In the depths of the forest, far away from pain, from sorrow, away from the rainy days and the whiff of must, the birds are chirping, singing the song of life; heard only by those who are good-hearted.
In these depths, you can hear the river streaming down, water carving the rocks, grinding them into finely-shaped forms, as if for a wedding. A wedding where all the trees are grooms and brides, with a veil made only of blossoms; a veil so long and so dense, its intricate layers of leaves cover the green and soft foliage of the forest.
In this remoteness of forgotten land, even God has not laid His hand, and the Devil would need a second apple to even acknowledge these woods.
All beings who needed to be here were born here or brought here for pressing reasons. In these depths, near the river, we find a kid lying down. Who is he? What is he doing? Such questions trouble not only our minds but also someone else’s. A young man perched in a tree, about 18 years old, watches the kid and wonders:
“He is wearing weird clothes, different from ours. His shirt, with some strange inscriptions, makes me wonder which kingdom he might represent. And what’s that glass on his eyes? If he’s dead, shouldn’t there be coins, not glass?”
“Hmm, he seems like he is sleeping. Why would he sleep in the middle of the day in a God-forsaken forest? Hmm… he’s waking up. Quick, greet him, Joe. You’ll finally have a friend.”
“Oh, you are finally awake!” says Joe, grinning mischievously.
The kid opens his eyes and takes a quick glance around, a grim look etched on his face. He seems lost, troubled, and full of questions.
“Hey, boy, what’s your name?” asks Joe.
Suddenly, the kid panics and starts running wildly. Before he knows it, he smacks his head into a tree.
“Bam! That must have hurt,” says Joe with a smirk.
“Tsss, what’s going on? Why does this dream feel so real? And if it’s not a dream, how did I get here? If this is a prank… well, I got nothing,” the kid mutters, taking a deep breath.
“So many questions… so many questions. I have them too. You like to ask. Perhaps you asked too much, and that’s why you are here,” Joe mocks.
“Great! And now he sings,” Joe mutters.
“Alone… somewhere… over the rainbow, way up high, and the…”
“Hey, you are not alone. I am here!”
The kid keeps singing, as if waiting for the dream to end.
“Boy, can you hear me? I’m here. Yellooow!”
“Don’t bother, Joe. He is not aware of us. He is in our minds. He is our God,” says a soft, girly voice.
“What do you mean? He is a boy, not a God. He is here, but he refuses to talk to me. Such stubbornness.”
“No, Joe. We are his gods. He is here because we created him,” echoes a darker, deeper voice from the shadows.
“I do not recall doing such things, nor being aware of such powers.”
“Oh, Joe. You make me sad.”
“You are always sad, Merlin.”
“Ah, don’t call me that.”
“Sorry, Rose. Please don’t cry. Let me cheer you up.”
Joe jumps down from the tree and starts twirling around, singing and dancing like a lunatic.
“Spiders, cats, and creepy dogs / Jump around the deadly corpses / Eat their brains and make them new / Make them puppets just for you!”
“Thank you, Joe,” says Rose. “I already feel better.”
“Really?” asks the same dark voice.
“What did you think, Ako? My voice is beautiful!”
All of a sudden, the kid stops singing. Has he finally realized this is not a dream? As silence embraces the forest, the kid speaks:
“Who are you?”
Joe, Rose, and Ako turn around, their eyes wide with surprise.
“Boy, are you talking to us?” says Joe.
“Hey! Why don’t you answer?”
“Are you talking to me?” asks Rose.
“You perv! Is that why you didn’t answer me earlier?” Joe retorts. “You care only about girls?!”
While Joe rages, Ako steps back. He stares at the ground, as though wishing to remain unnoticed.
“Hey! I know you!” says the kid, his voice rising. “Why don’t you answer me?”
Joe and Rose turn their gaze to Ako, who is visibly distressed.
“Ako,” says Rose. “What is this about?”
“I know him, somehow…” Ako replies.
The kid steps forward, long and silent.
“What did you say? Don’t you remember me? It is me! Morde! Remember?”
“I know you, somehow. I just don’t remember where from… How?”
“I do not know. But the truth is, I have always expected, somehow, something like this.”
“What are you saying?”
“You look exactly like something that wandered through my mind a long time ago.”
“I wandered your mind?”
“What is your name?” yells the kid suddenly.
Ako feels a shiver run down his spine. He steps back, his deep, heavy voice now barely audible:
“I… am… Ako.”
“Fantastic! This is getting better. Weird, scary, but exciting!”
Ako finds no words to reply.
Joe and Rose exchange amazed glances.
“Ask him what’s so exciting about it!” Joe shouts at Ako.
“What’s so exciting?”
“You! This! If your name is Ako, then it is you!”
As if regaining his strength, Ako asks in a confident tone:
“And who am I?”
“You, my beloved Ako, are my protector. You are the character I have always dreamed of. You are the main star in all my stories. You, Ako! You are my first-class hero in all my writings. You are fictive! You should not exist!”
“I shouldn’t?”
“But he is real!” exclaim Joe and Rose.
“Yes, I am!” yells Ako.
“Tell me, Ako. Are there Storm, Frey, Joe, or Rose?”
Ako’s eyes widen in fear, and he stares at the kid, mesmerized and terrified.
“You—you, hear th…” Before finishing his question, Rose interrupts.
“I did.”
“Oh, boy. We did,” adds Joe. “Should we trust him? Quick, ask him his name.”
“What’s your name?” asks Ako, almost absentmindedly.
“I am your God, as… I believe you guys said moments ago.”
All three fall into a deep silence. They cannot believe what they have just heard. But Joe, still unsatisfied, steps forward and yells:
“Ya! This boy is toying with us. He heard us before, and now he is toying with us. He thinks we are—”
Before Joe finishes, the kid swiftly replies:
“You are anything but fools, Joe.”
“What?” asks Joe.
“I am telling you. The guy is nuts. Probably bored. A loony?”
“Was that what you were about to say, Joe?”
“H-how?”
Ako’s mind is elsewhere. His body stands there, numb, before everyone’s eyes.
Emanuel Ștefancu 