Chapter 30 Section 30

Perhaps I had misjudged the distance, or had lost a great deal of time by circling overhanging rocks and rushing mountain streams, and by the time we reached the edge of the forest it was already dusk.My heart sank at the thought of walking into the spooky woods after sunset. I turned around and saw Nicholas and Ilo crouching under a bush.By the time we descended the steep slope and approached the woods, they were so engrossed in the game that they sometimes even slipped out of my sight.For these performances, I only praise a few words carefully, and give them vague promises of rewards so as not to make them expect too much.

Although they walked downhill to the forest for several hours, the two children did not show any signs of fatigue. The game refreshed them, and they forgot about food, relatives, and practical problems.I know that if I ask them to stop and rest at this moment and wait until tomorrow's sunrise to act again, they will be extremely disappointed, and their attention will naturally turn to unhappy things. The sky in the distance is gloomy, and it looks like there will be heavy rain again, and there may even be another storm.Suddenly, the possibility of finding shelter in the forest seemed alluring.

From where I am now, I can clearly see the blue smoke rising above the woods. Although there is still a distance, it is very close.The dark clouds that foreshadowed the approaching storm covered the sun, and there was already a chill in the air. I seemed to be able to see a warm campfire jumping in front of my eyes. Maybe with luck, there would be a dinner waiting for us. We hadn't had a hot meal since we parted from Kylo and his companions.Leaves, weeds and the occasional wild berry are our staple food these days, and the signs of malnutrition are increasingly evident on the dirty little faces of Nikolai and Ilo.

Why should we endure another cold, windy and rainy night if warm fires, food, and shelter are just around the corner?Even if we find out that the other party is not a friend but an enemy, what difference does it make if we meet tonight or tomorrow? I turned to the two children, put an index finger on my mouth, and whispered: "Come on, little ones. Be careful and keep quiet." I led them lightly into the forest, and Reminding: "Everyone, get closer, it's getting dark." My guess was right, as we had just crossed the border between the forest and the hillside, twilight had already enveloped us, the light brown dusk was approaching over the mountains behind us, but was blocked from the forest by the dense pines and cypresses overhead.

Nicholas and Yiluo immediately approached me, and the attraction of the game suddenly lost its effect.It wasn't the darkness itself that made them nervous, because we'd already spent several nights in reliance on each other before that.At this moment, it was the dark and strange atmosphere in the forest at night, which reminded them of the demons and monsters, witches and wizards in the stories, as well as the extremely vicious wolves and other hungry and blood-eating beasts. I pulled the children closer to me and hugged them reassuringly, but it was a formality because my own fears were no less than theirs.

"Don't be afraid, little ones," I whispered with affected composure, "there's nothing here to hurt us." "I don't like it here, Anka," Ilo protested. "Let's go back to the bright place." Nicholas lightly tugged at my arm, and nodded in agreement with Yiluo's proposal: "It's scary here, Anka. I'm so scared." I said bravely: "Don't be a fool, Nikolai. When have you ever been afraid of the dark?" "The black here is different from others, Anka." I knew exactly what my brother meant. The darkness in the forest was indeed different from the nights we had spent before.At this time, only the faint sunset light can be seen through the branches and leaves. When night comes, even if there are no dark clouds to cover it, the silver light of the last quarter moon can hardly illuminate the road under our feet.

We have just entered the forest not far away, and we are already surrounded by big trees with fangs and claws. They are like high walls that cannot be overcome, forcing us from all directions, which is suffocating.I could only vaguely make out the hillside I was walking behind, and I knew that if we went a few meters further, we would be completely lost. A wild rabbit jumped in front of us, and when we met, it was as startled as we were.It stopped in front of us blankly, with its ears pricked up, and its bright eyes watching our every move. Yiluo, who was the first to spot it, clapped his hands excitedly: "Anka! Nicholas! Look!"

As soon as she cried, the timid little thing turned and flew away in fright, and disappeared into the woods. I seized the opportunity, and said, "Look, boys, these animals are more afraid of us. You see, Ilo, you frighten the poor little thing away by clapping your hands!" So I clapped my hands vigorously to scare the animals hiding around, so that they would not dare to offend.Of course, no hungry beast emerged from the darkness.Somewhere above the head, a lone bird flew up in fright, and the sound of its wings beating was especially loud in the silent forest. Nicholas followed my example and clapped his hands.

There was only an empty silence that responded to us, not even an echo, as if it had been sucked up by the trees and could no longer escape. Ilo and Nicola clapped together, the deadlock was broken, and we were temporarily relieved of that nameless fear.So we walked through the forest hand in hand, carefully stepping over dead branches, roots and rubble on the ground. After walking for a few minutes, I looked back, hoping to see the slope we left under the afterglow of the day, but the dense forest surrounded us like an iron barrel, leaving only shallow footprints on the ground to expose our identity. whereabouts.Above the head, only the darker and darker sky could be vaguely discerned. Dark clouds were gathering, and a heavy rain was coming.The dry woodland beneath my feet gave me some relief, and I thought that the rain would not be able to penetrate the dense foliage overhead.

And I have bigger worries.I've lost my sense of direction and started guessing wildly.Hope soon turned to prayer, only that the campfire we sought would soon be in sight. My sloppy prayers were doomed to no avail, however, and we continued aimlessly in circles through the woods until the night deepened and we could barely see each other.At this point, I can only give up, let everyone rest here, let's spend this night first. The kids were more obedient than I thought they would be, and they were exhausted too, and physical demands finally got the better of them. Fortunately, we encountered no danger while roaming in the woods. The children's previous fear of the eerie silence in the woods was temporarily suppressed and was not awakened by stimulation.

I saw the vague outline of a fallen tree not far away, and I declared that I would rest there tonight.The tree was neither good nor bad compared to the place we had slept in before, but to get the kids to like the new bed I told them it would be warmer and drier than the place they had slept in. We hug each other and sleep close to the trunk, taking warmth and comfort from each other.I whispered my plan for the next day, saying that we would find food and meet kind people who took us in. I wanted to use this method to divert the children's attention from the cruel reality, which is: we are lost In the dark and strange forest, there is no food and no water.There are only three strange children living in a completely strange land. After I finished talking about my expectations for tomorrow, I fell silent and heard the sleeping breathing of Nicholas and Ilo.They were liberated in their sleep, which is at least reassuring.I wish I could be like them, but I can't fall asleep for a long time.