[ WP ] From human to human monster

`` Hey?'' 
 
 She woke me up with a word in the dead of the night. Around us the trees whispered malevolently. 
 
 I was at a loss for words. Humans do n't come here. Horrible things happen to those who do. 
 
 She looked at me and smiled. Humans do n't come here. *Unless they're made to. * 
 
 `` I'm looking for my daddy,'' she said. Then she smiled again. I forgot how that looked. 
 
 `` I'm not your daddy.'' 
 
 `` Mommy said he's here.'' 
 
 It then started to dawn on me. 
 
 `` Did your mommy brought you here?'' In the middle of the night, in a place full of criminals? 
 
 She nodded. Every leaf, every branch trembled with rage. 
 
 She took a step back. 
 
 `` Do you know what this place is, little girl?'' 
 
 She nodded again, looking around at the forest full of trees that used to be humans. Even like that, they were still dangerous. 
 
 `` But you are a nice person,'' she said, reaching out to pet my bark. 
 
 `` I eat little children that get lost in the woods.'' 
 
 She looked at me. I could see her eyes filling up with tears, and for a second I think she considered running away. But she did n't. 
 
 `` Even if he is here, it's better you do n't find him.'' You do n't end up like this for stealing chicken. `` Go back home.'' 
 
 `` Mommy said...,'' she sniffed, `` I ca n't...'' 
 
 She was wailing now. 
 
 `` I can never go back home...'' 
 
 I did n't knew what to say. Children made me uncomfortable at the best of times. And that was n't the best time. 
 
 That night, she ended up sleeping curled next to me, hugging my roots. And the next... and the one after that... 
 
 
 -- -- -- - 
 
 -155 
 

