In The Forest Away From It All

"Well you don't look a day over 20, trust me," he goofed, and Thesipha finally chortled in response.

"It's good. I'd hate to feel as old as I am. But with nature slowly weakening, especially in the last 200 years, I've started to slowly age again."

Ray was shocked, "At normal speed?"

"No-no, still incredibly slowly, but I can tell it's starting to happen. Maybe in another 100 years I might look as if I'm 40 or 50 if this rate keeps up. Maybe in 200 years I'll die."

"Does it bother you? To get old? Maybe even die?"

Thesipha smiled to him warmly, "Death is natural. I've been around for so long and done and seen so much. There's not much left to do. It is man's world now, we'd need a miracle of magic and life to stop me from dying."

"You're so at peace. I'm almost envious." His voice wasn't as warm instead shedding that for a somber infection.

"You'll be at peace. It's finding a balance in yourself. I doubt you need to be immortal.", She smiled to him.

A colorful hallucination crossed behind her. Like a black and green wave of silk shroud behind her causing him to gaze deeper into what was the most powerful trip of his life. For no reason they both burst out laughing. They where really close now when they stopped laughing. He found his hand on her shoulder.

"You have to be the most jaw dropping person I have ever laid eyes upon," Ray confessed, running his hands through her silky soft hair. He was such a goner.

Thesipha moved suddenly and Ray flinched, for some reason his mind conjured the image of one of his father's punches. Thesipha felt the panic but couldn't tell from what. It was quiet for a moment.

"I want to show you something." Thesipha held out her hand and led him out of the domicile, no longer afraid of him. When their hands touched, she felt the same unfamiliar rush of excitement flow through her, almost tipping her off her balance.

Ray wasted no time as she led the way into the thick forest that he often stared into too afraid to venture. Asking no questions, he followed like a good disciple unaware of what lay ahead yet trusting her with his life. Everything in his eyes was way more colourful than usual and his mind seemed to open up in ways it hadn't before. It was as if he was seeing the world for the first time. His senses were heightened and the ground beneath him felt pillowy. When he looked below, he felt like he was walking on air. They stopped when they came close to the river and he spotted the most beautiful wild creatures he had ever seen before. They were unusual yet he felt like he had known them all his life. Thesipha explained what each one was allowing him to get closer and boy was he mesmerized! Ray loved the idea of taking care of the environment for as long as he could remember so he had taken a liking to animals early on in his childhood. As they watched the animals move around in their natural habitat, they spotted a smaller horse-like creature with pointed ears and a long tail ending in a tuft of white fur, it stood out from the rest as it's white coat of fur shimmered under the natural light like a fishes scales.

"Is that what I think it is?" Ray asked excitedly, noticing the distinct horn on its forehead. Thesipha nodded urging him to get closer to it. Ray looked back to Thesipha, he couldn't believe it.

Everyone knew unicorns were just a figment of someone's rich imagination; or did they? Everything Ray had once believed in was being tried and tested every moment he continued to stay there and he liked it. He loved to not know the world as it was dictated to him but from how he experienced it.

"You can touch it if you want, I promise, she doesn't bite." Thesipha urged slowly petting the animal's snout. Ray came up carefully touching the animal's soft fur. He could feel her heartbeat amid her slow steady breathing. He moved closer still laying his head on the unicorn's side as he continued to pet her.

"She's so beautiful." Ray was not sure whether it was just the drugs but he was having the time of his life.

Thesipha watched the young man keenly as he relished in the world she had created for herself. It felt good seeing someone appreciate what she was doing, especially a human being. She had not been in contact with the outside world for so long she forgot what that felt like. For a moment they both forgot all their worries getting lost in each other's eyes. Ray had not been able to stop staring at her beautiful face the entire time. He was warmed by her kind heart and even more so, the way she nurtured the environment around her. They were standing only feet apart but he began to bridge the distance slowly getting closer. Thesipha was aware of his slow movement towards her yet she did nothing to stop him at first. She felt high and confused so when he finally got too close, she panicked pulling away in an instant.

