*Okay, here is part of my story that I wrote fro Roseyunicorn's contest. I've been busy over the past few days, so I haven't touched this piece for over a week*
Seasonless
Wind whistled through the forest, sweeping the leaves off the trees. Fire danced around Anne as she walked along the trail. She brushed away the leaves that collected on her sweater, but stopped when she realized that it was a futile battle. There was once a time, or at least, they said, when there were seasons of weather.
Anne sighed. Just the concept was ridiculous. Really? Entire months where the sun bathed the land in life blooming rays? Harsh, but only seasonal winters? And what about the so called Spring? It was funny really. A few weeks in the year when flowers bloomed, the birds and bees flew side by side. It was like something out of a fantasy film. Or the, what was it? Fantasy books?
Books were made from paper, she recalled. A material that was now forbidden to be produced. She shivered. The trees around her seemed to be burning her with their endless shedding of leaves. But she knew that things had actually happened the other way around. It was people that killed the trees. Hundreds of thousands, even millions, they said.
But that was all a long time ago, way before she was born. She stretched her neck upward where many tree limbs were glazed over with snow. Nature didn't need people to kill trees anymore, the cold fronts would finish the job. But in a sense, they were man-made. At least, that's what the protesters said. The government stated otherwise, claiming it was only a drastic change in weather patterns.
She bit her lip, kicking a pile of leaves in her path. The government. The puppets in their underground offices, under the command of their master. The bastard pulled their strings, snipping them when he felt they weren't being loyal. He lived like he didn't have a care in the world. In fact, he had everything to worry about. On every part of North America, people were dying. Dying from starvation, the rapid weather alterations, robberies.
All the deaths were awful, but then there were the protests. Those people, crying out to a government, whose heart was almost as cold as the weather. And what did they do? They killed them! Anne bit the inside of her cheek, hearing the screams of the peaceful protesters as the men in uniform slaughtered them. Rebels, they were called. A danger to the fragile state of the nation.
The nation. The monsters were still worried about the superiority of their dying country. Did the fools not know that if they didn't come up with a solution soon, there wouldn't be a country? How could she be patriotic about such a country?
"What are you doing out in this weather?" a raspy voice behind her said.
She turned around and saw no one. "Strange," Anne whispered to the forest. She shrugged and figured it was only the wind. She jumped when someone chuckled.
"Down here, girl."
"Huh?" she said, whirling around. "Oh." She gazed down at the man in the brown coat.
"Yes, I know. You tall folks," the short man grunted. "Y'all thought there wouldn't be any consequences."
"Sir," Anne said, "what are you talking about?" She slowly tok three steps back, making sure he wouldn't be able to grab her if he suddenly lunged forward.
The man said nothing, staring up at her. His brow creased as he stroked his golden beard. "Exactly. That's what all the politicians said. Imbeciles."
Anne looked at her surroundings, realizing she was potentially in danger. Why had she walked so deep into the forest? All she had to do to escape her father was hide somewhere in the house. The monster wasn't even good at hide and seek before he snapped.
"Don't worry, girl," the man said. "I'm here to help you. Not to harm you. Anyway, what are you doing out here? You know the weather can change in an instant!"
"I know-" she said. Yes. She was foolish to be outside with nothing but a sweater and jeans. She wouldn't last five minutes if a cold front hit. She counted in her mind how many descended on the area in the past six days. One, two, three. That was fifty percent. She swore, feeling like an idiot.
Although she knew the weather was her main worry, being captured by the man was her concern now. He could easily subdue her nad take to goodness knew where. She rubbed her hands together, controlling her shudders. What if he raped her? Rapings were quite rare around here, but not unheard of.
"I should be heading home," she said, briskly walking around the man.
"You never did tell me why you were out here. But be on your way. Watch out for the hungry wolves, though."
Okay, creepo, Anne thought. She had barley taken ten steps when the wind screamed, blowing her hair against her face. "It's coming!" she shouted over the howling. There was no where to taker shelter. She was out in the open. No. No. No. I can't die. I just can't! She screamed when a hand clamped over her wrist.
"Follow me!" the short man shouted into her ear.
