Boy Of the Forest

When the little boy felt the warmth of the sun on his bed, he heard his mom

yelling, “David, it’s time for breakfast!” He immediately got up and went to

brush his teeth because he knew another exciting exploring day awaited

him—the day he would go into the woods near his house and search for

animals to play with. Besides weekdays, every weekend was his exploring

day.

In this small town nestled between rolling hills and dense woods in

Colorado, there were unlimited things for him to explore. David was like any

other boy his age, full of curiosity and wonder, with a love for adventure that

kept him exploring every nook and cranny of his world.

As the birds started singing and chirping, sunlight filtered through us the

leaves, casting a magical glow on the forest floor. David finished breakfast

and started his trip. His favorite thing to do was to play bird calls to attract

birds because when he saw the birds flying and jumping from branch to

branch, he felt extremely relaxed. The next thing he would do was explore

things he hadn’t seen before. He would touch them, smell them, or even

taste them.

Unfortunately, his mom had planned a fixed route for him to follow for his

safety. Because of this, David had nothing new to explore. Thus, the only

thing he did in the woods was play bird calls and lie on the ground watching

the high towering trees and the sky that matched them so well lately.

A few days later, unlike any other day, he finished exploring and was

heading home, feeling unconscious. Suddenly, he fell to the ground

headfirst. A few minutes later, he woke up with his head bleeding. He was

hurt so badly that he couldn't even stand, so he crawled as fast as he could

to get home.

“I’ll take you to the hospital! And you can explain what happened to you

later,” said his mother in an annoyed and anxious voice.

While waiting for the results, David felt so nervous that his heart was

pounding so hard, as if it could tear his muscles and skin and escape from

his body. “What would happen to me? Am I going to be punished by my

mom? Or am I going to die?” He couldn't listen to anything his mother said.

He answered randomly to his mom’s questions because that’s what he was

thinking.

The next morning, as he just woke up, David heard his parents whispering

outside. He could barely hear what they were saying. “How are we going to

deal with this… Terrible… Are we going to tell him?” As the discussion

continued, he heard one more thing that he couldn’t understand: brain

tumor.

He thought, “How terrible can it be?” He turned on his computer and typed

in the ten letters. The few words he first saw were: can cause death.

“This is terrible, seriously terrible!” he thought.

Running outside, bursting into tears, he questioned his mom, “Am I going to

die?” His mom replied with nothing, just some tears sliding over her cheek,

so he knew instantly that his time was running out.

“I have to do something before I die!” he thought. Then he looked at the

unexplored forest outside the window and quickly came up with an idea.

Running out of the house, he saw a small owl standing on the backyard

fence. At first, he didn’t give two hoots about this little creature. But then he

heard something incredible. “Hi! I’m Daffy,” said the owl. David couldn’t

believe what he had heard. Since he was informed that he had a brain

tumor, he had gotten a superpower that allowed him to communicate with

animals. "I’m David,” replied David. Daffy saw the dried tears at the edge of

David's eyes and asked, “What’s going on with you?” “I’ve got a brain

tumor, and I’m going to die!” replied David in a desperate voice. But in the

next second, he changed his mood out of the blue and said, "And I’ve

always wanted to explore the whole forest. Would you come with me?” The

boy in front of him seemed to need companionship. Thus, the kind-hearted

little owl quickly nodded.

A boy with his last wishes and an open-hearted owl started preparing their

plan. Two days later, after saying goodbye to his parents, David and Daffy

started their journey in each other’s company.

Deep into the forest, they heard a rustling sound in the bush behind them.

Abruptly, a fox came out of the bush. “What are you guys up to?” said the

fox. “Just ignore him, he is just one sly little fox,” said Daffy in an annoyed

voice. “Hey, watch your words,” said the fox. David interrupted their

conversation, “Hey fox, just tell us your name and what you want.” “I’m

Reynard. It seems like you guys need some help, so I want to help you,”

said the fox. “We really need some help indeed! I’ve always wanted to

explore the whole forest. I guess you are very familiar with the routes here.

Can you lead our way?” answered David. “Of course!” Reynard agreed and

grinned.

On their way, Daffy observed the surrounding environment nervously at all

times, afraid that Reynard would lure them into a trap or something that

could stop them from exploring the forest. Reynard began to describe the

forest as though he were the king of the forest. He described the forest so

vividly that even Daffy was held spellbound. But at that moment, all of a

sudden, David stepped into a trap that hung him head over heels on a tree.

