The Woods in Deep Winter
Percival and Oliver had been meeting in the woods for months now. Every Thursday like clockwork, Percival would be sent foraging and Oliver would meet him in the clearing. It was a simple routine. They would both work to get the things his mother needed and then spend time together. Just the right amount of time before anyone got suspicious.
But, alas, they were 11 and did not know how to act inconspicuous. Percival’s family noticed he had been spending more time in the woods the past few months but decided not to bother him about it. After all, he seemed to have a more agreeable demeanor after he went foraging. Perhaps they had thought he spent time in the village or took up a hobby in drawing but he wouldn’t give away much.
It was deep into the winter now. With no harvest, his family relied even more on foraging. This of course meant a bigger load Percival would have to carry. He didn’t mind it, the extra work made him feel important. They did occasionally buy food from the village but it was much more expensive this time of year since it came from the eastern cities.
Percival knew full well his family had a strong aversion to the eastern cities. That's where the rich and powerful lived. He heard his older brothers complain about them taking grain from their harvest every year, costing his family money, only to sell it back to the village in the winter. He never cared enough to stick around long enough to really understand. He assumed his family didn’t want him worrying about it.
But everything they could forage, they did. Nuts, berries, herbs, flowers. It was important to gather everything they could. And they trusted Percival every Thursday to go out and get food and other supplies. He hadn’t let them down so far and he wasn’t going to start now.
He grabbed everything he had used all the times he went before. His mustard yellow cloak was retired for the winter so he used a pale blue winter cloak, that was handed down to him by his older brothers, and a long knitted scarf that his mother made. But other than that everything was the same.
He headed off into the forest, which was now blanketed with snow, most eager to meet Oliver once again. Though it was covered, Percival still knew exactly where the path to the clearing was. Along the way, he picked up some things he knew he needed. There was a chestnut tree not far from the clearing that he could stop by on the way.
It was more of a trek than he had planned but he got to the tree. He went up and shook it a little to make sure he wasn’t going to get attacked by snow. Then he started climbing and harvesting chestnuts, as he did with the hazelnuts a few months before until his basket was full. Satisfied, he began to climb down. Only, unlike the other times, he slipped and fell when he was about halfway down. Luckily, the snow softened the fall. Had it been spring he most certainly would’ve broken something.
He quickly got up and tried to brush the snow he had gotten on his cloak. The basket had spilled at least half its contents. He went to pick what he could find from the snow when he heard someone walking towards him. He looked up from the ground to see Oliver running towards him.
“Percy! Whatever happened to you?” He exclaimed while Percival was still attempting to pick up the lost chestnuts.
“I fell from the tree and dropped the basket.” He stated whilst looking up at Oliver.
“Well, are you okay?” Oliver asked while bending down to meet Percival at eye level.
“I’m perfectly ordinary. The snow broke my fall. I'm just looking for the chestnuts that fell out of the basket.”
“It would take forever to find all of them in the snow. Why don’t you just pick more from the tree?”
Percival scoffed putting a handful of chestnuts back into the basket. “The first rule of foraging is to only take what you need. If you take more then you fall out of the forest's good graces.” He explained. Percival went back to picking up the chestnuts off the ground and Oliver waited not so patiently for him to finish.
Once he was done, he and Oliver went on to gather the other things on the list. They made small chatter whilst they were working but mostly walked in silence. The last thing Percival needed to get was pine cones.
Reluctant to climb after the tumble from earlier today, he decided to pick what was already on the ground. Oliver was standing right next to him, watching as he picked up every pine cone and examined them with great care. He admired the way he would gently place down the pine cones that didn’t meet his standards. It was like he held every single one with the greatest regard. Once Percival was done he simply fastened the satchel closed and started to walk towards home with Oliver. It only took a little bit until they started chatting again.
“Could you meet me in the clearing tonight?” Oliver asked, looking at Percival.
“Why?” He replied being more interested in the snow under his feet.
“The stars are supposed to be very visible tonight and I didn’t want to witness them alone.”
“We shouldn’t be in the woods at night.” Percival shook his head.
“Oh…” Oliver responded with a hint of sadness in his voice, “Maybe we can view them by the bay? It should be safer than the woods.” He offered as an alternative.
“Won’t there be people by the bay?”
“No one really goes down there this time of year. The only people there would be merfolk and selkies. They don’t bother you if you don’t bother them.” Percival explained. Oliver pondered it for a minute.
“Okay. I’ll meet you by the bay tonight.” He said with a smile which Percival returned.
By the time their conversation finished they were back on the main road and heading their separate ways. Both practically giddy with excitement over meeting each other again at night.