Chapter 1
Gerard didn’t remember much about when he and his family moved to their new house. He remembered the green grass in front of everyone's lawns as they drove down the road. The brick-lined house they pulled up to. He vaguely remembered the empty walls before they quickly got taken over by family photos and art.
He remembered vividly sitting beside his new baby brother, Mikey, during the entire drive to the new house. He remembered cooing at the small thing in his bassinet while his parents brought box after box into the house, huffing and puffing the whole time. His brother slept so peacefully while their parents made every effort not to stay quiet as they should have with a five-month-old baby sleeping in the front room. With every stir or movement the baby made, three-year-old Gerard would reach over the walls of the bassinet to gently caress his cheek to lull him back into his slumber.
Growing up they were as inseparable as an infant and a toddler could be. Usually, Gerard would watch his brother in awe of his growing skills and how big he’d get every day. He’d enthusiastically measure and weigh Mikey with his mother’s help every week and write it down to keep notes of his growth. He watched his first steps, his first sip of water. He even heard Mikey’s first word, “Gard.” Which Gerard hoped was supposed to be his name.
****
In a few years, the house had filled up and become a home. Gerard didn’t even remember where they had lived before, only the foggy memory of white hallways and tan carpet-lined stairs that he’d crawl up and down now and then.
Gerard was now at the ripe young age of seven, and with the hesitant nod of his mother’s head, he was granted the freedom to roam the vast forest without supervision. He stomped his little red and black polka dot galoshes through the damp grass to the forest's edge before looking back at his house reluctantly passing the time before taking the first step. It wasn’t too far their backyard wasn’t even that big due to how close the tree line was. But this was his first time out so far alone. To say he wasn’t nervous would be the biggest lie anyone’s ever told. That person’s pants would be ablaze in a moment's time if they even thought about it. Gerard giggled at the silly thought of someone’s pants being on fire. He did not yet understand the consequences of being set on fire.
With one small hand anxiously gripping tightly to his yellow raincoat’s collar and the other holding on to the clear umbrella with cartoon ladybugs he took his very first steps into the forest all by himself. Further than he’s ever gone from home alone.
It certainly wasn’t raining, more misting than anything but he was still told he had to be ready if it did rain which explains the clothing choice. He was also told that the second heavy rain started he was demanded to return home immediately. He had been in the forest before and luckily for him, his father practically drilled landmarks in his head. But, this time, if the weather allowed it, he would go further than he and his dad had ever gone.
Within ten minutes he was about to take his first steps unattended just into unknown territory. Stepping over some large roots he was taken into a garden of sorts. He doesn’t remember ever hearing about this before from his parents. Though he’s not entirely sure they've been this far since they never mentioned it. As he shakes off the water from his coat with a brisk convulse of his body he’s finally surrounded by bright light. Rays of golden yellow sunlight on his skin warmed the coolness almost instantly. The sudden change barely registers in his brain before looking back.
Gasping he takes a few steps back further into the clearing. This isn’t normal, right? Where he just came from in the forest is still dim, damp, and dull. All blue and gray and dead. But here in the clearing, it’s bright and almost hot as though it weren’t a mid-October day in New Jersey. It’s as though there’s a see-through veil between where he just came from and the place he is now. But that can’t be the case he just walked here! It even sounds different, he can hear a brook nearby shallowly bubbling. The sound of leaves, green leaves, rustling in a light breeze. The air smells not of a damp forest but of spring. Sweet blossoms, soil, not mud, pine, and oak. The fresh intoxicating smell of earth fills his lungs.
When a black swallowtail butterfly daintily flaps its wings in front of his face and off into the clearing he realizes. This is in fact not normal. With no more than an instant to decide he’s lurching forward and running back home. Making sure to jump over any and all obstacles with his short legs. He finally makes it out of the forest and at his back door panting in the crisp wet air of autumn. Autumn. Even his seven year old brain knows butterflies aren’t out in autumn. The sun is barely out in autumn.
“Gee,” the voice of his four-year-old brother startles him, followed by the thud of a small hand slapping against the glass door. He looks up, met with blonde hair sticking every which way and bug-eyed glasses at the end of his nose barely holding on. Another slap at the glass has Gerard pulling the far too heavy door open so Mikey can excitedly ask how his trip into the forest went.
“Two,” Gerard panted still winded from the speed at which he ran. Honestly, he may have set a personal record. “Seconds,” he added, holding up two fingers in the bunny ears sign up in Mikey’s face.
“What happened? Did you see a troll,” Mikey asked in bewilderment. His eyes wide looking to his brother for answers on what lies in the forest.
