Forlorn

Forlorn

Chapter 1: The Awakening

Vermello awoke one fine Sunday morning to find that it was a beautiful, sunny day. He slipped out of his small twin sized bed to check the calendar, “Sunday, June 12th,” it read. He walked over to his single bedroom window and pulled the string to retract the shades. He peered out at the beautiful Sunday morning. He attempted to count the clouds in the sky, “One, two, three... four! There are four clouds!” he declared. But unfortunately, there was no one yet awake to hear this announcement. That did not matter much to the small red colt. He spent another minute admiring the gorgeous scenery then decided to go downstairs. He silently crept by his parents’ room so not to wake them, then stealthily traveled down his somewhat creaky stairs and made his way into the kitchen. He began to feel a tad thirsty so he got a teapot from the cupboard, filled it with water, and then placed it gently on the stove. He twisted the knob and the gas turned on. Vermello wasn’t allowed to use the stove for anything else besides tea. Originally, he couldn’t use it for anything, but his parents saw his love of tea and after giving him thorough lessons on how to safely make his own tea, gave him permission to use the stove.

While the water was heating up, he went into the pantry and pulled out a bag of his favorite tea. He poured some leaves into the pot and waited a bit. Eventually a loud whistle could be heard as steam rushed from the spout. He gingerly pulled the hot teapot off the stove and set it on the counter. He then found a teacup and poured the contents of the pot into it. Finally, he was able to enjoy his tea. He eagerly drank it until it was gone. “That was the best cup of tea ever!” he thought to himself. Proud of this accomplishment, he decided to pour two more cups for his parents. He placed both cups on saucers then onto a trey, and carefully walked them up to his parents’ room. He knocked lightly on the door before coming in. He swung the door opened and entered the room. But to his extreme astonishment, his parents were not there! “Mommy? Daddy?” he called. He set the saucers of tea on the dresser and looked around the room. There wasn’t a sign of anyone in the room. Perplexed, he decided to return to the kitchen and eat breakfast. He poured himself a bowl of cereal and ate it quietly as he pondered over where his parents could possibly be this early in the morning.

“Perhaps,” he thought, “they went to the market.” Vermello tried to convince himself that this was the truth, but he knew they would never leave him at home by himself, and that he loved the market. Feeling rather concerned, Vermello decided to head down to the market to search for his lost parents. He knew that he was forbidden to venture anywhere himself, but this was an emergency. He cleared his place setting, placing his now empty cereal bowl and spoon in the sink. Without further ado, or even bringing anything with him, Vermello opened up the door and ventured out into the town.

Despite the lovely sunny morning, the town was exceptionally quiet, in fact, Vermello had seen nopony at all. He kept to the path, walking courageously and trying to remember the direction to the market. Inevitably, he came to a fork in the road. Vermello stopped in his tracks and took a moment to ponder over which direction to continue. There was a road sign, but lacking the ability to read or write yet, it was of no help to him. He searched through his memories in attempts to recall the correct direction, but had no luck. In one final act of desperation, he checked his surroundings for somepony, anypony who might be able to provide him with directions. Upon seeing nopony he made the decision to stick to the left path; he was left hoofed, after all.

The wind blew quietly and subtlety, only strong enough to rustle the grass. Vermello continued down the empty path, the only sounds being the chirping of songbirds and his own hooves trotting on the path. At this point, the path appeared to be leading to absolutely nowhere. Vermello looked behind him and saw only the horizon. Was the path to the market always this long? Had he chosen the wrong path? Not wanting to accept that possibility, he trotted onward persistently. “I will find my parents…” he thought aloud, “I will find them!”

After several more minutes of traveling, two hills on either side of the path began to increase in elevation. Vermello had eventually found himself in a valley. He had only two directions now: forward to his parents, or back home. The thought that he could be lost beyond recovery troubled him, but he continued forward unwavering. Something then surprised him. In the center of the path was a small overturned black wooden box. Vermello cautiously approached it. His parents always told him not to touch the rubbish lying on the ground. Heeding by this rule, he merely stepped over the box. Before he could go much farther, though, he found himself filled with curiosity. “For an adventure,” he thought, “this is kinda boring. One little tiny peek couldn’t hurt, right?”

Vermello carefully reproached the small black box. He stuck out his left arm and slowly touched his hoof to it. With curiosity flowing through him, he swiftly flipped over the box. He peered inside with large cerulean eyes. At first, he saw nothing, absolutely nothing; it appeared to be a pitch-black void. Within moments, however, a small plant with an equally dark hue as the box sprouted and began rapidly growing. Initially, Vermello was completely mystified. He simply stood and watched the dark plant-like thing grow. After a few seconds, wonder became fear. Vermello panicked at the rate that the plant was growing. It seemed like it would engulf him at any second. He let out a cry and ran in the direction opposite of his home without any further thought. He looked behind him to see if the plant was chasing him. To both his relief and horror, the plant was not following him, but weaving huge black barrier of vines on the path. It became immediately evident that there was no turning back.