History wrote:Oliver's eyes burned as the sun shined through the forest leaves. He groaned, stretched, and, finally, got up. This was his normal morning routine, waking up peacefully just seemed to suit his fancy. As he looked around wondering where he should go today, a mysterious rumbling distracted him. What else could possibly be in this forbidden forest where only the strongest JBDs even dared to go? The rumbling turned into a deep growling. The fur on Oliver's back stood straight up and he growled back. A brown object with something red around it's neck jumped out of the bushes and yowled at Olive. Suddenly, he remembered the red scarf. "Rune! I haven't seen you in so long! How's traveling?" Rune laughed and explained all about his traveling and how he was looking for Oliver because he missed 'the good old days'. They talked, and when there was nothing left to say, they ate breakfast together. They had a nice meal of freshly picked leaves and plants. Since it was a special occasion, roots from the Ohu{{pronouced AH - WHO}} tree were served on the side. Oliver was too happy to complain about anything, so he looked around for a little while. He knew that Rune would have to leave soon, but he decided not to think about him leaving. He didn't want him to. "Rune, where are you heading next?" Oliver asked, trying to make conversation. Rune was silent for a little bit. Then he answered; 'Bud, I am leaving out of 'forest grounds'. I have to go to the desert area and see what's over there. It's a long way and I don't think that I'll see you for a long time. Maybe never." Oliver could tell that his eyes were wide and his expression was priceless, but Rune didn't laugh with him this time. He was sad too! "No. No, no, no, no,
NO! You can't just leave! How about I come with you!!" Rune was silent again, and for a second Oliver thought he might actually be considering this. But he answered no, gave Oliver a big Jellybean Dragon hug, and they said their goodbyes. "I'll come visit you sometime! I will see you again!" Olive shouted until the fog was too thick for him to see Rune. His eyes teared up, but he couldn't let his guard down. He was still in the forbidden forest, and danger lurked around every tree. So he quietly walked away from the memories, and decided to go to the old apple tree, his escape to reality.
As he arrived at the old apple tree, his bad memories were washed away and replaced with the beauty. Wait.... what? There was something,
somebody, who had gotten to the apple tree before him. He looked around the corner to see a gray Jellybean dragon with multiple light purple and white markings. He stomped over to the intruder. The startled JBD looked wide - eyed at Olive, who must've looked pretty scary, but she didn't look afraid, only interested. "Um. Hello? This is my escape to reality, and I'm pretty sure that
you're reality." The pale JBD giggled and her cheeks turned slightly pink. It turned into a full on laugh and Oliver's attitude lightened. But he was still curious about what was so funny. "My name is Ananiem. Nice to meet you too!" She offered her paw to Oliver who shook it and offered "Hello, my name is Oliver" They stood in silence for a little while, just admiring the old tree. Then finally, Ananiem said "Tag, YOU'RE IT!" She ran away and Oliver bolted after her. After playing for hours and hours they both breathlessly walked over to the tree and sat down in the fresh, cool dirt. Oliver found himself enjoying Ananiem's company and asked "So, what are some of your favorite things to do?" Ananiem seemed to think for a while before answering "I love to watch the clouds. Just staring into the empty space and imagining what shapes the clouds are just makes me happy, it gets my mind off reality just like this tree does for you. And by the way, are we friends?" Oliver nodded and said "I like to have lots of friends and maintain them as friends. I can sometime snap and be a little grouchy or selfish, but I never do it to see people hurt. And I
hate. Hate. Hate any human alive after what--- Nevermind"
"Why do you hate humans?" Ananiem asked, now laying on her side. There was an awkward silence before she added "they're not that bad..." Ananiem was very patient and waited for Oliver's response. Finally, he took a deep breath and said: " They killed my family's home. I used to live in a peaceful forest and woke up every morning at the sound of bluejays singing. I had many friends in that forest, and I loved it more than anything. Then, one morning, I woke up to the sound of a deep rumbling and everybody in that forest running away. It was a foggy morning and I couldn't think right. A giant yellow machine filled with chanting humans filled me with sadness and rage. The JBD's around me squealed and ran, but I couldn't leave, could I? But there was no option. It was leave and live or stay and die. So I left, and I've never woken up to the sound of bluejays since." He sighed. But for some reason, Ananiem seemed hurt. She asked him to meet her back here tomorrow for another game of tag. When he responded with a yes, she left without another word.
Later that evening, Oliver invited Ananiem over for dinner. He wanted to know why she was acting so weird. He'd spent all the time between their meeting to near night fall using all four of his paws digging up more Ohu roots and steaming plants in the hot springs. He'd set up a small wooden stump for her to sit on and waited. When she arrived, she smiled at him; though it was obvious that it was a fake smile, he smiled back. He led her to the table and stumps. "Now." He began. "What was up with this afternoon? Why did you leave so quickly?" She answered immediately "Because I like humans. And to be honest, they're not as bad as the ones that you unluckily had to encounter. I live with one -- her name is Ivara. She is the nicest person ever. I want you to meet her; she will come with me to the appletree tomorrow." Oliver, who knew he couldn't argue, served her roots. He talked to Ananiem all night but all he could think about was how he'd agreed to go and meet one of the 'monsters' later tonight. He didn't know how he could even belive to think that they were nice. I little before midnight, Ananiem left do that Olive could get good sleep for tomorrow. He just laid in his little cave, looking up at the stars through the small crack in the solid rock. He thought all night long. But finally, he got up, bathed, and sun - dried so that he would appear looking his best. His fur fluffed perfectly and he thought he looked very snazzy. He walked to the garden ready for anything. Since he got there a little early, he thought about what to do when they arrived. Bow down? No. Then, he got it! He should pretend to be occupied by a fly. He caught his eye on one after looking for a really long time and swung his paws at it. He could hear them approaching, but he decided to go with the 'fly' act untill they were in plain sight.