"Okay!" Anne screamed, feeling the icy air stab at her face like a thousand needles. The man extended a hand to her and she grasped it, coiling her fingers around his. She stumbled, almost falling as he sprinted through the rain of leaves. He was extremely agile and crossed a lot of ground quickly, despite his small stature. Something beneath her feet crunched.
Looking down, she saw that water puddles were freezing over. If they didn't find shelter soon they were dead. Tree limbs bent down under their new weight. Her teeth chattering, she thought they looked like fingers, reaching down toward her. Wolves howled in the distance.
"We're almost there!" the man shouted, dragging her to the left.
She flailed her free arm around as foliage sliced against her face. Every breath hurt her lungs. How much further? Oh no, her hair was collecting flakes of snow. This wasn't just a cold front anymore, it was a storm. Anne blinked against the savage wind, which sent twigs soaring through the air like torpedoes.
"We're not gonna make it!" Anne said, slowing down. The man tugged at her arm.
"Don't give up! You're not weak!" he snarled, practically dragging her.
Somehow, taking a breath of cold fire, she found the strength to run. Everything flashed by in a white blur as she let the man lead her to her fate. A strange sizzling sound swept over her. Peering up she saw that the tips of the trees were freezing instantly. That wasn't good at all.
"We can make it!" the man said, taking long strides.
Suddenly, the ground beneath her feet gave way, and she vanished into the Earth. As she stared up at the shrinking sky, the ferocious screaming of the wind subsided the deeper she fell. Anne turned to her right, and saw the man falling beside her. He looked at her, with a smile cutting across his face. She smiled back.
So they hadn't made it. So what? She didn't care anymore. All she wanted now was for the darkness of death to to wrap her in the blanket of darkness Perhaps, it was meant to be. And then, as Anne closed her eyes, she landed with a thud on something large, warm, and- smelly.
The man grunted as he plopped down beside her. "I hope you don't believe the myth about bears being extinct," he said.
"Huh?" she said, opening her eyes. A faint flicker of light was coming from somewhere behind her. Where was she? In a cavern? She ran her hand over the soft thing that broke her fall. She reeled it back as it began to heave up and down.
"Easy," the man whispered, light bathing his face in fire. "Don't be afraid, they're friends. Probably our only friends."
"What-do you mean?" Anne asked, too afraid to move. "I'm sitting on-"
"Bears," he said.
Anne held her breath, then slowly slid her body along the bears hulk. She cringed as her feet touched the hard floor. The bear gave a low grunt, blowing steamy air against her pant leg. "Sleep, teddy bear," she whispered, backing up. Anne gasped when her calves struck another slumbering animal.
"Sleep, teddy bear," she whispered, backing up. Anne gasped when her calves struck another slumbering animal. "Sleep, teddy bear," she whispered, backing up. Anne gasped when her calves struck another slumbering animal.
"Well, who stumbled down?" a booming voice said, echoing.
Anne clasped a hand over her mouth, muffling a scream. Her heat thumped against her ribs, the voice continued to echo in her mind.
"Morgan! Allow me to introduce our guest," the short man said. "Girl, your name?"
Anne was biting into her palm, unable to pry it away. She cried out as the large shadows around her began to rise.
"Now, girl, I told you, there's no reason to be afraid," the man said, walking toward her.
She fell on her knees, letting the hand over her mouth slump at her side. Saliva moistened her pants as she wrapped it around her knees. With both hands around her knees like a boa constrictor, she silently wept. She shut her eyes as the thudding footfalls of a bear approached.
"There, there," a female's voice said.
Anne covered the top of her head, she ducked as the backs of her hands moistened because of the bear's breath.
"Please, leave me alone," she whispered.
"We're her to help you," it said, gently grazing her back with an enormous paw.
Anne fell on her side. "What are you?"
"We're your allies in dark times," the bear said, looking down at her with large, gleaming, green eyes.
Anne squinted at them. Those eyes, they were beautiful, like the pictures of plants that she saw on the internet.
"You have beautiful eyes," the bear said.
Anne giggled. Despite her fear, she felt at peace. "You should see yours."
"I have" she said, her voice now a growl. "And I loathe them I feel like ripping them out every time I drink from the river."
Anne picked herself up off the floor, and peered over her shoulder. The short man, and the bears were all staring at her. "Wh-why" she stammered.
