Father-like Love

Father-like Love

On one normal day in the dark forest, I took in two lost children, a brother and sister. They told me that they were searching for their parents who left them to fight off the danger in the forest. I told them that their parents were dead and that I would keep them safe.  They accepted and have been living in my house for a while now. I’m not a father of any kind but the kids accepted me as one and have been kind to me. Despite being a person who has submitted themselves to the evil forces within the forest, the kids look at me as if I was another human being. Granted, I look like a normal person and they don’t really know anything about me.

Since the forest is so dangerous, I make sure to keep the kids close to me, but they’ve left the house on their own and took their possessions with them. Why would they do this? They were happy with me and didn’t show any sign of wanting to leave. Is there some kind of rumor about me in any nearby towns? There shouldn’t be. I was just a normal boy when my parents lost me in this forest. A voice told me to submit to it to save my life and I did, but no one should know about it. Except maybe the kids do. There are a bunch of homemade crosses surrounding the house that acts as a barrier that’s keeping me in. They must’ve made this barrier and escaped while I was sleeping. Dang, now I can’t run after them. I’ll have to use my influence over the forest to try to bring them back.

I use my influence to make a teddy bear out of a tree and follow their footsteps to find them.

I make the teddy bear say, “It’s dangerous to be out here, you two! You should go someplace safe and stay there!”

“We’re going to be fine, Mr. Teddy,” the brother says, “We have God on our side.”

“But so many people have died in this forest!”

“Even if we die, we should go to Heaven because we haven’t committed any major sins,” the sister says, “We should be fine.”

“Who are you, Mr. Teddy, and where did you come from?”

The boy uses a cross on him, and the bear falls apart into sticks. I can still hear them talking.

“That teddy bear was demonic?” the sister asks.

“I think almost everything in this forest is evil. We’ve already beaten a few other demons who tried to kill us by appearing like this bear, so we should be careful about everything,” the brother says.

“Okay! I’ll be sure to never let my guard down!”

They’ve already encountered demons? This is bad. I have to get them back to me immediately before something kills them. I construct an imposing monster made of stone, dirt, and branches that has three heads and many limbs. It goes after the brother and sister and stops them in their tracks. The brother and sister try fighting back against the monster, but it has frightened them and shaken their faith especially since the monster keeps reconstructing itself after it falls apart. Parts of the monster fall on top of them and cutting them. The brother pulls his sister away from the monster and I can see the cuts and tears in their eyes as they try not to cry. My monster falls apart completely when I see this as I lose the will to fight them. I didn’t want to hurt them! I can’t believe that my own eyes are tearing up now. My eyes haven’t formed tears in years.

Despite this, I’m still going after them. I can influence the forest in more ways than just making creatures. With my influence, I open holes in the ground, make the trees come to life, and obscure the sky with the leaves of the trees that scream. The kids are frightened, but they don’t turn back. In fact, they’re pushing on even faster now. Everything I seem to do fails me.

My next move won’t fail me though as I create a large fox that sprints after them. It has an open back that can trap them in its body. Wait, what’s happening now? More demons are going after the kids.

“You’ve failed already, human,” one of the demons say, “We will capture and eat the kids.”

No, don’t! I can get them! What? The fox isn’t under my control anymore. Oh, I get it. I’ve gone against the evil force that I’ve submitted to and it’s not allowing me to use the abilities it's given to me. I can’t leave the house and the kids won’t survive the horde of demons coming for them.

“Please, God. I know I’ve been against you for years, but I submit my entire existence to you. Forgive me of my sins because I have offended you. Please, let me save these kids. They don’t deserve to die this way.”

Huh? I can move past the crosses now. I pick up the crosses

“Thank you so much!”

I can also exert some influence over the forest so I can use the ground to push me forward. Once I catch up to them, I use the crosses to defend the two.

“Look!” the sister says.

“Oh, no. Why did you come after us, mister? Did that barrier we put to protect you break?”

They made that barrier to protect me?

“Keep on running! I’ll protect you!”

I use the crosses to the best of my ability as the demons now focus on me. It isn’t long until they overwhelm with their forces. I knew this would happen, but I’m glad that I got to save the lives of the kids.

“Please God, let me see if they made it out safely.”

I can see them. They made it to their parents who were still alive.

“We knew you were still alive!” the brother says.

“Where were you two? We’ve been searching for you for days,” the mother asks.

“A nice man was taking care of us in the forest. He just saved us from a horde of demons,” the sister answers.

“He’s a brave hero!”

I’m a hero? Heh, I guess I ended up as one in the end despite what I was before.

The End