The Giant Forest - COMPLETED - True to life adventures of preteens.

Making Enemies My Friends

With Mounty and Bligh on either side of her and Senti in front the triumvirate formed a protective shield around Mousi who walked in the middle, her back exposed. The threesome also seemingly pointed in the direction they wanted their charge to go. Mousin was happy to let them take charge. After her ordeal she needed someone to take charge.

"Friends are great in times like these. When family is not there, friends step up," she thought to herself.

Time moves slower and distances seem farther away when you are lost - especially when it's dark and you are not sure of where you are headed or what might just beyond eyesight. You don't know whether to be filled with anticipation or dread. Will something exciting, pleasant be just over the hill or something frightening, dangerous around the bend? The uneasiness is unsettling and tiring.

"How about we introduce ourselves more formally?" Mousi squeaked in hopes of perhaps lightening the mood. "I'd love to know more about you guys, um, and gal. Bligh? Why do you only have one eye? Mounti, how'd you get to be so big? Senti, where does your sense of direction and come from? How do you three know each other?"

Mousi could talk a lot. More than her friends, too. Simply because she didn't often wait for an answer. She would just ramble on and on. Mousi could fill up the lull in any conversation with some tidbits of information about some breed of dog. Or she could ask questions non-stop. When she thought she was telling her friends something. Her friends understood she was just talking to herself. Mousi just kept talking.

"Bligh. Lessee. I've got this. I'll bet you come from a history of pirate dogs. Your parents traveled here up the coast from South America. Am I right?" Mousi didn't wait for an answer that wasn't going to come in any event. "The stories you could tell. Oh, please do!!

"Mounty. Lessee, I'll bet your parents were settlers from way up north? I mean Alaska north. Do you speak Russian? Did you come across that something something strait?" Mousi laughed to herself.

"And Senti. Hmm ..." Mousi paused to think, "You, you are European in descent. Portuguese maybe. Or Egyptian. Nobody says you have to be big to be a watchdog. Right?" As usual, Mousi didn't wait for a response. "And I bet it wouldn't have mattered to you anyway. Right?

"How lucky I am to have three such brave and capable companions, guiding me, guarding me. And with such a rich history, too! Oh, I wish we could talk!" Mousi finally stopped to take a breath.

"Me, you ask?" Mousi put words into one of the dog's mouths without deciding which one it was who was asking. "What is my past? Well, thank you for asking."

"You can probably see from my long black hair and brown eyes and diminutive stature that I am Asian. My mommy and daddy came to America from China. They were 'Made in China.'" Mousi giggled. The three simultaneously stopped wagging their tails. Mousi didn't notice.

"I am made in the USA but with Chinese parts. My little brother, too." Mousi slapped her knee at her own joke. The dogs resumed wagging their tails.

"My dad works at home staring at three computer screens at the same time. He does something for a Chinese company. I don't get it at all. He left China for America. But now he works for a Chinese company in our house in a Chinese time zone. His body is here but his work time is there. Go figure. My mom gets in her car and goes to I don't know where. She drops me off at school in the morning and leaves me there till long after all my friends have gone home. The after care teacher knows she will always have to stay till the very last minute. Neither my mom nor my dad will come before that time. And they are often late.

"My little brother is their favorite. He gets his way every time. I mean every, every time. I stop listening to my parents try to explain when they begin by saying 'In ancient China boys were more important than girls. Blah, blah, blah." Mousi let out an exasperated sigh.

"Hello?! We are in America now. I am sure they love me ... " Mousi's voice drifted, "I think ..."

"They put me on a plane and send me away every summer. It's good for me," she said trying harder to convince herself than believing her parents true intent. Mousi thought she knew what it felt like to be unloved ... or to have second place in her home. She compensated by pouring her life into others.

"You know guys, ..." forgetting about Senti's distinction, "Speaking of feeling unloved. I'll bet that Og character sometimes feels unloved, too."

Each of the dogs froze in place with a paw or two mid stride.

"You know. I think I'd like to try again."

The dogs put all four paws down and each turned to stare at their friend.

"Maybe I can become his friend."

Three tails pointed downwards in unison. Five ears pointed straight up. Bligh couldn't control is left ear, the one over his missing eye. The ear hung limply.

"I mean he was planning to eat me. But I think that's because he didn't really know me. 'Know' she said very slowly. "I'll bet Og's daddy didn't ... "She left the sentence hanging.

"I am going back," she said as she spun around like a beginner ballerina and immediately stepped in the direction they had just come from.

All three dogs let out a frightening yelp.

Undeterred, Mousi said, "Yeah, I knew you'd agree."

The dogs looked at each other, then rushed to catch up.

Senti, Mounty and Bligh ran circles around Mousi to no avail. Mousi continued walking in the direction they had just come from ... back towards Og.

No sooner had they returned to the field that Mousi had just been rescued from than did they notice Og sitting cross-legged in the middle of the field.

"Look! It must be a God-thing. Og is sitting there waiting as if he had expected or hoped I would return."

Mousi had fallen into the misconception that many people have. Folks like to think that when events turn out the way they hope that it must be God who arranged it that way for them.

In one moment Og scratched his head, in the next he flapped both arms. He repeated these actions several times, scratching in a different place and flapping his arms at different angles. Before long, however, he settled himself down.

Though sitting, Og was still more than a head taller than Mousi as she hesitantly approached then stood in front of him. Mousi stood far enough away to hopefully give herself a headstart in the event she needed to outrun the big fella.

"Just in case," she thought to herself.

"Og! I think we can become friends if we really try."

Og, which, of course, was not his real name smiled at Mousi.

"Do you think we can have a talk?"

Og patted the ground in a motion that Mousi interpreted as he wanted her to sit in front of him.

Mousi turned towards her three protectors, "See. He wants to talk. He wants to be our friends."

All three dogs shuddered in response.

Mousi sat down just out of reach of Og but still close enough that they could hear one another speak. Bligh, Mounty and Senti stood at attention behind her. Og had yet to say anything.

Without any indication as to why, the trees around Og, Mousi and the three dogs began to rustle as if a strong wind had swept in and rain was going to follow. But it wasn't the wind. And there was no rain.

"See fellas ..., oh, and, um, my lady friend. God speaks to us through the wind. Isn't this another confirmation? You agree. Right? Right?" She didn't wait for an answer ... again.

The hair bristled on the backs of Mousi's three friends. The three locked their legs, stood tall to prepare themselves for whatever might come next. Even so, they couldn't have anticipated what Og had in store.

========================================================