Who?

The itchy bug-ridden growth on the forest floor dug into the bronze skin of Cecelia's almost totally bare legs. The uncomfortable sensation mixed with the pain at the bottom of her back that had begun to build at some point as she lye flush against the hard earth roused her from her slumber. Slowly, she blinked away the haze of sleep only to see an unfamiliar set of long skinny trees surrounding the small twig and leaf filled clearing that had become her bed.

Cecelia supposed there was a lot she could have pondered on, like the darkness that plagued her surroundings, or the mist that hung ominously in air. However, all she could focus on were her dirty shoeless feet that stared helplessly back at her. With no sign of shoes around her, she couldn't figure how she had made it so far into nature with even the most basic of human comforts.

One question was on the tip of her groggy mind as she looked up at the clustered tree line above her, but she couldn't quite grasp it when a pair of yellow glowing eyes appeared in her eyeline. Before she could process her new friend's appearance a high voice called out from the creature.

"How?"

The clueless girl moved on instinct, scrapping herself as far away from the shadowy being as possible. Vaguely, she was aware of sharp pain at the base of her feet, but the pounding of fear in her chest over toke everything else. As the creature's form became sharper to her dull eyes in the lowlight, she realized what she had seen.

A cat.

Orange, brown and white fur decorated the cat's chubby form; one side was light and the other dark on it's small round face. Cecelia knew it was a calico, and from the bright red collar adorning it's neck she knew it was a pet. She couldn't be that far away people.

Calm dulled her initial panic. Through her ragged breathing, she realized she couldn't possibly have heard the creature ask what she thought she did.

"Hey buddy, you scared me." she responded in a surprisingly hoarse voice to the pet who was cocking it's head inquisitively at her.

"How?" It repeated almost stubbornly in long rolling manner that resembled it's normal sound.

Cecelia tried to maintain rationality, repeating again to herself that the cat wasn't speaking English. It moved foreword, casually rubbing itself against her calf; clearly unafraid of humans. Then it sat next to Cecelia while wrapping it's tail around itself, and stared her directly in her mud colored eyes.

"How?" it asked one final time, with such articulation it was hard for the lost girl to fight the spike of unease in her gut. It wasn't as if she could answer that question anyway; she didn't know how she had gotten there. The last memory she had was the afternoon horizon over a cityscape on her way home from work. Cecelia was a secretary; it was her job to be organized and put together for her overwhelmed boss, so something so out of control like forgetting a whole evening was completely out of the ordinary

After her lack of response, the cat huffed and turned around, almost in a petty manner with it's chin held high. Cecelia immediately got to her feet with a wince, hoping the animal could lead her to it's owners. However, her frantic motion scared the animal and it sprinted into the unknown.

Quickly, Cecelia limped after her only hope of getting home. The pain in her feet was negligible. The slap of her thighs rubbing together under her black shorts were forgettable. The tender nip of a chilly night on her exposed arms wasn't relevant. Even the new nausea and headache she experienced with the motion was endurable for some sort of help.

"Wait kitty." she called as she entered the tree line, but as she panted harder and harder with exertion the trees got thicker and thicker. The frenzy of fear and sadness she didn't know she'd been holding onto rose in her throat and stung. All too soon, the furry creature was scurrying out of sight, but she kept moving and praying she would catch up to it, or that by some miracle she had chased it long enough to find even a trace of a savior.

Eventually, she broke into a large clearing where finally she could see a monotone starless sky; the only light shone from the full moon. To be in the middle of nowhere and not see any stars seemed odd to Cecelia, but she brushed it off in favor of carefully exploring her new environment as she caught her breathe. There was small creek that ran parallel to where she was standing, that she crouched next to. A murky vison of her familiar face greeted her; eyeliner smear and a messy brown ponytail completing the picture.

What had she been doing? Makeup and shorts? No matter how she searched her failing brain she couldn't for the life of her come up with a reason she would possibly be where she was.

After a long moment of dissecting herself she reasoned that it didn't matter. What was important, was her own survival. It wasn't safe for her to be running around in the cold night, alone, with no freaking shoes. If a animal more dangerous than an impatient cat were to find her she would be defenseless.

Carefully, she stepped over the tiny water source and further into the empty grassy area. As she moved, she discovered an rocky incline cattycorner to the creek with what looked to be a shallow...burrow? Or a cave? She wasn't sure, but she was positive it would be safer and possibly warmer inside than her current position.