“No- not a troll,” Gerard finally lets out after catching his breath. His heart finally slowed and his hands weren’t shaking anymore. “I-it was just so weird Mikey. I was walking and all of a sudden–”
“Gerard sweetie, you're back already?” The voice of the pair’s mother sounding through the room interrupted him as she emerged walking down the stairs. Her blonde curls bounced with each step, gold jewelry shimmering in the gloomy light clouds polluting the light that pathetically seeped through the windows. The clinking of her many rings sliding together against the railing filled the room. Gerard was always enamored with her long pointed nails and how she would manage to do any daily function. But even pointy black stiletto nails wouldn’t hold her back. In a way they empowered her, it was her “staple” thing, having the best nails on the block. The yellow-gold Figaro chain that held her heavy cross swayed in front of Gerard’s face as she leaned down to face him. Hands pressed to her thighs which were wrapped up in these shimmery black tight pants she matched with a cheetah print blouse. Her ruby red lipstick smile spread as she patiently waited for her son to answer.
“Yeah Mom, I,” Gerard began, interrupting himself with a nervous gulp. “I’m back, I got… scared.” He hesitantly uttered, not exactly wanting to admit he got scared of a butterfly.
“What scared ya, sweetie,” Donna, Gerard’s mother, questioned him in the sweetest tone she could muster through her thick accent and smoker’s fry. Her hand reached out, placing a strong yet reaffirming grip on her small boy’s shoulder.
“I saw a…” Gerard didn’t quite know how to explain to his mother why this was scary. In fact, he didn’t even know if this counted as scary, more so strange than anything. “Butterfly. I went out, further than Dad’s ever taken me and it was weird. It suddenly got all sunny, like spring. But, behind me was still gloomy.”
“Butterflies aren’t scary,” Mikey’s high pitched voice chimed in. Mikey obviously doesn’t know what he’s talking about. To Gerard, he could have very well seen a troll and he would probably not even be that surprised. But, a butterfly in autumn just isn’t right. “You’re a scaredy cat.”
“Be nice to your brother. He’s not a scaredy cat,” Donna noted to Mikey, swatting the air in front of the small boy as if to bounce his words away from her other son. When she looked back at the oldest she had an unsure eyebrow knocked up and a tilt in her neck. “Now listen Gerard, the forest can be a weird place. Maybe there was an opening in the clouds right on top of you and you didn’t even know because of the canopy. Maybe the butterfly was late to the hibernation party and was on her way to go to sleep with her family for the winter. Things happen sweetie. Don’t worry your cute little head over it for another moment, okay?”
“Okay, mom,” Gerard grumbled, seeming slightly annoyed. Though her motherly words of wisdom did help him feel quite a bit better.
By nightfall, Gerard and Mikey were standing on their stools in front of the bathroom mirror brushing away at their teeth. Gerard was spitting out his bubblegum flavored toothpaste when Mikey started to give voice to his opinions on the so called “butterfly incident”.
“You should let me come with you next time. I’ll protect you from the butterflies and the sun,” Mikey proclaimed, puffing out his chest to make himself look bigger than he was. When really, he is a small four year old.
Gerard scoffed before wiping away any remaining pink paste from the corners of his mouth. It took everything in him not to snap back at his brother, but he wanted to keep it civil. Or at least their dad told him he had to. “To be a good brother,” the man would always remind the oldest after an argument had to be broken up by their parents.
“Mom and dad probably wouldn’t let you go,” Gerard yawned as they made their way to their rooms. “If I could take you, I would. Only because it would be funner with you. Not because you’d protect me.”
Gerard paused outside Mikey’s room watching as his younger brother padded over to his small mattress. The room is lit up by various dimly glowing lights. Some moving on a trach making blue and yellow light dance across his room.
“Besides, we protect each other,” was the last thing he reminded his brother before they shared their perspective goodnight wishes and he headed to his own dimly lit-up room.
****
Two weeks had gone by and every day Gerard daydreams about going back into the forest. His dad said it was nothing. He’d explored the part of the forest that Gerard went to to see what the fuss was about and came up with nothing.
“Just the same old dingy forest we’ve always had,” the man declared outside the sliding glass door as he slid his muddy boots off. He ruffled the brown mess on Gerard’s head as he entered the house and slumped back onto his recliner as if nothing had happened. As if he truly did not see anything unusual in the forest.
“Yeah right, butterflies don’t come out during the fall,” Gerard’s friend, Ray, scoffed as he scarfed the school’s mac and cheese down. He continued to eat for a while, the peas on his plate going unquestionably unnoticed just like presumably every other child’s plate.
