Heart Wood | Forest Creature X Reader (COMPLETED)

Chapter 2: Missy, Did You See That?

The house remains silent, except for the sounds of birds chirping coming through the opened window in the kitchen. It's only been about an hour since your mother left, and you've already put the jams and biscuits up, cleaned the dishes, and made some tea.

So far, it has turned out to be a nice spring morning. The sun shines onto the front yard, which causes the grass to appear as a bright green. You're glad your mother had your birthday party before she left. Otherwise you'd be having it in two days, all alone.

You watch as a male and female cardinal eat at the bird feeder. You smile at them, watching the male fly away with the female. They must be a couple, you think happily. You've never had a boyfriend. The closest thing being the doll you practiced kissing on when you were eleven. Those were sad times.

You glance out the window, the beautiful green bouncing off of your eyes. Maybe you should ice your tea and drink it outside. You hum to yourself, filling a glass with ice before pouring in your tea. You spot your phone laying on the counter, but decide on leaving it there. It will just distract you anyway.

Missy waltz's into the kitchen, watching you with her head tilted slightly. You glance at her, motioning to the door with your head as you pick up your tea. "Want to sit outside?" You ask, making your way to the front door. She follows suit, answering your question with her cute action.

Opening the door, you let her out first, watching her walk onto the porch before she sits beside a chair. It's as if she knew you were asking her to sit outside with you. Sometimes, it's like she knows exactly what you're saying. Like she's actually listening to you, and understands every word.

If your mother was here, she would complain to Missy for being too obvious about understanding you. That's one thing your mother is uncomfortable about with Missy. She would always comment on how Missy always seemed to know exactly what you all were saying, and how Missy always knew what you were asking her to do.

It has made training Missy very easy for you. She knows how to sit, roll over, shake, speak, and jump. 'Stay' seems to be a hard one for her to learn though. It's like, she'd much rather be guarding you everywhere you go, rather than staying put like you would ask.

You step out, closing the door behind you, and make your way to the chair Missy is comfortably seated by. Birds surround you with their unique songs as you sit down. A few particular sounds interest you.

You listen closer, setting your tea on the small table next to you. You hear what sounds like a distressed group of baby birds calling out in the forest. Glancing at Missy, you notice her staring into the woods. She must hear them too.

You get up, thinking, if it is baby birds you'll want to try and help them if you can. Missy stands with you, a worried look in her eyes. "Let's go see what that is, hm?" You ask her, giving her a small glance before stepping off the porch. She quickly follows after you, not wanting to leave your side.

You both make your way to the edge of the forest, listening for the sound. You look down at Missy, seeing if she knows where the noise is coming from. She scans the forest, like a guard ready to attack if needed. You hum through your nose, deciding to listen as you go deeper into the dense woods.

The sound gets closer, filling you with a nervous feeling in your stomach. You keep your eyes low, thinking that the noise is coming from somewhere on the ground. That's when you spot it, three baby birds chirping in a fallen nest, underneath a large tree. Missy sniffs at the birds, whining sorrowfully at the poor animals.

You look up at the tree, attempting to see where they once sat. Not only is the lowest branch too high for you to reach, you're unsure if that is even the branch they were originally in. You let out a soft sigh, glancing down at Missy with a defeated look in your eyes. This is going to be harder than you thought.

What you don't see, as you ponder your next move, is the creature watching from behind a large tree, studying you. You are so familiar, and yet so different at the same time. You're the same, and yet you're not. It's like he's seen you before, but it was so long ago he can't remember when or where. He does think that you could be the child he met long ago, but something tells him he's met you even before then.

Staring down at the baby birds, which you are now starting to think are baby Blue Jays, you wonder how to get them back up in such a high tree. Normally, with Blue Jays, their nests are more than ten feet above ground. So, you're not quite sure how you're going to climb that far up. But, you conclude, you're going to try anyway.

You scoop up the nest, holding it in your left hand, and wrap your right arm around the tree. Missy whines, standing on her hind legs as she rests her front paws on your leg. She stares at you, eyes full of concern. It's as if she's saying "This isn't a good idea, and you'll just end up hurting yourself." 'But what does she know?' You question to yourself, ignoring her as you gently move her paws off of you.

You wrap your legs around the tree, listening to Missy's whines while you shimmy up the side. 'Just ten feet up.' You tell yourself, moving up the tree like a caterpillar. It takes you awhile, but you finally get the hang of it.

You look down, thinking you're about halfway up the tree at this point. When you look back up, you notice the branch you were looking at when you were on the ground. You must be farther up than you had previously thought. Maybe, if you grab onto the branch, you can hoist yourself farther up the tree.

Going off that thought, you quickly move your hand to the branch, hearing Missy whine loudly at you. Gritting your teeth, you pull your legs farther up the tree, hoping this branch can hold all of your weight. You hear a quiet snap, making your eyes widen.

Glancing up at the branch, you see a small crack where the branch connects to the tree. Your heart drops to your stomach as the branch disconnects from the tree, leaving you with nothing to hold on to. Before you can grab onto the tree, you plummet to the ground.

Missy barks, alarmed and frightened as she waits beneath you. Thinking on your feet, you hold the birds close to you, hoping to save them from the fall. Closing your eyes, you wait for the impact of the forest floor.

Instead, you grunt, feeling two sturdy arms catch you before your body collides with the ground. You hadn't been falling for that long, so whoever caught you must be quiet tall. Your mind flashes back to your dream last night, stopping to when you saw the trail of flowers. Once again, you can't fully remember your dream.

Before you can open your eyes, whoever caught you quickly sets you down and grabs the nest from your hands. Missy licks your face, making you squirm and scrunch up your nose as you try to move your face away from her. Once Missy is done slobbering all over you, you rub her spit onto your shirt and open your eyes, thinking you'd be greeted by your savior. But, as you stand up and look around, no one is around you. You're completely alone.

The baby Blue Jays chirp happily from above, causing you to look up. There they sit, on a tree branch. The very same tree branch you just broke. You're not sure what's more unsettling, the fact that whoever caught you was tall enough to reach the tree branch, or that the tree branch was magically fixed like it had never broken in the first place.

You look down at Missy, wondering if she noticed anything from what happened. Her tail wags excitedly as she stares up at you. Her bright eyes shine in the sunlight, her seeming completely unaware of the fact that you were saved by an unknown being.

You give her a confused stare, thinking about what just happened in such a short timeframe. You barely had time to process anything, especially because it all happened so fast. You wish you saw who saved you, but you were too busy with Missy licking your face.

Missy nudges your leg, as if to say "We should go before you do something else stupid." And this time, you agree with her. She may be a dog, but she's eerily smart for her species. She follows behind you, glancing back into the forest before heading out of it.

You make your way back to the house, pondering on the odd event that just unfolded. It couldn't have been your imagination, you think. But, your mother has always commented on how great your imagination is. Although everything was so real, you know it couldn't have just been your imagination.

You sit on the front porch, sipping your iced tea. Missy lays right beside you, still unfazed by what happened. You glance into the forest, seeing something shift out of your sight.

'Something is in there,' You conclude, 'And I want to find it.'