The Butcher of the Forest

by Premee Mohamed

At some point, you took a step, and you were simply there, and you would not see the difference between it and the true woods, and you would never take another step that led you back home.

The rules were vague but should not be broken: don’t cut living wood; don’t shed any animal’s blood; trade if you must, but do not negotiate. And certainly never accept any “gifts.”

Monsters, the children of monsters. But innocent. You do not inherit what you are born to; and you do not inherit your own theft. Their innocence will not save them from harm. And it has not. Still it must be remembered.

it wasn’t fair, nothing in here was fair. That was how it worked. No different without than within.