Daughter of the Forest 03 (Patreon)

Travis pried open his eyes in the morning, looking for the strange girl from the forest who had slept next to him…

Nowhere. There was no sign of her except for a soft smell of strawberries and a cold wind coming from the open window.

Ugh…

Travis dragged his feet out of bed to go to the bathroom but when he opened his door, his sister was standing right outside.

“Ah! You scared me,” she complained. “I came to tell you breakfast is ready.”

“Oh, OK. I’ll be there after I go to the bathroom,” Travis said.

“Wait a second… is that my dress?” his sister said, peering over his shoulder. “What’s my dress doing on your bedroom floor?”

“I… uh…” Travis stumbled over his words remembering how Luna had stolen it from the clothesline. “It was in with my clothes,” Travis lied. “Mom must have put it in with the wrong load.

Her sister shrugged. “Guess so…” she said, picking it up. “Weird… smells like strawberries.”

“New detergent?” Travis said nervously.

“Whatever, just hurry up and get breakfast,” his sister said before walking off in a huff.

The morning went at lightning speed. Travis showered, ate breakfast, grabbed a water bottle, covertly collected some of his sister's old clothes and put them in a backpack, and rushed out the door saying he was going to explore the town a bit.

“Don’t get lost in the woods on another bet,” his mother told him before he left.

“Don’t worry, I’ve learned my lesson,” Travis lied.

Travis headed to the general store to buy some candy and food and along the way he saw the same group that originally dared him to go into the forest.

“Looking for the creature again city boy?” mocked one boy.

“No,” Travis said plainly. “You guys are probably right and I’d rather not encounter it,” he said, rushing out of the store.

The boys were stunned. They didn’t particularly expect their bullying to actually work.

Travis snuck to the small break in the forest line where he entered the woods last time. “Crap, we never established how to contact each other. I just hope I don’t run into any bears this time.”

He started walking deeper into the woods and calling out Luna’s name. He listened to the sounds of the forest. Birds mostly. Wind… water? He took out his phone and looked at his map app and sure enough there was a small river running through the woods. “I’m such an idiot, I should have followed the river to town last time.” He decided to walk to its bank and follow it deeper in so he always had a safe path out. Unfortunately, rivers sometimes lead to wildlife or, in this case, Luna, standing in the middle of the water and bathing herself.

“AAAAAAH! What are you doing!?” she said as she covered herself with her many arms and dove into the water to hide.

“Uhm, I was… looking for you?” Travis said, blushing heavily.

“This is like a scene from those books,” she said, smiling. She got out of the water and shook herself dry like a wild animal before grabbing a dirty towel left on the riverbank. Travis guessed she must have stolen it.

“What kind of books are you talking about?” Travis asked.

“The books I got from mom. I learned how to read and write from them. How did you find me? You are getting better at moving around here.”

“I just followed the river,” Travis shrugged. “Didn’t think I’d find you bathing.

“No problem,” Luna said. “Besides, boyfriends and girlfriends usually see each other naked don’t they? Although, after that don’t they usually make babies?”

“Look, can we cut it out with the baby talk? I’m barely an adult. I’m just 19, I have a lot of years before I become a father.”

“And I’m 21,” Luna said, jumping next to him. “I’m older than you, but that’s fine. Some of the books had the girl older than the boy.”

“Wait, how do you know you are 21?” Travis asked. He didn’t see any calendars here in the forest.

“I keep track!” She said pointing to a tree nearby with tally marks on it. “Plus I see dates every time I sneak around town. Mom taught me that too! Anyway, did you bring me a bed!?”

“I already said that’s impossible! I couldn’t carry it! I tried to get you pillows and blankets but there isn’t any local store that carries them. I’d have to order them.”

“Awww, well that’s fine. I’ll just sleep with you from now on. Just leave the window open at night,” Luna said with a grin.

“...OK?” Travis said defeated. “But don't make noise OK? I don’t want to think about what would happen if my family found out.”

“No one has ever caught me,” she said proudly. “So what did you bring me?”

Travis handed her the backpack and Luna rifled through it with great joy, especially his sister's old clothes. “These dresses are pretty! You are a good boyfriend.”

“I’ll bring you the clothes my sister doesn’t wear so you don’t have to steal.”

“I didn’t steal, I found it in your yard…”

“...Whatever. Look I felt bad that you had to come back to the forest naked so-”

“I didn’t come back naked. Mom told me it was bad to run around naked. I took these big warm fluffy clothes from your room!” She pointed to a nearby branch where Travis’s favorite sweatshirt hung… now with a bunch of holes in it for Luna’s extra arms.

“I… ugh… OK, I’ll give it to you. It’s yours now.” Travis said with deep resignation.

“You’re the best boyfriend,” Luna said, jumping up to give Travis a small kiss. Travis was quite surprised at the suddenness and tenderness of a kiss coming from a wild creature like this.

“Th-thank you,” he said, “I just hope your mom isn’t upset that her daughter now has a boyfriend.”

Luna stepped back and her face fell into a frown. “Yeah… I better ask her…” she said, taking Travis’s hand. “Come with me.”