"They mock me. They're an illusion of a past that no longer is. All that green, just- just gone." She ran a paw over them, and it tingled, as if she were really about to bore them out.
"I- I'm sorry," Anne said, scratching the floor with her finger nails.
"No. The apology is mine. It's just that, we don't get very many of you top dwellers down here."
"We'll leave if you don't want us-"
"No!" the bear roared. "I have no desire to throw you out into the White Death!"
"She cares for you," another bear said. His voice sounded like a boy's.
Anne scooted over along the ground and peeked around the female bears body. She stared, mesmerized by what she saw. Under the orange and red glow of a flickering fire was the most beautiful creature she had ever seen. Blue eyes shone from a white head. Brown lines ran along the bear's body like camouflage.
"I see you've locked eyes with Josh," a bear behind her said.
"What's your name?" the bear said.
For once, Anne noticed how the bear's lips moved when they spoke. Like a human's, their lips moved from side to side. It was amazing. Unreal. This had to be a dream. Yes. That's what it was. Simply a prolonged nightmare. Any minute now she'd awaken in her room, in a world where Global warming still hadn't won the war, yet.
But she didn't, and the white furred bear only stared at her. The faint howl of the wind moaning from above. "A-Anne," she said.
"It's nice to hear the names of a decent top dweller," Josh said. "You don't seem like the others."
That voice. It sounded so familiar. Where had she heard it before? In school? Yes. In one of the rare days that the internet worked. She had heard his voice over her live class room sessions. But how, it was quite ridiculous considering he was a bear.
"Do we know each other?" Anne asked, forcing any anxiety and fear from her voice.
Josh's ears fluttered, and he straightened up. "From an internet class? So you're about fourteen in human years, huh?"
"Yes! Anyways, how on Earth do you manage to get online?"
"Well-" Josh looked from one bear to another. "Can I tell her?"
"No harm in doing so, Josh," the female bear said. "It may even do more good than harm, I have feeling this girl's special. She may even be the-" she broke off. "Go ahead."
"Okay, Natalie," Josh grunted. It sounded like he was clearing his throat. "For years, my people have tried to stop this from happening. But your leaders-" his gums pulled back, revealing his razor teeth. "Their greed wouldn't let their conscience go through."
"What do you mean, your people?" Anne said.
"They're spies, Anne," the short man said.
Anne whirled around to face him. "Sir, you never told me your name."
"I don't have one."
"Really?"
He crossed his arms. "Truly. After all, why would I want to let our leaders claim ownership to me?"
"Oh," Anne said, staring at the floor.
"But you can call me Wolf."
"Wolf."
Wolf nodded.
The bears behind her laughed. "Anyway. Do you think we're just talking animals?"
"Actually," Anne said, spinning in a slow circle. "I'm having trouble believing any of this is real. It'd be so much easier if I had just fallen in here to my death."
Natalie flinched back a paw. "That's why I always have someone everyone sleep under the hole. People have stumbled upon it and fallen. It wasn't pretty."
"What did you do with the bodies?" She bit down on her lips. Maybe she didn't want to know.
Natalie only stared at her, then took a deep breath. "Everybody has to eat."
Anne gasped and pressed both hands over her mouth. "You ate them?" She backed up against a wall. Dirt detached and poured on her hair.
"I understand that it sounds gruesome. But you have to understand, we would have returned them to their families if only we knew who they were. But most of the time we didn't. And really, it's best that their bodies came to good use. Thousands of people are lost in these cold fronts, and they're only lost. Forever, under mounds of snow."
"What are you?" she said, sweeping her gaze over them.
"For lack of a better term," Morgan said, "you can call us wizards. Superheros. Angels. Fairies. Boogey-Men. Demons. Shape-shifters. Or, my favorite, animorphs." He chuckled.
"Please," Anne said, "to keep my sanity, can I just call you bears?"
"I like that one," Josh said, closing one eye.
Anne couldn't help but smile. A bear was winking at her!
"But before you think that's just what we are," one of the bears behind her said, brushing against her.
Anne watched as it stopped beside her, its body shaking. She slid out of the way along the wall as its brown fur vanished and its hulk grew thinner.
"William! Stop!" Natalie said.
The transfiguring bear stopped, turning to face Natalie. It lowered its head and opened its mouth to growl. "Fine. But why?"
