the alienated

first encounter
So something interesting happened today.
I was walking and enjoying the fresh morning air.
We are spending the summer in this village next to the jungle,
So I decided to use some of my alone time while I could.
While it is normal to witness some kinds of animals and insects out in nature,
You wouldn't come across this one.
I couldn't really get a glimpse at it,
But I decided to mind my own business.
Cause It could be a dangerous creature and I wasn't supposed to be here
So I wanted to stay out of trouble,
But on my way back home I saw the same thing trying to hide in the bushes.
Of its behavior, I thought that maybe it is scared of me as much as I am scared of it.
So this time I tried to take a few steps closer,
It was something like a black sphere,
Hiding there in the dark like a spider,
It didn't move much,
And it wasn't huge.
Maybe it was the head of something bigger
I don't know.
"Hey there little thing" I called
"Hi" it answered
I jumped a bit
"Wow, are you stuck in there? I can get help if you want. How long have you been in there?" I kept on talking
But then I waited to get a response
"I came here by choice and I don't need help" was my response
"You sound like a human, if you are a human I can assure you, you won't survive for long" I had so many questions in my head but I decided to go with that creature being a human cause otherwise I would be creeped out
"No, I'm not a human.. but don't be scared I'm not going to harm you if you don't cross my boundaries "
"O- okay "
I tried to smile
" Can I see you?"
"No, at least not for now"
" What are you doing there?"
"Hiding "
"Why?"
" I don't like the light and I don't like humans"
" I can understand that, sometimes I wish I were a bat "
"If I were you, I'd wish to be a grizzly bear"
I chuckled but didn't answer
I didn't want to befriend some kind of creature that I couldn't even see


second encounter

I saw it again, this time from a better
angle.
I'm not gonna go into details about my day because I want to get into it as fast as possible.
That furry ball that I couldn't take a good look at told me to call her Lucy.
So I'm assuming it's a female.
but I asked her about her pronouns just to make sure and it was confirmed.
No matter how hard I tried to convince her to come out of her safe place she refused to do so, like a stray cat who's given birth.
She seemed so vulnerable and protective over herself.
This time I tried to ask her questions.
I was interested.
She had a human voice with the characteristics of a black widow or any other creature that likes to be in the dark and hidden from all humankind.
So this was my first question:
Do you have any parents? "Yes" she answered, " but I haven't seen them in a long time."
"Do have any other friends?"I went on.
"No" she hesitated to continue but she did it anyway " I am the only one of my kind. I haven't seen anyone of my breed."
I didn't know how to feel about this
"Do you want to have friends?" This was my third question.
" I don't know, I have lost hope in finding a good friend but I feel lonely so I don't know if that would be a yes or no."
"Did your parent look like you?" I wasn't sure if I should've asked this question or not
" No, and I don't want to talk about my parents anymore" she answered
Leaving me with more questions about where she came from.
"How long have you been in here?" I asked
" I don't know how long it's been but I think it's been years. I can't even tell if it is day or night."
I felt sorry for her.
Maybe I don't have to, but I felt like she wasn't there by choice and she didn't trust me enough to tell me more.
" Have you been outside your hiding place?"
"No "
Well, that's creepy.
"Why not?"
"I don't need to and the sunlight scares me, other creatures scare me"
" Why are you scared?"
" I don't have any physical strength or any kind of trick to protect myself, and the sunlight just burns me"
" Would you come out if I promised to protect you?"
" I'm not sure, I don't really know you"
" I'm not going to put you under pressure."
"Thanks "
"But what do you do in that little hole? There's barely enough space to move"
"Oh I dream a lot"
"What do you dream of?"
Although she said she wouldn't she came just a little bit closer.
I couldn't reach out but I could see her, especially her eyes.
They looked big like anime characters' eyes.
I know it was an inaccurate description
But it was like half her face was her eyes
No nose, no mouth nobody
A furry ball with eyes.
This is an exaggeration too. I know.
But I was amazed at her sight and I was eager to get closer to her somehow.
She got me curious like a scientific experiment.
It was scientific too in a way.
But I kind of liked her company, I felt like I had made friends with someone trustable so out of this world.
A friend that wouldn't be involved in drama or anything.
I was waiting for her to talk. I wanted to know if her thoughts were as eccentric as her appearance.

