The Keepers of Winter

It was the start of a new day. The sun was coming up just over the horizon and the birds were chirping. The sun seemed to tower over the forest and looked as if it was cradling it. All the forest knew was that it brought light in the day, and brought the moon as it went away. The light always came first. Illuminating the sky with vibrant colors of red and orange with a slight hint of yellow. Only two-hundred yards in the forest sat Luis. He sat at the very same hill everyday and watched the sun come up.

Everyday Luis would sit in the same spot and not say a word, not even thinking. It was his own slice of heaven. Today though, his mind produced a thought. Before he woke up, Luis had a dream. It was of someone like him. This person had long hair and came right up to him as if she knew him. They never spoke a word, yet somehow Luis knew her name. He would tell her his, and she would say hers back. Luis could never remember her name when he awoke and it was frustrating him that he couldn't remember.

Luis had noticed another thing. It seemed as if the forest wanted something from him that he could not give. Everything he had the forest gave him. What could he possibly have to give in return? All he did was take from the forest and Luis had no way to give back. This made him upset to think about and wished he hadn't come to see the sun today. He felt as if the forest didn't want him there. That he didn't belong. Luis got to his feet and decided to go back to his cave.

The temperature was slowly receding everyday but was still too hot for Luis. He was glad the inside of his cave was cool. It wasn't a big cave, just big enough for Luis and a few of his belongings. His bed was made of leaves and branches and kept him warm during the cold hours of the night. The only other thing Luis had, was his stash of berries. He walked over to the stash and was surprised to find it empty. He was sure he had just filled it the day before. There was no way he had eaten that many berries in one day.

Luis suddenly felt an eerie feeling and the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He was scared, afraid of what was behind him. None of the animals had seemed to bother him and he didn't think any of them would even come close to his cave. Luis slowly turned around to face a big black bear at the mouth of his cave. It was massive, Luis was just taller than the bear standing. Its fur was dirty and its claws were long and sharp. The bear looked directly into Luis's eyes and read into his very soul. It seemed to want to tell him to get out of his home. That the bear belonged and Luis had no right to take that from him. Luis was frozen and paralyzed by fear.