Cinnamon, Part 3 - Squirrels

I followed Hizi and the woman into the tree. Inside was a small, round room, made entirely out of wood. It looked like someone had just started carving and just carved everything in the room out of the same wood, the stairs that disappeared into a hole in the ceiling, the door, an inward shelf like a hole in the wall that looked liked it could be used for storage. Or sleeping. Even the only piece of furniture, a low, small, round table in the middle of the room was connected to the ground. Or rather, just another shape in the carving. No, this doesn't look like carving, I thought, It's like the tree has grown into this shape, making all these shapes on it's own. Made someone a ready home. The walls were filled with odd shapes and symbols and pictures. All I wanted to do is stare, and after doing that for a while, start looking at the walls, try to figure out what they meant.
But I never got the chance. Hizi pulled me in from the doorway where I had stopped and sat me on the floor next to the table. From somewhere appeared a dozen squirrels, a few with wooden mugs, others with bowl and plates with something I guessed was food. The woman took two of the mugs and handed one to me. I sniffed it and set it on the table.
"Who... who are you?" I asked carefully. I felt lost, I didn't know how to behave or what was expected of me. Or even if I was supposed to talk. But all Hizi did was sip his drink and the woman smiled at me, so I supposed it was ok. The squirrels were running around, placing full dishes on the table.
"Who am I?" the woman smiled, "Now that is a tricky question. The folk around here call me the Witch of the Forest, so I've started to call myself that. It is so much easier to just have one name. Once, a very long time ago, I was called Eva. So I suppose if you want, you can call me that."
"You said you have been waiting for me?" it seemed like a stupid thing to say, but I didn't know what else to say.
"Yes", she said, "Now drink your tea."
I raised the wooden mug again and sniffed the steaming liquid. It smelled quite good, so I sipped it a little. It tasted like the forest. A very confusing taste, if you've never tasted it before.
"How did you know I was coming?"
"Well, I am the Witch", she smiled at me again, "But also, because there is a bond between us. See, back when I was still called Eva, I lived in your world."
I almost chocked on the gulp I was taking.
"You..." I muffled a scream when a squirrel came out of nowhere bounced off my head. The woman smiled and waved her hand. The squirrels disappeared again, going up the stairs. Hizi stuffed some nuts from a bowl to his mouth.
"Don't mind the Squirrels. They are my friends and my servants. And yes. We come from the same place, you and me. That creates a bond between us, though a very week one. But I have learned magic. Anyone can feel even a week bond between themselves and someone else if they try hard, but I have learned how to feel the bonds stronger that they actually are. Grown myself to be more sensitive to it, if you will. Also, it doesn't hurt to be connected to the forest. I can feel anyone moving through it. You may notice I don't look exactly like a human. The magic has taken me. The nature has taken me to be it's own. It has changed me, also the way I look. I like it that way. I could teach you, if you want."
"I..." I didn't quite know what to say, "I really just want to go home."
"Ah, home..." Eva said quietly, "I tried to find a way home, when I first got here. For a long time."
"There is no way home?" my heart started to race and hands to tremble. All I wanted to to is go home and begin my Christmas preparations.
"There is a way", she said, "There is always a way. But I didn't find it. I guess I didn't want to find it hard enough."
"I do", I said, "I want to go home."
"Are you sure? You could be very happy here with me", she answered.
"I am sure", I said.
"Very well", she let out a small whistle. The Squirrels appeared again.
"Here, take this", she handed me a canvas bag, "Take food with you. As much as you can fit."
I began stuffing food from the table to the bag. It was anything you can find in a forest: nuts, some roots. Something I thought were berries but were actually hard.
"Hizi will come with you and help you", she said. The goblin turned to look at her so fast he almost spilled some tea on one of the Squirrels.
"Hizi will come", Eva repeated, "The Squirrels will guide your way. Follow them, and you'll be safe. I'm afraid I can't spare them for a very long time, but at least you will begin on the right path."
I thanked the Witch and gave the weird treehouse a last glance.
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Difficult to write in first person? Hmm... Interesting. I didn't really pay attention to that when I started writing. I guess working on a novel with multiple first person narrators does that.
Now I need to go back to studying. I have two exams tomorrow, and I've already spent too much time on this.
I'm assuming we're sticking to this topic thing. Your topic for tomorrow is Pillow.

~matu