“Besides,” the boy started in a huff after swallowing down what seemed to Gerard was too much milk. “You said it yourself, your dad didn’t see anything and it’s been nonstop cloudy for weeks.”
“I know what I saw,” Gerard hissed as he pointed to the picture of the butterfly again. He had “borrowed” a book from the science class they shared on butterflies. “The adults die during the colder seasons, Ray. I saw an adult butterfly in the rain. It’s just not scientifically accurate.”
“Okay fine, then you saw the butterfly. I don’t know why you’re so hung up on this,” Ray taunted as he pushed his long collar bone-length curly hair away from his face to eat more. Gerard was always enamored with the kid’s hair, it took so much product to get it silky smooth like it is now. One time Ray listed all the things he had to do to his hair, with his mother’s help and Gerard could simply not keep up. It looks cool so it was probably all worth it. Gerard was pulled out of his daydream about Ray’s locks when he quipped up again. “You should just go look again if you’re so worried. Maybe you’ll get answers.”
So it was decided after Gerad returned the book to his teacher and arrived back home from school he would ask one more time if he could go out into the forest. His mother would give him a look that couldn’t be described better than “Oh, really?” but she would inevitably say yes. Not without some limit though, he only had twenty-five minutes in the wilderness.
With an unfortunate time limit set as of now, Gerard slipped on his galoshes and was on his way. With temporary freedom coursing through his veins, he practically ran through the forest. Once he saw a familiar clearing he held his breath as he sprinted further this time. Again, it was bright. No hint of rain, not even a mist. It was warm.
Gerard was frantic as he looked around at the lush green surrounding him. The sweet smell of mountain laurel filled his nostrils as he clomped his heavy, tired feet further and further.
“I knew it,” Gerard exclaimed to himself when he looked up to see a completely clear sky, just over the area he was standing. Before he had even left the house he made sure to note the sky was full of gray and angry-looking clouds that no doubt would not have moved so quickly.
He crouched down, running his fingers through the dark green grass, each blade slightly catching on his soft hands. He plopped down, resting for a moment. He didn’t understand why he had gotten so scared the last time he was here. It’s probably the most comforting place he’s ever been besides the library and in his room watching a movie with his brother.
He had fifteen minutes left when he finished weaving a crown out of white clover flowers and plopped it on his head. The sun had beaten down on him long enough now that his raincoat was discarded beside him.
A giggle in the distance had him frozen in the spot he sat. It sounded like a kid, maybe his age, probably another boy. Could be a neighbor, probably a stranger. He didn’t know what to do. Strangers aren't good company, especially in the forest. But, this sounded like a kid. Like someone his age, someone he could trust. It was odd, he should be running back to his mom. He should be reacting the same way he did when he saw the butterfly. But, instead, he sat there, heart not even racing in the slightest, just waiting. He didn’t even look around to see who it was or if they would show themselves. Even when a strange boy walked over to Gerard and spoke, he felt almost calm.
“You did it wrong,” said the boy now pointing at Gerard. When he looked up he was met with a short statued kid with messy dark hair and perfect eyebrows. His hazel eyes glimmered with mischief as he stepped closed and plucked the crown off Gerard’s head. The small boy had a tan, worn-out tunic that tied in a nice bow at the chest. These weird loose-fitting gray pants. A pouch that looked to be made of brown leather and leaves attached to his hip and a fur shawl draped over his torso. No shoes… weird. He looked like someone from a hundred years ago or more to Gerard.
For the first time in his life, Gerard had no words, no comeback, nothing came to mind. He felt his heart skip and leap in his chest, something he had never in his life felt before.
“Y-yeah… I know. I…” Gerard murmured calmly when he finally found his tongue. He was still on the ground, with some strange kid standing in front of him fiddling with the flower crown he was previously proud of.
“Don’t know how to make these? I can tell,” the boy taunted while his full attention was on the clover crown in his hands that he was fixing up.
“What’s your name,” Gerard asked.
“Frank. Call me Frankie if you would though, only my dad calls me ‘Frank’ when I’m in trouble,” Frankie answered.
“F-Frankie… okay,” Gerard nodded and took the crown back when ’Frankie’ handed it back. “Why are you out here? I mean in the forest?”
“I live here,” Frank stated as if it were absolutely obvious and normal for a kid to live in the forest. “I’m a sprite. A forest creature. I belong here.”
Okay, well that was not at all what any boy would expect, but, how could he prove this kid wrong when all signs were leaning his way? Frank, Gerard’s newest best friend, as he secretly decided, is a forest sprite.