She acted like nothing had happened as she continued to caress the unicorn. They stayed out a bit longer then proceeded back to the house. Thesipha had been listening to his questions for so long it was her turn to do the asking. Initially, he had refused to tell her anything about his personal life only sharing the information about his journey but they had just eaten dinner and the drugs were slowly beginning to wear off much to her knowledge. She was concerned about being sober once again because it reminded of her reality. As much as she was enjoying his company so far, the boy had to go.

"How did you get the scar on your lower lip?" she had been staring at it since the first time they met.

"I ran away from home" Ray found himself spilling the beans out of the blue. "I had a habit of running away. I did it a few times. The first was as a boy."

As he started to explain to her how hard his upbringing was but with actual detail this time, he felt a hot tear sting his eyes but he cleared his throat and shook his head in a bid to stop it. The drug enhancing the memories and making them feel real again.

"Can I stop talking?" he said cautiously.

Thesipha touched his arm, "Dont stop for anyone, not even me."

Ray wiped his eyes, "Back at home, we used to do odd jobs from time to time because my father said so. So one time we were delivering some vegetables to a local supermarket and he would make us sit in the back of the lorry with the boxes. My older brother said something mean to me and shoved me so I called out to my father to intervene. The old man hated when we 'slowed him down' but I needed my father in that moment you know? So he stops the truck and angrily drags the both of us out of the trunk onto the side of the road. Then he tells us to fight it out like grown men should; which was completely unfair considering my brother was six years older than me. I remember being so terrified that day when I told him that I wanted to go home but he insisted that it had to be done, throwing me at the mercy of my taller, older brother."

The memory was too vivid for him; so fresh, it felt like it was happening all over again. He had been only 10 years old; too young to even be impressionable. He just wanted to be a normal kid but instead, he had to walk around school with a busted lip that he'd gotten from his own flesh and blood. Some of his classmates thought he was some kind of tough guy while others spread rumors about his tough situation at home but no one ever lent a hand. Jack had been the only one brave enough to ask him about it and they had been inseparable since.

Thesipha could feel Ray's pain as he narrated the ordeal and she couldn't begin to understand but she'd try. She was beginning to realize that she had been a little too hard on him. In a bid to break the ice, she asks what the world outside is like. Truth was, she was quite curious but lacked the guts to go and find out for herself. Ray was more than glad to show her everything he knew so he started by taking out his survival kit. He would enjoy every moment of teaching her what he knew.

He did his best to avoid all the traumatic things of the world when teaching her and telling her about things. But her mind always returned to the thought of that bruised up little boy. When he looked her in the eyes she was about to pounce, kissing him on the lips. But she hesitated, getting an inch apart from him.

Maybe not.

CHAPTER 7

Ray and Thesipha went on as if nothing happened. Ray instead took advantage of the time he had with Thesipha as well as he could. So far, he had taught her all the nitty gritties of survival through his own eyes and introduced her to a few of the tools he'd been carrying. In order to buy more time, he had chosen to show her one thing at a time hoping it would delay his departure.

His leg was almost fully healed in just a month's time but instead of being happy, he was the complete opposite.

So far, they had been sharing information about each other's lives that he had not seen coming a few weeks prior. He had told her about trains and aeroplanes, televisions and radios, money and why it was nicknamed 'the root of all evil.' She was surprised to hear about religion and how far beyond the world it had spread. The two had gotten quite close but he'd heard very little about her previous life. She liked to tell ancient stories but never got into specifics about why she was all alone in a bubble of all places.

"I know you said I could not stay much longer but I was hoping you would have changed your mind by now." Ray brought up the discussion Thesipha dreaded so much. She had failed to explain to him why he could not stay and hoped she would not have to.

"I think I have a solution that could work perfectly for both of us. I know you are afraid of human beings, which is justified so I can stay away if you want. Only instead of leaving the bubble, how about, I just find a place for me in the outskirts and you never have to worry about me?" it sounded so simple in his head.

Thesipha was agitated by his insolence so she stopped and started to explain it to him.

"They say that the fate of a god solely depends on their believers. When the people stop believing, the gods start to lose their power gradually." She sat down beside him.

