That turned dark quickly. Instead
of following the trail of food,
I began to make my way through
this long field of the shadows
between the earth and darkness.
And there I waited.
I could hear its footsteps as it
came towards me. It drew nearer,
more shadowy than
I'd ever thought it could.
Its heavy, loping
steps, the clatter of leaves
and twigs as it scratched for
what the tree-covered darkness
beyond held.
**_M_** ousetrees rustled. Winded,
it stopped. I held my breath,
my heart frozen. And then it
began to howl. It sang its terrible
sound that had the power
to take us as we wished
to play, and make us
beasts in that forest.
Not so far away now,
a dog howled in response.
The air filled with
dog-whines, yelps, and howls.
A strange, rumbling murmur
began to fill the forest.
And now the howls
became human cries.
I heard them
shouting into the night.
Calling for help. "Save us!
Save us! Please! Please
help us!"
The forest became
a house of darkness.
The shadows came into the light
as a crowd of humans
moved down the shadowy aisle.
They didn't look like
any men I'd ever
seen before. Like
beasts, their coats hung down
over their bellies, their
paws like great,
muddy boots. Their fingers,
their faces
were the dark forms
that could become
the forms
of hungry things
or beasts.
All of the human forms
moving down the aisle of
the dark forest began to
howl, and sing, and dance
as one. Shapes appeared
out of the shadows,
and they walked out
to join the others.
Gripping weapons,
some of the humans
who'd
joined them were
hunting dogs. The dog-hounds
came, sniffed, circled
around my body. Then
they picked
me up by the neck
and tail, and flung
me high into the air.
So. I began to feel
the light of the sun
begin to shine again.
**_Y_** ou've just seen a bit of
the last of my book, the
end of an adventure
I've been having
and writing
for a long time.
It's also a bit of
a warning. I know
you're a good
reader and you don't
want to have
a bad surprise.
I've made all my
worst mistakes,
and my books
are full of errors.
Don't get my books
if you don't like
errors.
You'll soon be
sorry.
Read on
...
**_S_** o, enough of the
first part of my book. It's
the last I'm going to write
about my adventure
at the end of the century.
Before I begin
to write about
my second life,
I must talk
a little more
about what happened
at the end
of the century.
To me it was
an adventure.
**_D_** o you believe in
a lot of fairies, or elves,
or little people
with green-colored coats
and long-fingered hands?
Believe me, they're real.
If you think
I'm just making them up
so I can be
the center of attention,
I've had some things happen
in my life
that might make
it seem as if I were
crazy. But it's the truth.
I can remember
a time before
I was
grown up, when
I'd played
and talked to
the creatures
that came out
of the forest
at night.
Sometimes they
would have babies,
sometimes they
would be playing
with them, and sometimes
there'd be many, many
animals.
Sometimes
I'd play with them
by talking to them
just like we talk
to animals.
This is what
I do know.
There was one little boy,
much younger than I,
who I'll call Peter.
He was born, I think,
on the eighth of April, 1820.
That was the day
of the last sunstroke
that Peter,
and I have ever known.
That was also the day
when I met
the man who became
my second mother,
and his kind of human mother
who, with her dark eyes and
soft brown hair,
helped me become a human
for my second life.
She worked hard to teach me
the language of humans
and to teach me human ways.
And I think she did
a lot more
than she'd ever
dreamed she would have
to do.
She brought me up as
her own. Then, as I grew,
she took me to live with
my first mother, who
was a queen
in her land, and she was
a very good
human mother.
**_T_** he forest of my childhood
was a part of
my second life.
I'm sure
you know forests
the way some people
know the streets
of cities.
The forest was my
home, my world.
I lived and played in it
all the time
I wasn't in
the house
with my mother.
Sometimes we'd
ride our bicycles
into the forest,
and I'd play
with the animals
and humans who lived there.
Other times, I'd sit
on the bottom
of our pond, watching
the creatures come
out of the water to play,
or to go fishing, or to hunt.
Or I'd swim with
my cousins, and go
for a ride on
their small horses.
But the best
part of the forest
for me was the day
my second mother
would take me
on her
hunting trips.
**_A_** great big wild dog
was the first
one who looked
at me. My heart
had stopped
beating as
my mother
had picked
me up by the tail
and thrown
me up towards
its face.
The dog stood up.
Its large,
dark eyes stared
into mine,
with an expression
of great friendliness.
Then I began
to remember
being a
baby and looking
into the eyes
of those huge
dogs that had
been my friends
while I was
playing with them
at the bottom
of our pond.
I felt
a great rush of love,
and I was almost
too frightened
to hold my breath.
Then I heard my
mother's voice.
"Don't cry.
Don't cry.
The dog will
not hurt you.
Please don't be
afraid
