Close Encounters

505 words (excluding headlines)

The other side of the mountain

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Luverne had finally done it. Just like he imagined, there were tons more trees on the other side! Immediately upon walking into the light at the end of the tunnel, Luverne was surrounded by an entire forest of them! Leaves freshly watered by morning dew, a mist surrounding the trunks, not a thing other than silhouettes of trees could be seen in the thick fog. It was perfect. Luverne didn't know where he was, quite frankly he just realized he didn't know the way back home, and now the sinking feeling of potential clients knocking on a door of an empty home threw itself on him. Yet, it was all perfect.

And to think... this also was achieving his mapping assignment from a mysterious knight that said he had much interest in Luverne's scenery painting skills. Luverne was more productive than ever. Who could stop this purposeful pouflon with how much stride he had in his step?

"Psst," a whisper caught the attention of Luverne, bringing him to a halt. "Your hair looks so silky, may I pat it?" said a soft voice from amongst the trees.

A bit too friendly on this side of the mountain

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Overtaken by his triumphant stance, Luverne didn't feel any discomfort from such a question and said, "I'm feeling rather generous today. You may pat my head." After a while of his head being scratched, Luverne began feeling as if his self-value was being diminished. Why was he letting this mysterious creature dare place a claw on his head? It slowly began occurring to him that he was being petted. This realization caused Luverne's snout to bunch up in a snarl.

"Oh!" the beholder of the claws yelped, snatching their paw back into the foggy dark of the forest. "Did I accidentally pull out a hair with my claws?"

"Don't place another--" Luverne paused. He was so captivated by the forest, why he didn't fully comprehend he was interacting with what could be... a vespire! His first encounter with a vespire up close, and he was being petted. This was more than humiliating, this was a crime towards his species' worth, even if he regarded himself as a lowly bystander within the pouflon population.

"My name's Elana, what's yours?" the vespire randomly asked.

Luverne was tentative about revealing his name to someone he couldn't see, but he blurted, "Luverne."

"Awww, that's adorable!"

"Adorable?"

"You're adorable!"

"Excuse me?"

Suddenly an Uncle

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"I should just bring you home with me, you look like such a sweetheart!" and with that statement, a pair of claws flew out the mist and dragged Luverne into it.

His hooves suddenly off the ground, being unable to control where he was going, and quite possibly being led further away from getting home, Luverne screamed in panic. The ground disappeared completely as Luverne was being lifted into the sky. Everything happened so fast, Luverne squirmed and shrieked.

"Eeeee, I'm so excited for my son to meet a new uncle! He looks quite a lot like you," Elana said, nevermind her travel agent was screaming at the top of his lungs.