She began to talk about all her dreams and imagination.
I must say for someone who doesn't see and experience the outside world they were interesting
The one that stood out the most was this one:
She told me that she had dreamt of being a strong woman with supernatural powers
So that people would need her and
Since they would need and fear her powers it would be easy to make them like her, but in the end, the villagers would gather and join forces and burn her to death.
What a plot twist it was.
Besides how did she know most of these things that were human-made?
Did she interact with them before?
So I asked her,
"How do you know about humans? How can you even speak our language?"
"I used to be around them, it wasn't a pleasant experience," she said
"Didn't they find your form eccentric? I know they would attack you if they saw you like this"
" They didn't really see me, when I thought that I could trust them I showed them my real face and this is where i ended up"
" I hope you don't mind me asking you all these personal questions "
" You're the first to have taken an interest in me. They usually either try to hunt me or run away from me."
I didn't answer, I honestly didn't know what to say.
Although I could empathize with her I could've done the same thing if I were in a different mood or if it was my younger self so who was I to judge?
After a long moment of silence, she came a bit closer.
This time I could reach my hands out to her very easily.
But I didn't make a move, like when you want to be a part of nature so animals trust you.
Not to say that I saw her as an animal just because she looked like that, no.
But I believe that even humans have the quality of getting to trust people.
If you make moves a lot or try to get closer to them they'll get suspicious.
So believing in that I didn't make a move nor did I say anything.
She came close to me gradually and I respected that.
"It feels warmer out here.
She said to break the silence.
" Do you like it?"
"I don't know, I still have my fears. It's like being allergic to the very things you need"
It was getting darker.
But she was getting closer to me and I thought if I stayed longer I would get to know her better.
But I wasn't sure if I could make it.
I didn't want to go home, not when I had gotten to this point.
But there was nothing I could do.
"Say, will you come to see me again?"
She broke the silence again.
I felt a little hopeful.
"Sure," I said with no hesitation.
I couldn't wait to see tomorrow what would happen.


third encounter

I came back to the forest hoping to continue from where were left off, but I wasn't sure what to do.
I thought that maybe if I got her something maybe she would warm up to me, although I wasn't sure what to do.
She was dark and light at the same time.
She didn't need food.
She didn't wear clothes.
Maybe I could get her some flowers?
What if she didn't like them?
Then I thought of getting her a blanket.
I think this would be the best gift for her, she'd probably like the coziness.
So there I went with a blanket tucked under my shoulder.
She was waiting for me. Exactly where she was yesterday. Close enough for me to reach out to her.
"you were late today, I thought you'd never show up," she said.
"Sorry I was looking for this blanket, that's why it took me a while," I replied.
"A blanket?" Her question was more rhetorical, she asked it with an excited tone.
I sat down where I had sat before and to my surprise this time she came out of her hiding place completely.
I spread the blanket on my lap.
She came a little closer to me a bit hesitant but she hopped on my lap and closed her eyes like a cat that feels comfy.
My heart melted at the sight of that.
I never thought I'd like it this much.
She seemed as if she was genuinely enjoying it.
We didn't talk for a while, she rested on my lap with her eyes closed and I kept watching her enjoying the scene.
After a long time of silence, she thanked me for the blanket.
"I thought a blanket would be useful since you're a dreamy creature and you never go out." I looked to see her reaction and went on "It's not for practical reasons, I'm sure you were warm enough with all that fur you had."
"It's the perfect gift."
I scratched her fur softly and smiled at her.
And the rest of the day she talked about her imagination.
But I still didn't dare ask her where she came from, And what she was.

after a while
I went to see Lucy almost every day, she would sit on my lap and we would talk about different things, everything was pretty much the same.
Though she seemed to get bigger and heavier and this was unusual cause she didn't consume food at all.
I still didn't ask any questions
One day when I went to see her again, she was nowhere to be found, I knew she didn't like the sunlight so I checked every shadowy place I could find, but still no traces of her.
I was worried a lot, I searched the forest for hours.
Then I found some traces of blood, I knew this couldn't have been Lucy's.
Cause it could've been an animal's.
But I was worried sick, so I followed them to feel better.
If it was Lucy's I could help her in some way if it was not I would be a little worried.
I was hoping to see a wounded deer or something,
But unfortunately, it was not, I froze at seeing the most horrifying scene.
I didn't know what to do or what to say.
The best way I can describe what I saw is to say I only saw her fur.
It was torn apart and empty
As if you had emptied a stuffed animal.
I knelt down, trying to lift it up, but I was too scared and nervous.
I didn't know what to expect next, had she been hunted by other human or non-human hunter?
Did she like shed her skin like other animals?
I didn't know.
But if it was true, why was there so much blood on the ground?
I searched the place more, and I found something even more interesting.



There was an unclothed girl curled up into herself, like a fetus.
I don't think she might have harmed Lucy because she looked very vulnerable.
I approached her in small and calm steps, she was covered in dirt, and she looked exhausted. I thought that maybe she was dead.
I had Lucy's blanket with me so I tried to wrap it around her, she'd need it more than Lucy anyway.
And as I laid the blanket on her she made a move, she looked up at me but she was too tired to even express any kind of fear.
I thought that it was my job to rescue her from whatever had happened to her.
Good thing I had the blanket with me.
I took her to a sheltered place.
She didn't say anything but I guess she might be scared of me so I told her a few words of assurance.
She looked up at me vaguely as if she was trying to remember something.
Then she opened her mouth for the first time to say something,
"They were here last night, they tried to kill me."
"Who exactly? Do you remember their faces?"
"It was the village people, they accused me of witchery, they were trying to burn me."
Then she continued,
" I'm not a witch, I don't know what magic is... I was just different."
At this point, she started crying.
"After they made sure that I'm dead they left me here, but I didn't die my soul was rescued, in another body and in another form."
" I don't remember what happened then, I'm back in my own body and it's gone to its previous state."
I tried to make sense of her words, I thought that maybe she's been brain damaged or something.
"What's your name?" I asked so that I could find her family.
"Lucy" she answered.