Photo by Mike Erskine on Unsplash
Smoke rose from the chimney of a thatch-roofed cottage along the bank of a wide stream. Vegetables grew in a garden, and salting racks along the shore were filled with fish. An old woman was walking along the path to the door when a cry came from a face in the window. “Grandma!”
The young girl who came running out barely gave the old woman time to drop her walking stick before jumping up for a hug. “Hello, my angel. Goodness, you’re almost too big to hold! I’m glad to see you. Where are your Mommy and Daddy?”
“Hello, Margaret,” came a voice from within the house. “I’m getting dinner started. Miriam, you and Grandma pick a fish for the stew.”
The girl’s face wrinkled. “Only Mama calls me Miriam,” she said. “Everyone else calls me Mimi, even Daddy.”
“I know, my girl. Your Mommy must be serious, because she has many things to look after. Including you,” replied Margaret with a tousle of the girl’s hair. “Come on, let’s pick out the best fish.”
Once inside the house, Margaret set the fish on the table. “Hello, Lizbeth. It’s good to see you. Where’s my Donald?”
The other woman looked up from the cooking pot. “He went to town for some milk and butter. It takes a while to go around the woods, but I thought he’d be back by now. Will you watch the stew and keep an eye on Miriam while I look for him? Just the fish has to go in yet.”
“Of course. We’ll have dinner all ready when you come back. I’ve brought a nice loaf from my oven. And some cookies, too,” she said with a wink at Mimi. Smiling, Lizbeth took her cloak and went outside.
“Daddy’s always late when he goes to town,” said Mimi. “He won’t go through the woods. It’s much faster, but he says we must always walk the long way around. People in town are afraid of monsters in the woods, but Daddy says to never be afraid, so it can’t be that, can it?”
“Always walk around. Never be afraid. Hmm.” Margaret looked up from cutting the fish. “My girl, you’re getting big now, and it’s important that you start learning some things. Always and never are not words to live by. Come help me with the stew, and I’ll tell you a story. All right?”
“Sure! Your stories are fun.”
The old woman smiled. “Stories can be lots of fun, but the best ones also help us learn. This story is like that. Many years ago, there was a girl who lived near here. Her name was Vivian, but everyone called her Vivi, just like everyone calls you Mimi. She was much like you, in fact. She had been taught to never be afraid, too, and so she wasn’t. Even back then, most of the townsfolk would avoid the woods, but Vivi wasn’t afraid, so one day she decided to walk right through.”
Margaret tasted the stew. “Hmm. Your Mommy never uses enough salt. Pass it here, will you? There we are. Now, where was I? Ah, yes. The fearless Vivi was walking through the woods when she noticed rustling in the bushes. She saw shadowy figures in the distance and heard mumbling voices. Most people would have been afraid, but not Vivi, so she walked straight toward the sounds. As she got closer, the figures pulled away, but she kept following them. After a time, she saw a collection of huts in the woods. The creatures she’d seen had just entered it and were talking with each other.”
“Creatures? You mean there really are monsters in the woods?” asked Mimi.
“You will hear about many monsters as you go through life, called by many names,” replied Margaret. “Most of them were never real. Some once were, but no longer exist. But some are still here, and once in a while, a new one comes along, too.”
“What did they look like? The ones Vivi saw?”
“Almost like men, but shorter and stouter, with dark, leathery skin. Their ears and teeth were pointed. None of them had any hair. Their eyes were pure white.”
Mimi shrunk back. “They sound scary.”
“I think so, too,” said Margaret. “But Vivi walked right up to them and said hello. They all looked to their leader, who was sitting on a stump. ‘So, it is true. The humans have lost all fear of us,’ he said.”
“Vivi told him, ‘My Daddy says to never be afraid.’ At this, the creature looked displeased. ‘Why do you want us to be afraid of you?’ asked Vivi.”
“The leader answered, ‘We are magical creatures, girl, and we feed on fear. We must have it to survive. When your people walk through the woods, we follow along, letting them see and hear us just enough to know that they are being watched. In this way we can feed on their fear for as long as they are in the woods. But if you are no longer afraid, still we must have our food. And if the only fear we can get from you is that which you show as you die under our blades, then so it must be.’ At this, he rose and picked up an axe.”
“Oh no!” said Mimi, hunching down on the bench at the table. “What did Vivi do?”
Margaret smiled down at her. “This is where the story teaches us something important. You see, Vivi was not just fearless, but also clever. She said, ‘But if you kill us, you feed only once, and then there is no more. My Daddy is a woodcutter, but he doesn’t chop down all the trees, so there will be more for him to cut next season.’”
“The leader paused. ‘This is true, but if all humans are like you, we will get no fear from them in any case. Feeding once is still better than not feeding at all,’ he said.”
“Vivi thought for a moment, then answered, ‘Not everyone is like me. Many people in town are afraid, but so much that they won’t go into the woods at all. If you let me go, I will tell of hearing noises and seeing shapes watching me, just as you said. This will make people worried, but they will also know that a little girl made it through safely, so they will still be willing to go. You will get more fear to feed on, and none of us have to be hurt.’”
“The leader considered this and said, ‘Let it be so. We can still take what we need later, if we must. We risk little, since it seems we would not get much fear from you regardless, brave one.’ He waved his hand, and the creatures parted to allow Vivi to leave.” Margaret sat down and put her arm around Mimi. “When she returned home, Vivi kept her word, and things worked out how she thought they would, even all the way up until today. The townsfolk still hesitate to go into the woods, but enough of them do, at least every now and then.”
“Does this mean those monsters are still in the woods?” asked Mimi.
“It’s difficult to say for certain,” replied Margaret. “People still say they hear noises and see shadows moving, but that might be because it’s what they expect. Even if those creatures are gone, though, there are always beings in the world, and people too, who will try to profit from your fears.”
“But doesn’t that mean that it’s better to never be afraid, like Daddy says?”
The old woman beamed. “Good girl! You remembered we were trying to learn something from the story. Let’s think about it together. How did Vivi escape from the creatures? Was it because she was never afraid?”
The little girl’s brow furrowed. “No, that was how they caught her in the first place. It was because she was clever. She thought of a way to keep herself and her whole town safe.”
“That’s it exactly,” said Margaret. “And that, Mimi, is what I mean when I say that always and never are not words to live by. Always and never will tell you what to do without your thinking about it, and thinking is what will serve you best, just like it did for Vivi. Instead of always and never, sometimes is the word to live by. If things are sometimes one way and sometimes another, you must think about it each time, and that is best.”
The old woman stood and looked down at her granddaughter. “So, Mimi, will you be a thinker? Will you listen to your Grandma, and do what she asks?”
“Yes, Grandma, I will,” replied Mimi. Then a shy smile crept over her face. “Sometimes, I will.”
Margaret’s delighted laugh rang through the cottage.
Rex Caleval lives in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, where he spent twenty years as an air traffic controller. Always an avid reader with story ideas popping into his head, he decided to try writing a few, and has been pleased to find that some people like them. His stories have been published by Every Day Fiction, Underwood Press, Medusa's Laugh, and MYTHIC, among others.