"You see once upon a time, nymphs were nature's own blessing forged by the gods and the earth itself. We witnessed the dawn of humanity, mingled among the greatest of gods; No one came close to Zeus, the greatest of them all. We experienced the dawn of humanity with the gods being the moral compass. We were created by the gods to teach man how to take care of the environment for what was supposed to be eternity but no one had ever predicted that vices were part of human behavior. We walked among humans; taught them how to procreate, farm and even how to love but we had no control over the negativity that inevitably appeared. The gods could do as they pleased- anything they wanted apart from mingling with human beings. Perhaps it was their disobedience; it's hard to tell what it was exactly that brought out the worst in the gods. You see, nymphs had the power to nurture, but little authority over the universe. It wasn't until we heard rumors that gods were secretly mingling with human beings that our world slowly became undone. It's easy to have rules but what happens when the enforcers themselves don't follow the rules? Life is a like a scale that requires balance- without balance life starts to get meaningless. The gods got bored easily so they began to seek adventure by disguising themselves and going into the human world. They secretly cohabited with humans hoping their actions remained secret but the nymphs always knew. The consequences were dire, as you can imagine."

Thesipha took a deep breath as the memories came flooding back. She had not talked about this in millennia yet it still felt freshly etched in her mind.

"There lived a man named Orion-the hunter. He was a handsome hardworking man who kept to himself most of the time having no family growing up. In his land, he was known as the best hunter there was. Orion lived on a remote Island leading a hermit's life. He hunted by night and slept by day but he was not unnoticed. High in the heavens, Orion had a secret admirer, unbeknownst to him. Her name was Artemis, the goddess of the moon and daughter of Zeus, the king of the gods. It was her job to guide the moon into place and when the clouds were not blocking her view, she would watch Orion, falling madly in love with him. Artemis knew that gods could not mingle with human beings but she just could not resist. One night, she decided to go down to Orion and when he laid his eyes upon her, he fell in love instantly. They started a secret affair and Artemis would visit the hunter every chance she got. Their love was boundless and Artemis hoped it was enough for the mortal, for after all, what greater honor than to be in the presence of a god? Artemis started to get suspicious when she realized that Orion had a different destiny from the one she hoped for. He wanted to be a great man, have a family and live up to old age but with Artemis, his dreams would never come true. Orion was ready to go public with their relationship and did not care about the repercussions although Artemis was not. When he told her what he wanted, she laughed and told him it would be impossible. I am a god, she said, and you are just but a mere mortal. The words were a bitter pill to swallow but he accepted that nothing would ever come of their relationship. In a bid to move on, he stopped seeing Artemis causing her to get even more suspicious. It was not long before she discovered he was seeing a mortal woman who had taken interest in him. Artemis was jealous and bitter. How dare he compare her to a mortal? If she could not have him, then no one else would. Artemis waited until the hunter was unawares and attacked him with a poison arrow in the dead of night. After Orion's death, Zeus, honoring a lost demigod Nephilim, cast his image into the stars. Artemis is my patron; the last surviving of the gods and her story serves to teach all of us how human beings bring out the worst in us."

The entire time she was talking, Ray was staring at her finely chiseled face. Her nose was straight and slightly upturned at the end while her chin ended in a fine almost point delicately rounded at the bottom. Her curved eyebrows of medium thickness went up and down when she spoke in concern. He had been listening to her explanation yet nothing she said stopped him from falling even deeper into infatuation with her.

"Artemis could return any minute and if she finds you here, she will kill you." Thesipha announced snapping him back into reality. "You can't stay here Ray."

Her warnings only proved that she cared about him but he was shaken by her story. There was an eerie ring to the way she told her tale. She was probably right, he could not stay there. But where else could he go?

"Plus, even if you decide to live as far away as possible from me, if you don't build a shelter, you'd be dead from exposure in two months." She added pouring him a bowl of vegetable soup.

