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My inspiration

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"The flood is coming! Run for your lives!"

The voice seemed to boom throughout the Forest. It was a voice unfamiliar to many, belonging to a young, pronghorn-ish stag who rarely spoke to other deer. "The flood will doom us all!", he cried again, running past stags, does, and fawns who all tilted their heads at him.

Awaking nearby was another young stag, the wind catching his golden-blonde mane as he rose and yawned. "What's all the commotion.", Luis questioned, with no one around to hear his question. The striped brown deer scrambled to his hooves and listened.

"The flood is coming! Get to the high ground!", he heard the call. "Pent, what are you up to?", Luis questioned, and then ran toward the voice. It wasn't long before he caught up with the pronghorn deer. Stopping before him, Luis asked, "Pent, what's the matter?"



Pent normally didn't talk to other deer, but Luis was an exception. The pronghorn cleared his throat and replied, "The trees, they spoke of a flood that will wipe out the Endless Forest!" Luis shook his head, "You know some of the trees like to play pranks on you, remember?", he questioned. Pent's eyes were wide open as he stared into the blue eyes of the other deer, "No, the good ones told me. The flood will destroy us all! The flood!"

Luis watched as Pent ran off screaming again. About this time, a nameless stag approached, who tilted his head at the spectacle before him. "What's wrong with him?", the nameless asked Luis. "Oh, he thinks he can talk to trees.", Luis explained, "He thinks they are predicting a flood." The nameless stomped his feet, "Nonsense! He must not be right in the head!"

Luis nodded, though deep down, he knew...Pent wasn't normally like this. He saw it in the pronghorn's eyes - something terrible had happened, or was about to.

<<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~{------------}~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~>>

About midday, Luis continued on with his usual business. He went to drink from the Pond, and then later took a stroll near the Ruins. Strangely, not a soul was around. "Hello? Anyone around?", he called out. Dead silence replied, with the occasional rustle of the Forest canopy above, as well as the call of birds and frogs. "This is odd.", he said to himself.

Walking past the Ruins, he saw something strange - a blue mushroom grew at the roots of a tree. "Huh...I've never seen that variety before.", Luis said to himself, and already feeling his stomach begin to growl at him, he continued, "Well, maybe it tastes good." The stag bent down and bit into the mushroom, chewing the cap slowly to get a taste in his mouth. A strange aroma filled his lungs with exotic, savory smells he had never experienced before. His mind began to drift as he indulged in the taste, and he felt his vision begin to blur a little.

"Thanks, you moron! Thanks for eating my pet!", he heard a voice speak to him. Luis' vision suddenly snapped into focus, and he looked around, startled to hear someone speak to him where he had not seen another deer in the area. "Wh-who said that?", he questioned.

Silence for a moment, and then... "Me, you ignoramus!"

He looked to the tree where he had eaten the mushroom. A face stared back at him, a pair of eyes, a nose, and a mouth formed in the bark.

Luis' eyes widened. "You're talking to me?", he hesitantly questioned. The tree laughed, "Who else would I be talking to, you...", but another tree nearby interrupted, "Enough, Abies! Hello there, Luis!"

"You know my name?", the deer tilted his head. "Of course, we know all the deer of the Forest. My name is Salix! Nice to finally talk to you!", Salix began. "Here she goes again! What a chatter mouth!", Abies remarked. Luis found this to be a great opportunity, "So do you know anything about a flood coming?"

"The flood...oh yes, the Twin Gods will flood the Forest later today.", Salix said. Luis lowered his head. So it's true!, he thought. He then asked, "But why? Why are they going to destroy the Forest?" "Destroy? Oh you fool! The flood won't destroy, it will rebuild!", Abies answered. "The ground has been dry this month, so the Gods are going to soak the ground. They call it...'maintenance'.", Salix replied.

"So when will the flood come?", Luis asked. The two trees laughed hysterically, and then said in unison, "Look behind you!"

Luis turned in time to see a great wall of water surge toward him, only slowing down a little when it hit the trees nearby, but crashing and raging quickly. Luis had no time to react as he was swept off his hooves and carried through the Forest.

<<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~{------------}~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~>>

He awoke, his snout sticking out of the water. He was lucky to be able to breathe, and he sat up and shook the moisture from his fur. The ground was covered a few inches high with the rippling water, which covered the roots of the trees nearby. The only other creatures around were monarch butterflies, which hovered above Luis' head like little guardians. The stag shook the water from his ears and then called out, "Where is everyone?"

No answer, but he listened again and heard the faint sounds of deer close to the Birch Forest. "There they are.", he said to himself, and made his way there. His body was sore, and he could barely move through the water and waves, but he continued as best as he could. Every step made a splash, and the water was clear enough that he could see where roots and rocks were, so he was careful not to step on them.

Finally making it to the Birch Forest, the water seemed to disappear. The ground had already soaked in what it needed, and due to the elevation, the rest of the water ran off into the rest of the Forest. Luis climbed the hills and saw the deer there - all of them.

"There you are, Luis!", Dragon said to him, "No one knew where you were!" Luis tried to think of an answer - they wouldn't believe him that he talked to the trees. Instead, he said, "I was...getting a bite to eat." Dragon laughed, "Bad timing, huh? The Twin Gods informed everyone to move here as they soaked the ground in the rest of the Forest. You didn't hear it?" "I guess not...", Luis said, and thinking, That must have been when I ate that weird mushroom. He then asked, "Any idea where Pent is at?" "Pent? Why do you want to talk to that weirdo?", Dragon questioned. Luis spotted him, away from the crowd, talking to a tree. "There he is. I'll see you later, Dragon.", he said, and ran off toward the pronghorn.

He finally got up to Pent, who was laughing and rolling on the ground. The pronghorn looked to him, "Oh hello, Luis. This tree just told a great joke...", Pent began, but Luis interrupted, "Pent, I talked to trees!"

The pronghorn's eyes widened, "You found the blue mushrooms? Who did you talk to?" he questioned. "They said their names were Abies and Salix.", Luis replied. "Oh, those two. Abies is a jerk, and Salix is nice but doesn't shut her mouth sometimes.", Pent said happily, "So now you know that I'm not just some odd deer, now you know the trees really do talk!"

Luis smiled, "Pent, I never doubted you in the first place."

<<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~{------------}~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~>>

The flood soon vanished and the deer were able to return to their frolicking later in the day. Luis then realized that there were a few consequences to eating the blue mushroom. He would begin to hear voices in his head, and he tried to ignore them the best he could. It would never come to the attention of the other deer that he could talk to trees just like Pent. He didn't want that kind of reputation.

"I wonder how warm it will be in the spring...", Luis said to himself, and then turned his attention to one of the nearby trees. "Huh...maybe there is a use to this ability..."

The End