"You're naked."
"Oh yeah, I forgot," he said, clearing his throat.
"Thank you," Anne said. "Umm, Wolf?"
"Yes?"
"Are you one of them, too?"
"No. But I'm not a pawn either."
"Wolf, you talk about society like it's your enemy."
He stared at her, his gray eyes piercing. "They're your enemies as well. You just deny it."
"Who is this they?"
"The government, Anne. But like any multi-headed beast, take out the brain, and it'll slowly destroy itself."
"It didn't have to be like this. The war was avoidable. None of this should have ever happened," Morgan said.
Anne shuffled her feet, carving crude ovals into the ground. "So, now what?"
"We wait until the storm ends," Wolf said.
"And then you'd best be on your way," Natalie said.
"And, Anne," Morgan said. "You've grown up being told that there are no mysteries in life. You're born and you die, nothing in the middle but hard work and suffering. That is a lie."
"A lie?" Anne could almost laugh. "But that is exactly how life is."
"Yeah, it's funny how the Government is at least honest in telling everybody that they are worthless to them," William said.
"But, Anne, as I was saying," Morgan said, "there is more to life then what you are being told. You've been told that God is dead, there is no happiness or eternal damnation after death, and that there is no magic."
"There is," Natalie said.
"You're looking at it now, Anne," William said. "Look, watch this."
Anne stared at William as he raised a paw. She gasped as flowers sprouted on the hard earth beneath.
"Well, I probably can't pull a clump of flowers out without tearing them, so why don't you come and get a few?"
She walked toward the red, white, purple, and blue flowers. "They're beautiful." She had never seen an actual flower before. They were considered pointless now. But why? They were absolutely mesmerizing. She bent down and tore two free. the muffled snip sent goosebumps shooting up her arm.
She held the flowers in her hand, unable to get back up. Tears trickled own her cheeks. "I killed them," she whispered.
"No, no, Anne," William said. "They were gifts."
She looked up at William, his head high above, obscured in shadow. "Thank you. But I- just can't- I can't believe I killed something that was just born."
"That is precisely what the wretched Government does. All those abortions. Population control, they call it. But it's nothing but genocide. And a lot of the girls asking for them are around your age."
Anne nodded. "Yes, I have a few friends who-"
"We understand," Natalie said.
"Not as much as me and her," Josh said.
"Shush, Brain freeze."
Josh laughed. "Haven't heard that lame joke before."
Anne wiped the tears away from her eyes and rose up. She brought the flowers to her nose and inhaled their fragrance. "They smell like fruits. They're so wonderful.
"Yes, they are. Can you believe the politicians just let them go extinct?"
"No."
"It's disgusting," Natalie said, "the things they're doing.
Above Anne the wind died. "It's time to go," wolf said. "Don't worry, I'll lead you out of the forest."
Anne looked at the bears, their eyes glowing. "I'm going to miss you all."
"Oh you'll see us soon," Natalie said, plodding toward her. She stretched out her long arms and embraced Anne.
"Group hug!" Josh said, running to Anne. He wrapped his arms around her side.
Morgan and the other bears chuckled. "Count us in too." Wolf only stood against a wall, shaking his head.
"Talk about a bear hug," Anne said, giggling. "Your fur is so fluffy." She held her flowers to her stomach to keep them from being smothered. They stayed that way, hugging until Wolf whistled.
"Goodbye, Anne," Josh said.
"Not for too long," Anne said. "I look forward to seeing you in the next Internet class."
"The feeling is mutual."
"Yay!" Anne said. "Mutual feelings."
"OK, lovebirds, time to go," Wolf said.
"Bye," Anne said, waving to the bears as she walked toward Wolf. He tugged on something stuck in a crevice and out came a thick vine. It also had two harnesses attached.
"Ever been climbing?" Wolf said.
Anne shook her head.
"It isn't too hard, you'll master it before we even reach the top."
"Probably, it was a long fall down." Wolf nodded and helped her into a harness. It felt awkward because he was so much shorter than her, but she shrugged the thought away. He put on his own and jerked his thumb up.
"Bye!" the bears said again.
Anne smiled and looked at them as she and Wolf began their ascent. Her friends became smaller and smaller as her height increased. "Magic," she said.
