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Description
The boy was without friends. He was awkward and a little different, and he was apprehensive when he was with other people, always inwardly fretting that he was not doing things properly. He found it easier to be on his own but it was also terribly, awfully lonesome.

There were days that he tried to play with others, but he wasn't very good at being loud or being funny, and he wasn't very good at being cruel or devious, neither. He retreated back. Back and away.

Summers were particularly ... challenging. The days were long and his parents were the types that didn't pay enough attention to him. They thought he was just like any other kids. Normal. It wasn't their fault, entirely. He often had told untruths when they asked him this or that. They thought he had friends. Good ones, even.

Back then, the world was a different place. He didn't have a lot of things to do inside the house during the long, long summer holiday weeks. Most kids were out all day long, swimming or riding their bikes, going to the movies or kicking back at the ice cream places - with friends. The boy, having no friends, found himself fretful, and bad tempered. Idle and bored.

His mother asked him, "Why don't you go venturing into the woods with your friends? I used to do that for hours on end when I was your age. There's a whole world out there to discover."

He couldn't find any good lies to tell so he nodded and went. There was a small but dense woodlands just nearby. People in town sometimes told stories about it, about how it was still a strange place with unnatural noises and shadows. It was a little scary. But the day was high and he was extremely bored so he took a deep breath and he took his first step into the woods.

Once he was deep inside within the woods, he found it quite pleasant. The temperature was cooler under the heavy shade and there was a feeling of peace. There were some animal noises, birds, and chitterings of insects. And the voices of the leaves of the trees. They were musical, in their own way. He had gotten lost in this lull when he realized that he didn't know where he was.

Stopping, the boy started to feel anxious. How would he get home? He hadn't been paying attention to where he was walking, simply following where his feet had taken him. He looked around and did not recognize anything to guide him by. His heart started to pump faster when suddenly, a twinkling caught his eyes.

When he turned around, he saw there was a sort of deeper darkness behind some overgrowth that was hanging off a natural ledge formed by ancient tree's roots. Like beaded curtains, the boy thought idly. His eyes perceived that the darkness was the mouth of a small cave after he scrutinized the space and that the sparkling trailed into its depth. He hesitated, though only for a second. What boy could resist the possibility of discovering their own secret space in the woods? Not very many, and certainly not this one. He descended into the earth and went inside the tunnel.

His eyes were not deceiving him. There really was a glowing trail. A strange and magical feeling blossomed in his heart as he followed it. The tunnel was not very long and soon enough he saw the end ahead of him. The sight froze him in place. It could not have been! It looked as if it was a fantasy land! Was he dreaming? It felt as if he was dreaming. How could he be otherwise? There was a pure white stag looking back at him from beyond the opening of the tunnel, it was bathed in pure light, and it had these eyes that were way too intelligent for an animal's face...

(to be continued)

-

Drawn in ClipStudioPaint : )

Description
The boy was without friends. He was awkward and a little different, and he was apprehensive when he was with other people, always inwardly fretting that he was not doing things properly. He found it easier to be on his own but it was also terribly, awfully lonesome.

There were days that he tried to play with others, but he wasn't very good at being loud or being funny, and he wasn't very good at being cruel or devious, neither. He retreated back. Back and away.

Summers were particularly ... challenging. The days were long and his parents were the types that didn't pay enough attention to him. They thought he was just like any other kids. Normal. It wasn't their fault, entirely. He often had told untruths when they asked him this or that. They thought he had friends. Good ones, even.

Back then, the world was a different place. He didn't have a lot of things to do inside the house during the long, long summer holiday weeks. Most kids were out all day long, swimming or riding their bikes, going to the movies or kicking back at the ice cream places - with friends. The boy, having no friends, found himself fretful, and bad tempered. Idle and bored.

His mother asked him, "Why don't you go venturing into the woods with your friends? I used to do that for hours on end when I was your age. There's a whole world out there to discover."

He couldn't find any good lies to tell so he nodded and went. There was a small but dense woodlands just nearby. People in town sometimes told stories about it, about how it was still a strange place with unnatural noises and shadows. It was a little scary. But the day was high and he was extremely bored so he took a deep breath and he took his first step into the woods.

Once he was deep inside within the woods, he found it quite pleasant. The temperature was cooler under the heavy shade and there was a feeling of peace. There were some animal noises, birds, and chitterings of insects. And the voices of the leaves of the trees. They were musical, in their own way. He had gotten lost in this lull when he realized that he didn't know where he was.

Stopping, the boy started to feel anxious. How would he get home? He hadn't been paying attention to where he was walking, simply following where his feet had taken him. He looked around and did not recognize anything to guide him by. His heart started to pump faster when suddenly, a twinkling caught his eyes.

When he turned around, he saw there was a sort of deeper darkness behind some overgrowth that was hanging off a natural ledge formed by ancient tree's roots. Like beaded curtains, the boy thought idly. His eyes perceived that the darkness was the mouth of a small cave after he scrutinized the space and that the sparkling trailed into its depth. He hesitated, though only for a second. What boy could resist the possibility of discovering their own secret space in the woods? Not very many, and certainly not this one. He descended into the earth and went inside the tunnel.

His eyes were not deceiving him. There really was a glowing trail. A strange and magical feeling blossomed in his heart as he followed it. The tunnel was not very long and soon enough he saw the end ahead of him. The sight froze him in place. It could not have been! It looked as if it was a fantasy land! Was he dreaming? It felt as if he was dreaming. How could he be otherwise? There was a pure white stag looking back at him from beyond the opening of the tunnel, it was bathed in pure light, and it had these eyes that were way too intelligent for an animal's face...

(to be continued)

-

Drawn in ClipStudioPaint : )