"Thank you for telling me this. And I apologize if I have been insisting on staying and defying your decision." He held her hand softly in appreciation and she did not know what to do. Thesipha struggled with her inner desires. Not having the touch of another for decades, she could not help but feel conflicted. His touch was warm and her blood must have been boiling. Having the boy around for so long was evoking mixed feelings.

This time, she did not pull away but remained scared of the feelings that were brewing inside of her.

"I escaped my home not only because I was avoiding the draft but it's the violence that pushed me to the brink. The world is a dark place, Thesipha, you don't even know half of it." He started. Perhaps she did not understand so he explained it like you would to a little child.

He told Thesipha about slavery, colonialism and the scramble to conquer territories. It was all just a petty competition to diminish another human because existence; he said. Ray told her about the world wars, the cold war, the tragedies at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the civil rights movements and the Vietnam War that was ongoing as she listened in horror at the atrocities of men. He told her about crimes against humanity that were committed every other day. Robbery, racism, gun violence, rape, extrajudicial killings, serial killings, suicides- anything he could think of.

"The world has changed Thesipha, people have embraced animalism in the name of 'survival'. The principle do unto your neighbor as you'd like them to do to you is long gone. We live together because it is inevitable while seeing each other as threats. The world is just a ticking time bomb ready to go off any minute and I'm just glad I'm no longer there. Please, don't make me go back." He begged.

Thesipha sympathized with Ray, of all the things he had said, she was stuck on his request to stay. Just hearing about what the world had become shocked her. Surely she could not send him to a fate like that. She would not have been able to live with herself. He was yet to heal completely so she would let him stay until they could figure it out.

Ray liked to offer his company when she went to pick out flowers or herbs. Their conversations eventually continued in the fields. Thesipha had to admit that having him around was far much better than being all alone. Ray liked to watch her move around; he would never let her know but he had somewhat of a crush on her. How could he not? She was the most intelligent female he had ever encountered and her beauty was mesmerizing. Her thin and athletic physic, was no testament of her true age. The dresses she wore were reminiscent of his imagination of what a goddess would clad in. The linen that made her dress was a bit see-through r and he often wondered if she knew that. He caught a glimpse of her thighs as she made each step as her round butt protruded through the shear cloth.

He was about to complement her when he saw her stand up straight her ears pointier than ever.

"Don't make a sound. She's here!" Thesipha was petrified nearly dropping to the ground from her shaking hands.

"Stay here, I'll be back for you." She promised rushing back towards the house.

Ray was as alert as she was sensing that he was in danger. He did as she said retreating further behind a bush and sat there.

Thesipha walked as quickly as she could trying to calm her breath. Her mind was racing fast, she needed to get to the house first but when she got to the entrance, her fears were confirmed.

"My goddess, Artemis, you have returned!" she dropped the basket to the floor and got on her knees hailing the cloaked goddess who now stood before her.

CHAPTER 8

Thesipha was glad she had always hidden Ray's belongings before they left the house. She was relieved he had not decided to do laundry on that particular day.

"Thesipha, you look well my dear. I cannot say the same about myself however, time has not been kind to me." Artemis' voice was raspy.

That was true, the Artemis the nymph once knew was no more. She was a crotchety old woman- a former shell of herself. If you looked closely, you could tell she was once the most beautiful woman in the world but that had long since faded. Thesipha would not bring that to her attention so she looked at her only when necessary.

"I have been patiently waiting on your return." Thesipha led her to the shrine she had made for the goddess. There she worshipped her on a daily basis in a bid to keep her legend alive. Thesipha wondered what had happened to her godly patron over the years. The once radiant deity now looked shriveled and miserable however, she knew better than to ask.

Thesipha knew the psychology of the gods. All they needed was to be praised, shown that they were important. It was as easy to please them --simply do as they want. Thesipha played the perfect position ready to serve her wherever she needed. Giving the deity time to herself in the shrine, she excused herself to go collect what they would have for supper but in reality, she needed to get rid of Ray's belongings before they were discovered. She carefully took out his bag from underneath her bed making sure she left nothing behind and snuck out to go find the young man. She hoped Ray had not left in fear for it would only make it easier for Artemis to find him. His best chance at survival was to hide and only she could show him how.