As Ananiem and Ivara approached, Oliver lowered his level of concentration on the fly and was now curiously starting at Ivara. Her eyes sparkled and her wavy hair just past the shoulders sent of a friendly message to Oliver. She dismounted from Ananiem and walked toward Olive with her hand out. He took a couple steps back but otherwise tried to seem very comfortable. He could tell{{akready}} why Ananiem trusted her. Her hand touched his face, it was warm and gentle. He stared at her as a small smile appeared on her face. "Good Boy!" She announced. "I want my friend to meet you. May I bring her tomorrow?" Ananiem peeked out from over Ivara's shoulder. She had a stern look on her face that said 'You better say yes'. So, taking Ana's advice, nodded. "Great, this is GREAT!" Ivara saud while prancing happily and obviously couldn't wait for the upcoming day. She left, giving Ananiem a hug before she disapeared through the fog. They played tag again but parted to go to their own homes after a little while. But Oliver was confused. Why was Ananiem so happy with humans? Does she know there are bad people out there? I mean, Oliver really wanted to like humans, but he wasn't ready to full on trust one yet. He decided to still try hard to be on his best behavior with Ivara's friend tomorrow. After all, it couldn't hurt, right?
"Alright, just be on your best behavior. Her friend is super sweet and is really excited to meet you. She has a lot of JBD experience from her dad's farm, where he raises strays and takes great care of them. She is a big part of that farm. Make sure that she likes you; I promise you that she is 100% trustable, Olive. I'd love for you to like her." Ananiem's words circled around in Oliver's head for all morning. Again, he bathed to look nice ad ready. He walked in silence over to the old apple tree. It used to be
his secret place.
Not his, Ananiem's, and Ivara's. But he hade to admit, ever since Rune left, Ana was great company. But he liked the days of tag, not bathing every morning to meet humans. But there was no escape now, It was too late to turn back. The apple tree was just around the corner. He stopped for a while before entering the old rusty gates that used to hold happy memories with Rune, but now brought back bad memories about humans, his old forest, and Rune leaving. Ana was the only good part. He sighed, closed his eyes, and rolled in some dirt. He couldn't come off as a perfect JBD with perfect equitette. He walked in. There sat a girl that looked very eager. She had black athletic shorts and a red t - shirt on. Her old, white vans were now brown for all the JBD's she must've groomed and played with. She had long, straight brown hair and looked strong. Her eyes were hazel and she was averagly tall. Her and Ivara were about the same size. Oliver was surprised to hear her gasp at first sight. "Maybe I shouldn't have rolled in all that dirt." He thought. "I must look pretty terrible." But that's the exact opposite of what she thought, Olive knew because she ran up and hugged him. "Boots! Ivara wailed. Oliver guessed this was her name. "I told you he was timid!" Ivara wasn't mad at Boots, she just seemed scared for her, after all, something might've happened to her if Olive had been scared. Boots back away, embarrased, and mumbled under her breath what Oliver made out to be 'sorry'. But, honestly, Oliver didn't mind. He knew that Boots wasn't trying to scare him, she just wanted to call Olive her own. Or at least best friend. Olive smiled at Boots. Timidly, she smiled back. "We'll come back tomorrow." Ivara said as they left.
"Wasn't she nice?" Ana excitedly asked Oliver. She was just as excited as somebody who had just won the lottery and went on a shopping spree. Oliver shrugged, but on the inside he was agreeing. He did like boots. They walked home, no tag today. But they still had a good morning. They had a long talk about humans, but Oliver was no longer uncomfortable with this subject. Ananiem stayed for lunch and they went for a long walk. But there were no Ohu roots this time. This happened more and more often and was no longer a special event. Just two friends chillin'. Oliver couldn't wait to see Boots again. He wasn't nervous this time, just ready. He walked to the gate, with his decision in paw. He wanted to belong to Boots. He would get to know he today. He'd packed lunch because Ananiem told him to. He walked with a purpose this time, head held high. As he approached the gates, he was surprised to find Boots there. "Hey, bud" she said. "I am sorry I ran up to you yesterday, I might've startled you and I felt really bad. I hope that I don't seem like a freak to you...." She sighed. Oliver hugged her by putting his head over her shoulder. She used both arms to hug him back. Oliver observed that she smelled familiar, and he liked that she smelled natural. They walked into the gates together to find Ivara and Ananiem waiting. They looked happy but tired. He liked Boots and was excited to tell Ananiem that he was going to live with her and be her JBD. He signaled with his glance at her to come so they could talk. He said happily "I like Boots. I have decided to be her JBD." Ananiem's smile came slowly but was a pleasant smile. "After all, everyone deserves a second chance."
Short Stories wrote:If I have time I'd love to get at least one of these in. I'll check my schedule and try to make it work c: