Avery Story

While walking out to the stream to catch fish one day, Avery found something unusual. Just several kilometers from his home, he found tracks. 

He kneeled down and put his wooden spear on the ground beside him. Getting a closer look, he compared his hand to a single print. They were small, and somewhat rectangular. They were so small, he could hold its foot with a single hand. Now Avery had found many different kinds of tracks in the forest, but never anything like this. Whatever this animal was, it was heading to the same stream he was. No matter how small its tracks were, it could always be a danger to him or his territory. Upon this discovery, he sniffed the tracks, then sniffed the air to fetch a scent he could recognize. 

Picking up a slight but unfamiliar scent, he followed it in a direction adjacent to where he was headed, making sure to be very cautious of his surroundings. He thought about it as he walked. They looked similar to a bear cub's tracks, except he saw no toes or claws. Maybe a strange hoof? It really was perplexing. Either way, he was determined to see what this animal was, and where it came from. Not only for his safety, but for curiosity's sake. As he walked on, the scent grew stronger. Instincts kicked in and he crouched down into the cover of the flora as the stream came into view. 

His ears moved from left to right, rotating in every direction to hear any kind of sounds or footsteps. Moving on, he made sure to stay within the cover of the trees and brush, scoping out the open water. Just along the edge, his eyes landed on a small animal kneeling by the water. Avery noticed its humanoid figure almost immediately. It was a young human! His eyes widened and he peeked further out of the bush. Avery looked around for any others nearby, but saw no one. 

"Why was it so deep in the forest?" he thought. "And alone?" Sitting and staring, he found it hard to process the fact that there was really an actual human just several yards away! After pinching himself several times, he'd already confirmed to himself that this wasn't another dream.

Piqued by his desire to see it closer up, he quietly crawled through the bushes to another angle. It wasn't moving an inch, and didn't give any signs of knowing Avery's presence. The young human appeared to be holding a long, thin metal stick several feet over the water. Avery recognized the tool. "Could it be trying to catch fish?" He didn't know enough to be sure. 

 It sat there for several minutes, looking down at the stream as Avery watched. Meanwhile he was busy trying to handle the many questions coming across his mind. All this time, he thought no humans were allowed in the forest, and yet this small child was deep in the woods with no one around to watch over it. This wouldn't have happened even in his wildest dreams. Even so, Avery didn't approve of young children being left alone in the wild. This led him to wonder if it had any parents, and if it did, how they could be so careless. Perhaps if he came out and revealed himself, it'd scream and run away. Maybe then it'd run home and learn a lesson about sneaking around in the forest. But he needed to do something. He couldn't find it in him to ignore the poor kid.

Avery's growling stomach didn't drive him away from the task at hand. Although he didn't really have any plan on what to do about this child in his territory. Either way, he had to get to this stream since the berries he'd usually eat didn't grow in the winter. Taking a deep breath, he put his spear on his back and walked out of the bush. The sound of the rushing water overshadowed the rustling of the bush. 

"It didn't hear me. Should I use my voice? Or... should I walk up to it? Maybe distract it with something?"

Standing there and watching the back of the child, he thought of all the different approaches he could take. Scaring it off wouldn't really be an option now, that could cause it to fall over into the stream or injure itself. It could probably even hurt Avery with whatever metal stick it was holding.

He was fairly distant from the child- about 10 yards away- so he advanced closer and walked straight toward it on the grass. Once he got within 6 feet of it, he crouched down to shrink his profile and appear harmless. In doing so, he couldn't help but to stop and observe it for a moment while he still had the chance.

His tail swayed slightly from left to right, hovering over the grass. 

"Wow.. I've never been so close to a human!" He marveled at simply being able to exist in that current moment. He wanted it to never go away. But alas, he was a stranger, and this child could turn around at any second. 

Avery looked it up and down and noticed it was wearing a thick coat. It was colored like the trees and leaves, and would have made the human camouflage without the stream in front of it.

"So this is how they stay hidden from other animals..." 

Before he knew it, he'd crawled within grabbing range of the small child. Completely forgetting the plan he had, he reached out his trembling hand, too blinded by curiosity to think straight.

Just before his finger made contact with the fabric, the child began to move.