I Met the Monster

Hello, everyone. I'm Deila Eve Harrison, and I'm here to tell you a story.

When I was a little girl about five, I took a walk in the local forest alone, wanting to pick wildflowers for my mother. As I walked along the dirt path to a lake, I saw a shadow pass by me, a few meters away. It was very tall, and moved very fast, but I had a young girl's curiosity and tried to follow it. I knew the forest well from previous walk with my parents, so I moved through the trees faster then the thing.

Eventually, I caught up. The thing had human clothes, so I assumed it would be someone taking a walk. I walked right up to it and yelled:"Boo!" and fell down laughing. When I saw it's face, though, my smile faded.

His skin was leathery, his eyes too shiney to be human. His hair was long and caked with earth. His clothes were not as normal as I had perseved in the dim light, but ragged and torn, and dirty as his hair.

Of course, I was terrified. I wanted to run, but I remembered that mom had always told me to say sorry. 

"Um, I'm s-sorry, it was just a joke...." I stammered, "You're not angry, are you?" I added.

He(I assumed it was a he) shook his head. "No, child, I'm not angry. I'm surprised that you haven't run. Would you like to hear my story?"

He sounded sad and I felt sorry, so I nodded and we sat down on some stones. Then, he told me his story. It was an intriguing one, but I had promised to listen and I did so, with great interest, asking questions. I was shocked when he said he killed a boy my age, but I did not say anything for I felt nothing for the boy but distaste, for he had been rude and stupid and mean.

At the end, he said,"So now, I just wander the world, seeing the beautiful sights and hiding from humans. I heard some people saying that this forest was beautiful, so I came. I did not expect you, but we met. I have no name, if you ask. I suppose we'd better leave."

I did not want him to leave, for he was kind and gentle and his looks ment nothing to me. 

"No, I want to stay with you! I'm Deila. Can you tell me about the beautiful things you saw? I've never been outside the village before!"

And so he told me, about the great mountains and huge plains, and the scarlet sun falling into the deep blue sea. He told me about strange birds and wierd fish, and dry sandy deserts with clear blue skies. I fell into his stories and did not want to come back into the little forest with dappled sunlight through the trees.

"I want to go with you!" I exclaimed, "I want to see all these things!"

But he shook his head. "No, child, for it is dangerous and you have already seen these things through my stories. I want you to draw, or paint them, as humans say, for the world. Most people run from me, so I have no one to talk to, and no one to share my adventures with. You can tell them about the things I saw. One day, I'll come back, and tell you what I saw and what I did. Untill then, we part as friends. Goodbye, little Deila."

Then he got up and quickly vanished amonst the trees. I did not wish to follow.

From then on, I learned to draw and paint. I painted the things he told me, and people marvel at how I did this without seeing the things outright. But I did see them. I saw them through the monster's words. I'm sure, one day, he'll be back, and we could share our new stories with each other.

Sorry, no pictures. I couldn't find any that fit.

Annabeth