And Daffy ran into a bird net that entangled him in mid-air.

“There’s no need to worry about my dinner tonight, a plump little owl. And

you, human, you can stay up there until some monster eats you!”

Starting up a fire, Reynard's mouth watered as he smiled evilly. On the

other side, David was trying to escape, not only to continue the journey but

also to save the friend he met that morning. Although David didn’t know

him for long, they felt like acquaintances. Maybe it was because the

dewy-eyed owl didn’t have a scheming mind. In the last moments of his life,

he just wanted a true friend to accompany him.

BUT HOW CAN THEY ESCAPE?

When Reynard was thinking about how to cook the poor little bird, “Boiled,

grilled, or deep-fried?” Reynard whispered. David pulled out scissors from

his back pocket quietly and slowly cut the rope. When the last rope was

cut, David started his action. First, he cut off the bird net that wrapped

around Daffy. Then, Daffy used his bird calls to attract Reynard away from

the fire. When Reynard heard the bird calls, he was fully confused. He

clearly remembered that Daffy was still trapped in the bird net. "Is it

possible that his brother came to save him?” he thought.

AHHHHH...

The next thing Reynard knew was that he was hung head over heels on a

tree, just like David. He could barely see the two creatures in front of him: a

man and a bird, watching him like he was a circus performer. The situation

on both sides had changed. David told him, “You can stay up there until

some monster eats you!” That was something Reynard had said 30

minutes ago, and now it was David’s turn to say it. “I will always remember

this until I get my revenge!” Reynard shouted. “The next time you see me is

probably in heaven!" David replied, laughing. With the biggest obstacle eliminated, the two of them continued their

journey.

On the way, the filthy dirt path seemed to lead them into the deepest part of

the forest. They had to cross rivers and climb over rocks. It was extremely

easy for Daffy because of the two wings on his back. But for David, his

illness stopped him from going fast. He had a hard time climbing steep hills

and big rocks and tried to give up once. Fortunately, with Daffy’s company

and constant encouragement, David soon showed conspicuous fighting

spirit. Because of this spirit, they were able to keep moving on.

Finally, they arrived in the middle of the forest. It was a vast lake with a

verdant grassland beside it. David swam and enjoyed the refreshing water

on a hot summer day. After that, he and Daffy entertained themselves on

the grassland, jumping around and playing catch. But obviously, David

wasn’t Daffy’s opponent; a human definitely cannot catch up with an animal

that has wings. They both had a wonderful afternoon disporting themselves

around the lake and finally were at the end of their tether. It was time to

head back home.

They had experienced so many things during this trip, and David had lived

out his fantasies. He’d explored the whole forest, seen plants and animals

he’d never seen before. He even saw a mountain lion walk across the trail

in front of them. They seemed to have endless topics to talk about. You

could hear their voices chatting all along the trail.

The jovialities ended 30 minutes before arriving home when David again

started to feel faint and lay beside a rock, gasping for breath. “My time is

running out!” said David in a very weak voice. “I’m always with you. Just

enjoy the moment you have now, don’t worry about the future,” Daffy

comforted him.

All at once, all the birds were calling and deer were crying. Daffy knew they

were not coming to eat them but to save David. An enormous number of

birds joined forces to carry David up to one deer’s back, and the deer

completed the rest of the 30-minute journey with David on its back.

"This is the best day I've had in a long time," David said softly.

At length, David arrived at his final destination, his nice and cozy bedroom,

with all the animals in the forest coming together in his backyard to say

goodbye. They were reluctant to see this little boy leave the world.

David had a very good sleep that night, the best sleep he had ever had in

his life, with no dreams disturbing his sleep. He was surprised that he was

not dead the next morning when he woke up. But then he saw Daffy

watching him. Daffy had no sleep last night, just wanted to accompany him

in his final moments. He had no regrets. This was something he was

thankful for.

Some moments later, he felt another dizziness, but this time he didn’t feel

any pain. Knowing that it was time to go, he smiled at Daffy.

"...heaven, I'm in heaven ..."

The village mourned the loss of their brave, adventurous boy. They

remembered him not just for his illness but for his unbreakable spirit. In

honor of David, the villagers decided to name the forest after him. It

became a place where people could go to remember him, to find peace

and solace in the beauty of nature, just as he had.