The Wisely Christ and Five Pretties

The Borders

Fearlessly, Christ went in through the thick trees, leaving the other three survivors behind just to fulfill his curiosity about the woman's voice calling. He didn't even know what to expect in the forest.

Christ stopped in the middle of his search route. The voice of the call for help stopped echoing. Instead of feeling uneasy, Christ crouched down to listen further for any sounds that could be picked up. However, he still didn't get it.

Unfortunately, he accidentally saw a pair of red eyes in the distance. A pair of eyes that could be seen underneath a thick bush full of thorns, which was impossible to penetrate easily.

Seeing the opportunity, Christ tried fishing with the chocolate bar in his pocket, hoping to get real food for the next few days. Without a bad thought, Christ placed the bait. His feet took a step back, while his mouth chirped as if he was calling a pet.

Instead of being drawn out, the pair of small, fiery red eyes closed. Disappearing into the darkness of the lush forest without light. Strangely, he also did not hear the rustling of leaves or even the small footsteps of animals moving away in the loneliness.

Christ looked around. Suddenly, he felt uncomfortable, as if many pairs of eyes were watching his movements from a distance.

Realizing that there were more things than could be found alone, Christ tried to pick up his chocolate. And what a surprise he was to find nothing there!

"God damn!" cursed Christ under his breath. Not only had he lost the one chocolate bar that could have kept him going, but his courage had vanished in an instant.

The sky was getting darker as Christ turned around. Although he wasn't sure where he was going, at least he knew very well that every direction he took would lead him back to where he came from.

Christ's footsteps grew wider. The rustling of leaves grew louder. He wasn't the only one walking fast. He was sure there were ten people walking with him, keeping a pace even though he couldn't see where the crowd had started.

Christ couldn't believe that he was hearing the rustling of leaves from all directions, let alone asking for help. Front, back, right and left, all the same. Even up above, he could see the trees swaying even without the wind.

In the distance, Christ saw light. The same light that fulfilled his wish to go home. To get back to a safe place, he thought.

The rustling of leaves grew closer, as if they were right around Christ, who was running faster and more. Christ's breath caught in his throat as he broke through the twilight light that illuminated the small clearing where several large trees had fallen.

"Christ, are you okay?"

"Why are you running?"

"What's wrong, Christ?"

Instead of answering, Christ turned and stared into the darkness of the forest. The rustling of the leaves was gone, as was the uneasy feeling he had felt earlier. So was the fear that had suddenly struck earlier.

Christ breathed a sigh of relief before finally turning around and waving at his friends, worried, but equally scared, companions up in the safety of the trees.

"Don't worry, I'm fine! Suddenly, I feel afraid of the dark."

Clarissa couldn't believe it. She was still watching Christ, who looked tired. She even noticed the last route Christ had taken before.

"Are you sure you're just afraid of the dark?"

Christ's nod put Clarissa at ease. Especially when she saw Christ tidying up the leaves from around the tree that served as a resting place. Some branches were gathered to create a light source for the coming darkness.

Mads was still silent, sitting hugging his knees at the end of the tree while leaning back. Realizing this, Clarissa invites Mads into a conversation. Even though she hated Mads' childish attitude.

"Are you okay, Mads?"

Mads glanced at Clarissa, fearful and alert. "Since when are we that close?"

Clarissa sat with her legs dangling. "You probably hated Christ from the start. But I think, in times like these, listening to Christ will make us much safer."

Overhearing Mads and Clarissa's conversation, Anne, who was on the highest tree trunk, replied.

"I agree. Seeing him stay calm and gather some evidence to find the facts alone already makes me much safer than having to keep guessing. He wouldn't keep quiet if he knew something was wrong, right? At the very least, his attitude can be more beneficial to me in times like this than the attitude of the person I've benefited so much from so far."

Anne's harsh sarcasm was certainly heard by Mads, but Mads was reluctant to comment. He was more interested in watching Christ's movements as he circled around the border between the open forest area and the dark forest that was overgrown with leaves.

"What is he doing?" Mads asked curiously. He poked his head down, making sure there were plenty of twigs in the earthen hollow Christ had made to accommodate the campfire later. "He's already gathered a lot of branches down there, right?"

Clarissa checked, then joined in on Christ's unpredictable behavior. With her loud voice, Clarissa greeted him without moving from where she sat with her legs dangling.

"What are you doing, Christ? It's getting dark. Why don't you start the bonfire soon?"

Anne chuckled irritably, dismissive of Clarissa's trivial question. "Is that the only quality question coming out of you? Of course, he's looking for a lighter, right?"

Proudly, Anne took out the precious tool that could make Christ fall in love. She waved the hand that held the lighter as Christ turned and looked at her from a distance.

Instead of thanking her, Christ showed her a similar lighter as he teased the delighted Anne.

Anne's smile vanished as she cursed violently. "Bastard! Shouldn't he be thanking me for sympathizing?"

Knowing Anne was disappointed, Clarissa giggled happily. But until Christ circled back and repeated the same thing, Clarissa was still reluctant to take her eyes off him. Instead of being bored, she learned a few facts about the way Christ traveled around the forest border.

Clarissa glanced at Mads briefly, making sure he was sleeping peacefully despite his initial fear. Then she quickly dismounted and caught up with Christ, who was still wandering around the border area.

"What exactly did you find, Christ?"

Christ only glanced briefly, then resumed his action by circling the forest border.

"Nothing. I was just curious and tried to check. You know, right? Mads was scared before. He said that someone pulled another person's head until it was severed from the body. If that's true, there should have been fresh blood drawn. Or just a trace of blood that might look faint because it was washed away by the clothes. More than that, there should be residual bloodstains that the victim's clothes didn't have time to wipe off considering how fast the person was running—"

Clarissa looked up at the tree where Mads and Anne had stopped. Then, in the blink of an eye, she pulled Christ to face each other at a very close distance. The same thing Clarissa had done before was happening again. And now, she was no longer even awkward about getting to the truth.

"You realize that. That's why you removed all the leaves from the border. You hope these leaves will be the best alarm if someone else approaches. You also draw a boundary line with the toe of your shoe to mark the dark and light areas. And so far, you've been walking around with a step back and re-creating the boundary line. You wanted to confirm whether there were other people actually living in the forest by looking at the footprints the next day, right?"

Christ was stunned by Clarissa's rather impressive deduction. Occasionally, he glanced in the direction where Mads and Anne were, making sure no one else would hear him. Slowly, he lowered his head to align himself with Clarissa's ear.

"I don't know to what extent you can read my movements, Clara. But clearly, I'm doing this for our common good. So please stay calm and go back to where you were. Because the darkness is really coming. And we are already at the edge of darkness. Now."

Clarissa looked on with an uncommon expression as Christ stepped back to re-draw the boundary line with the toe of his boot. But his steps halted as he realized Clarissa was completely frozen.

"My foot, Christ..."

Seeing that, Christ widened his eyes. His hand reached for the stored lighter, then opened it and let the light of the lighter illuminate the area Clarissa had stepped on.

"Oh, my God! Don't move! Say something, how the hell are you?"