Odd One Out - Chapter 3 Thousand Acre Woods

The forest was quiet. There were no sounds. The wind was still. It was a huge difference from the city. The silence was deafening. Even a cementry wasn’t as silent as this place.

Doll walked soundlessly onwards appreciating the strange beauty of the forest. The tree barks had a slightly sweet scent that put one at ease. The sunlight filtered in through the gaps of the leaves. This place was noticeably warmer than the city suburbs.

He walked for a while till he reached a dead tree. Its roots spread above the ground and its trunk was significantly darker than the rest of the trees. Its leaves had long since crystallized to a glass-like transparency and shaped the sunlight to many different hues. It looked beautiful even in death. Doll was entranced the first time he had seen it.

He stepped carefully over the roots and made his way to the biggest root that faced the deeper parts of the forest. When he reached it, he stilled. And stared straight ahead.

He stood like that for a few seconds and then closed his eyes. Then, he took a single step forwards.

A cacophony of sounds blasted into his ears. Birdcalls, whistling, rustles , chattering, crunching and distant growls created a symphony of nature at its finest.

The Thousand Acre Woods. Doll liked that name. It was a reference to one of the few ancient children’s stories that survived the ancient wars and the Founder’s wrath.

Winnie The Pooh, the main character, was a little yellow bear who liked honey. Doll had liked that story a lot. The orphanage library only had a single copy of it. His favourite character was Eeyore. His second favourite was Tigger.

Doll felt like Christopher Robin each time he visited this part of the woods. It was his secret.

Ever since he had stumbled across this area three years ago when he was six, he had found his only safe heaven. The scattered leaves crunched to powder as Doll made his way to his favourite resting spot.

It was a crooked tree. He climbed up and settled on a strangely curved branch. He fit snugly in the curve. Truly, a safe heaven.

…

Perr was terrified. He had just received a mission from his [Crocheting] type system:

“Draw a drop of blood from an Odd.”

“Reward: A pair of woolen socks.

Punishment: death by explosion of head.

Mission particulars: C-type.”

It was a time-based mission. He had only twenty minutes left on his watch. Perr was only given an hour to complete it. He had been searching high and low for Doll. He wasn’t in his bed that was next to his. Nor was he at the orphanage. Infact, he wasn’t anywhere in the vicinity. He had also solicited help from some others who weren’t having any missions pending.

The Nuns were also searching high and low for Doll. They were called that despite not following any set religion. It was just a name carried over from the age of Earthland.

“Where is Doll? Find him!”

Perr kept screeching in his shrill voice. His tone was a few octaves higher due to his fear.

The Head Nun yelled, “Increase the search!”

Everyone, including the neighbours and the patrolling officers had joined in. It was a matter of saving a life.

“Perr, calm down! We will find him soon,” said one of his close friends.

“Is there no way we can contact him?”

One of the neighbours asked a stupid question.

” There isn’t! The brat doesn’t have a system! He is a [email protected]# Odd!”

Suddenly, a group of twelve to thirteen year olds had entered the orphanage where the commotion was occurring.

When they were briefed about the events and had their confusion dispelled, a lanky and freckled boy came forward. Ush exclaimed, ” We saw him go in the direction of the forest! We met him this morning about an hour ago near the coffee shop.”

Ush had conveniently omitted the part about his insults.

The adults took Perr and hurried in their cars toward the forest boundaries. Some of the older children also followed behind them on their Hovers. On the way, another few people also joined them on their search as they too had received missions to assist the search teams.

“Sixteen minutes.. six- sixteen.. Fif-Fifteen!”

Perr trembled with horror as he saw the timer in front of him counting down. His pants were already wet and the stench filled the car but none of the people present slighted him for it.

An intensive search was carried out. All the buildings and public areas were thoroughly combed. There was still no sign of Doll.

“I’ll die. I’m going to die. Ahaha. Hahah. In g-gonna d-die.”

Perr was unable to speak coherently anymore. He simply kept shaking in his desperation.

None of the calming words of his friend or the Nuns were able to get through him.

” Host, please hurry and complete the mission! You have five minutes left! Hurry up! Hurry up! The clock is ticking!”

It was a message from the system. The other system users could also hear it.

The fence gates were open. Personnel filtered in and combed through the foliage. Doll was still not found. Some military personnel in charge of scouting and tracking found traces of Doll. But the person himself was missing.

“Host! Host! Time is almost up! Two minutes left!”

The timer began counting down each second at the two minute mark.

“Where is he? WHERE IS HE?”

Perr screeched and ran towards the forest. He had lost his sanity as he saw the throes of death closing in on him. His friend ran close behind him trying to stop him.

“Perr! Wait! Stop!”

Doll had disappeared.

“Host, your time is up. It was nice working with you.”

Perr’s eyes widened in fright. His legs wobbled and turned to jelly.

He screamed.

His friend had caught up to him. but all he got was a warm splash in his face and a lifeless body lying limp in his arms.