A Forest On Fire

I Am No Man

What happened to Abraham? Where had he gone, where had he stayed, after the crash in the forest? Had he been taken by the telé? Had he died in the crash, and they never found his body? If he was alive, where was he, currently, and how had he taken care of himself?

The first step to revealing these months- for months, in fact, it had been- in Abraham's life was to say that he is still alive. He had never left the Fluiean forest, and, perhaps, maybe, Elliot's carriage had even passed him once. They had no way of knowing. Surely, if he had never left the forest, that meant someone had taken care of him. Someone had taken care of him. And, instead of monotonously answering the questions, the rest will be shown, not dictated, and it will start the moment Abraham was found.

Abraham had been dragged far- how far, he could not tell, for the telé had knocked him near unconscious. He was not bleeding, and hardly was he injured at all. However, Abraham had struck his head upon one of the wheels when the telé rammed into the carriage and flung it to the side. One might notice: Abraham was being dragged by a telé, but Maribelle had chased one off from Elliot at the same moment. That is because there were two. Who were they? We will see. Now, since Abraham was largely incapacitated, it is a miracle that he escaped from the telé. How, in that state, had he escaped? With the help of a man, not quite a hermit, somewhat of a recluse, who just so happened to be placidly picking mushrooms at the time of the crash.

One might say: how, by God, would such a passive creature, such a cowardly man, hidden away in the forest from society, fight off such a fearful monster as a telé? Someone might counter with the idea that he was not a passive creature, not a cowardly man, and he was not. He was not a man at all. But, really, whether or not he was human is up to the observer, for, if he looks like a human, if he acts like one, if he feels like one, if he expresses himself like one, if he loves like one, who is to say he is not one?

The man was not human, not physically, that was sure. He was a monster unlike anyone Abraham had ever seen, unlike the telé, which was dwarfed by the creature, and the telé looked like a mere dog in contrast. It was looming, fearsome, transfixing. The points of its antlers shone in the moonlight, and they stretched up toward the crowns of the trees; the tendrils of bone were almost indistinguishable from the branches of the pines, except for their threatening sharpness. It was horrible, but it was beautiful. It seemed to radiate peace, and it did not let out a growl or a screech or a snarl; it was silent. Its head was held high; its hooves were planted to the forest floor; its human-like hands grabbed a tree on either side of it; its wonderful antlers barred the sky itself, and it embodied a wall, a barricade.

The telé was still before it; it dropped Abraham. It growled- a terrible, deep, guttural noise. The creature bowed its head and bared its boney, vine-like cirri. It shook its great head, and the wind itself seemed to tremble and howl. The telé reached forward and snapped its jaws, but from there Abraham lost track. He remembered a certain smell waking him up. The smell of melting wax.

One will remember Torvald being asked what he was doing in Rousette. This is what he was doing in Rousette. He had taken Abraham there and had cared for him. Why had he taken Abraham to Rousette and not let him go? Because Torvald needed to speak with him- call it something of a lecture. Abraham was hunter; Torvald was a monster.

Torvald did not explain to Abraham who he was, at first, even if the man relentlessly yearned to know more than just his name. No, in fact, the first thing Torvald told Abraham was what had happened and what he should do about it.

"You're name is Monsieur Volleh, no?" Torvald slid a cup to Abraham from across the table and set a pot of coffee near it.

Abraham frowned and gave him a peculiar look. "How did you know that?"