"What was that? Do you want me to slow down?" Wolf asked.
"No, I'm fine," Anne said. "I just feel like I was born again. Somehow... I feel like I've always known people needed imagination for something."
"If for nothing more then just to keep us sane," Wolf said.
Anne blinked against the dirt that dropped around her. "Wolf, you need more cheer in your life. How about we sing a song?"
Wolf grunted.
"See? You're so grumpy most of the time."
"Anne," Wolf said, "we're going back to the surface."
"I know," Anne said, feeling her tears return. Beneath the surface there was hope, but above it, there was only madness. She would have to go back to her father, the terror that never slept. Insomnia and a cruel father was a horrible combination. Eternal suffering. But maybe, just maybe, she could change him. Enlighten him even. After all, he was just another person being deceived.
Anne craned her neck up and saw the eerie whiteness of the world above.
"We're almost there," Wolf said.
"Please, there's no need to remind me."
"Sorry."
"Don't feel sorry about the inevitable."
"I'm not, because I know it's inevitable that the puppet masters will someday have their wires snipped."
Three more minutes of rigorous climbing followed. By the time Wolf pulled himself over teh edge, Anne's muscles were hot with fatigue, and her arms blistered.
"here, I'll tug on the vine to help you along," Wolf said.
Anne smiled and as Wolf gently tugged on the vine. He was surprisngly strong for his size. Her head and body peeked out from the hole like a flower blooming. Taking a deep breath of the chilly air, she felt hope. Something she had only thought she knew.
"Welcome back to the world," Wolf said, his breath fuming.
Anne crawled away from the hole's edge, removed her harness, and lay back on the ground, panting. She rolled her head to teh side, her cheek grazing the cold ground. She stared at the hole. It was strange, from the surface, knowing that a family of transfiguring spies lived down there. And not just any spies, but friends. In this insane world, they were probably her only true friends, all the others were being played with.
She rolled her head to ther other side to face Wolf. "Hey, wolf?"
"Yes?"
"You look like your smoking," she said, giggling.
"I bet they wish we all did. The imbeciles, wanting us to suck on cancer sticks."
"But, Wolf, do you think I could- tell my friends and family about this?"
"And get thrown in a mental hospital? Don't you find all this white annoying enough already?"
Anne sighed. "Wolf, you know what I mean."
"I do, but will they?"
Anne put her rams behind her head and looked up at the frozen tree branches. "I don't know."
"What do we know?"
"We know, well, I do now, that I've been living a lie."
"And how do you counter deception?"
"With truth."
"It's the start of a war."
"A war?"
"A verbal war," Wolf said, sitting up."
"Those never last very long," Anne said. "They always become battles." She looked at the forest around her. The casualties of war were all around her.
"Yes, war seems to be in our blood. The only places without war are planest without life."
"It doesn't have to be that way."
"But it is."
"Oh, Wolf, why do yo uhave to be so cynical?"
He stared at her, his brow rumpling. "I don't consider it being cynical, rather a parody of life. Satire is how the intelligent stay sane in a mad world."
Anne shook her head. "You and my dad would make such good friends."
"Are you going to introduce me?"
Anne rasied her head and pushed herself of the ground. She crossed her arms and stared at Wolf. "You wouldn't like him."
"Believe me," he said, "I don't like any of these people, but after meeting you, I think I can make a few exceptions."
"I don't know-"
"Anne, it's a simple yes or no. Either way, I still have to take you home."
Anne bit her lips. "Well, I- okay," she said. "I'll introduce you to my terror, the reason... I was out in the forest."
"I'm sorry," Wolf said, looking down.
He truly did look sorry. His normally piercing eyes glowing with regret. "Don't be, it isn't your fault. Besides, if everything was merry and cheerful in my house there wouldn't be a reason for me to be out, wandering in the wilderness."
"I suppose not, but still, no one should have to live in fear in their own home."
She got up on her feet. "Come one, let's go see the grumpy bear that never hibernates."
"Anne, before yo udo intriduce me I have a very important question."
"Yeah? What's that?"
"Is your father or anybody in your family, a supporter of the Government?"
Anne put a hand to her mouth. She removed it and it slimbed at her side. "They all are."
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