle.  Finally, the man found the path again, and with that path under foot, he left the woods behind once and for all.
***
A young boy was playing near the entrance to the entrance to the forest, despite the stories that had been told of its evils.  He simply chose not to head the warnings, as all of the best bugs and dirt could be found there.  This day, however, he saw something new.  A man with a wounded arm was carrying a giant…something out of the forest.  The boy stood in shock.  Although he did not believe in the tales of the forest, he knew that no person would dare go into them alone.  Abandoning the bug he was poking at with his forefinger, the boy rushed over to the man.
“Mister, do you need any help?  That looks like it hurts a lot.”
With a grunt, the man responded, although he never changed either the direction he was facing or his current course.  “Yeah, actually, it does.  I need to find the village of Avanr.  Can you lead me there?”
“Sure, but don’t you want to leave the animal here?  It doesn’t look very tasty.”
The man chuckled.  “Kid, this creature isn’t for eating.  From now on, wherever I go, so does he.  When I get to town, I’m going to find a use for every part of his body.  He deserves to live on in a useful way; I owe him that much.”
“Okay, but let’s stop for a moment.  You look like you are about ready to fall over.”
“I think I am at that.  Good suggestion, kid.”  The man hunched down and dropped the body he was carrying onto the ground.  He then found a rock to sit on.  He removed his hat and wiped his brow.
The boy had one more question.  “Mister, it’s almost dark.  Why are you still wearing those glasses?”
The man turned his head to the sky and sighed.  “Well, maybe it’s easier to show you.  I don’t say it out loud anymore.  You can make any disability disappear if you work hard enough; that’s my motto.  Doesn’t change the facts, though, and some people have trouble facing those tidbits of truth.”  With that, he removed his glasses and turned to the boy.
His eyes were completely clouded over.  The stranger was a blind man.