The Dark Woods: Chapter 4: A Mushroom Named Vates excerpt

In which James and Monique speak with mushrooms, lose a shoe, and meet Oaf. 

Thunder led them deeper and deeper into the woods. The path became so overgrown in spots that they had to push their way through waist-high ivy, ferns, and the occasional scarp of brambles that pulled and tore at their clothes and skin. The whole time they trudged, the fairies waited patiently, their wings beating the air like tiny propellers. Just when James and Monique had convinced themselves that they had made a grave mistake by coming into the woods, the dense trees bordering the path opened to a vast clearing.

Encircled by massive oak trees, the clearing played host to a wide variety of mushrooms. They grew so thick that it would be impossible to step into the clearing without crushing them underfoot. There were tiny brown mushrooms, large red-capped mushrooms, vibrant orange cup mushrooms, strange slimy yellow mushrooms, and bioluminescent mushrooms that glowed blue and green. From the safety of the path, Monique and James marveled at the clearing.

James took a tentative step forward to better see a patch of the glowing green mushrooms at the edge of the clearing. As his foot came down, his shoe hit a soft bit of earth. James slipped for a half-second before coming to a sudden stop. James stiffened and tried pulling his shoe free of the sticky substance but had no luck.

“What the?” he murmured as he yanked his foot upward, but the substance held his foot fast. On the third try, his shoe came free from his foot. James reeled backward, and Monique caught him as he hopped, trying to catch himself, the bat swinging wildly. 

James sighed with relief. “Thanks, Monique,” he said. His stocking foot held protectively above the forest’s floor. 

“Is that mud?” Monique asked, releasing Jame’s shoulders.

“I think so,” James said. He crouched, using the bat for support, keeping his sock from touching the ground, and reached for his shoe. Before his fingers could grasp it, the shoe began to sink.

“Don’t touch it!” Thunder yelled. He flew and hovered between James and his sinking shoe.

“It’s just mud,” James explained. “It can’t hurt us.” He started to reach around Thunder, but the small fairy grabbed Jame’s thumb and bit down. Startled, James shook his hand, trying to dispel the Thunder, but the fairy held tight.

“James, look,” Monique said, pointing at the shoe. James stopped shaking his hand, and Thunder released the boy’s thumb. Together, they watched as the white tennis shoe disappeared beneath the surface of the strange mud.

Join the Book Club to read the whole chapter at Patreon.