He was lost in the forest, he knew that: he understood it when he saw the same moss covered rock for the third time, after a walk that seemed to last for hours.
His body succumbed to the disappointment, making him prostrate against a tree trunk, and even if he was too tired to cry, he put his hands on his face and stayed like that for a long time, sure he would die alone in those strange blue woods.
Then, a stepping sound reawakened his sleepy head, as he hardly focused on a small figure dressed in green that was moving away from him, a sight that made him spring up on his feet. She really looked like a little girl, and the idea that she was lost there too worried him.
He followed her rapidly but silently, to not scare her and when he was close enough, he tapped gently on her shoulder.
-Hey kid... are you lost?
The girl turned abruptly and a pair of olive green eyes, filled with rage, fixated on him as he understood the big mistake: she wasn't a little girl, but a female gnome! Looking at her messy clothes and her intricate tattoo, the branch of an ivy that went across her face, he understood that she was a druid and relief took the place of embarrassment.
-Oh! Sorry, I... I need you help, I'm lost!
-Obviously: this forest is sacred, who enters without my permit can never find his way out. Good luck!
The gnome turned without saying anything more and started moving away, leaving him speechless. That moment of pause was enough for her to disappear in the fronds with incredible speed, almost like the plants had closed on her on purpose.
-No! Please!
The man ran in the woods to find her, catching sometimes a glimpse of her reddish hair with a corner of his eye, always too far to reach. Sometimes he saw her at his left, sometimes at his right. Other times it looked like she was jumping from tree to tree, incredibly agile.
The chase seemed to last for days, and he was almost losing hope when the blue trees ended abruptly, leaving space for lush green bushes and then, a grass plain.
He fell to his knees, surprised of finding himself in the exact point where he entered the sacred forest that morning. A feminine giggle filled the air behind his, and he couldn't stop himself from joining it, grateful.