Cecelia hobbled over and crawled into the hole. It was bigger than it had appeared to be at a distance. It was defiantly more of a cave, but it didn't lead anywhere. It was like a small living room at best. Tenderly, she arranged herself on the cold hard rock. The cave was completely uncomfortable and incredibly dark, but at least it was something till the sun rose and she could troubleshoot. She shut her eyes and listened to background noise of crickets and rustling she'd always associated with the woods.

…

Sleep wouldn't come which wasn't really a surprise. Adrenaline was pulsing through her veins as she replayed the night over and over again in her head. The truth was, she didn't really know much about the local terrain. Cecelia lived in smaller world than she had known. She knew the familiar path to work at the local grocery store, college, even a couple of places to blow off steam, but that was about it. Without her landmarks and smartphone she could be in wonderland for all she knew.

Just like that, as she curled in on herself and tried to ignore the huger pains eating at her sides hours passed. For how long she laid there, waiting for morning she didn't know, but it never came. The moon, full and seemingly luminous never seemed to move.

Endless time brought about a question Cecelia just couldn't shake, because as every second passed she was progressively getting more and more certain morning would never arrive. The question she had no way of knowing, seemed to become a physical voice ringing in her ear.

"Where?" it roared in the almost silent night Cecelia had been enduring.

Wait.

Was that in her head?

"Where?" the deep voice demanded coming closer to her hiding spot. Abruptly the trembling girl knew exactly what was screaming in the dark. Brown fur appeared, covering both the entrance of the cave and a large muscular pair of bear legs. It seemed to be walking by the cave, investigating the area for some reason.

Cecelia couldn't breathe or move, she just held her hands firmly against her mouth lest she make even a squeak in terror and alert the bear to her presence. Never had the possibility of death been so very close, and she couldn't help but yearn for the safety she'd always known, her same old routine, her same old path, her same old friends. What she wouldn't give to hear her mother calling for her little Cece.

"Where?" the ferocious beast thundered, as it stopped it's movements entirely. It stood on it's hind legs, resting the top half of it's body against the top of the cave mouth. It seemed to cover the entrance with dirty fur, as it passionately demanded an answer the brunette didn't have.

Part of her couldn't believe what she was hearing, but a much larger part-the one that had been waiting for the heat of day that never came- simply accepted this as reality. The bear talked, and though she had never before been face to face with such a deadly creature she was pretty certain they were not this big normally. He must've been 3 times the young woman's height.

A layer of unshed tears covered the surface of her eyes as she wondered if the bear could even fit in her cave. If he could she would be dead.

The bear grew quiet, but still she couldn't hear anything over the thumping in her ear from her heart. Unable to take the suspense she stared hard at the charcoal gray of the rock she'd rested upon for hours.

The small noises of the rustling bear slowly began to fade into the distance. Relief filled her chest as brown disappeared from the opening of the cave. Ragid breaths slowly eased off as she began to dissect the appearance of the too large creature. What kind of bear could possibly tower over her to that extent?

Pretty soon the question engulfed her mind. Would seeing the bear confirm for her that she was in fact in some sort of strange world unlike her own? Carefully she peaked her head out of the small enclosure into the darkness of night. There was no brown in sight.

"Where?" Cecelia heard louder than ever before. With one flick of her gaze to the right, she saw two wide eyes and a twitching snout less than a foot from her face. Before she could think, her body flew back towards the deepest part of the rocky space. She expected to crush painfully into a dead end, but instead she found the earth from under her simply...stopped. Her upper torso fell through dead air, and she was left hanging backwards off a hole she had no idea had been tucked neatly away in the blackness.

If she were to, somehow, summon all her core strength and pull herself back up she would be faced with a enraged giant. One who could very well insert one of it's monstrous limbs into her safe space and end her. If she were to give in and let herself sail through the air, she didn't know what would happened because she couldn't see 2 feet in front of her.

Without much deliberation, she pushed herself the rest of the way down the hole. It seemed to be her only option given the circumstance. However, once she was freefalling, completely blind, frosty, and half naked she wondered if maybe the bear might have been able to be reasoned with.

Frigid waters soon engulfed her being with loud splash. Shock froze her as liquid squirted up her nose in her unprepared state. As soon as she could move her extremities again she began to kick and push with all her might; begging for sweet air once again. Thankfully the collection of water, whatever it was wasn't very deep, nor did she fall very far. Soon, she was on the surface, gasping as she used all the strength she had left to find solid ground. Once she did she dragged her exhausted body onto seemingly dry land and collapsed.

It wasn't comfortable and it wasn't safe, but she couldn't go any longer. At least she was away from the bear. The whole of her legs now stung painfully with bruises and scraps from the fall into the hole, disorientation rocked her center, and her whole body felt like cooked pasta from the unbearable long and confusing night. Cold now wrapped around her shivering form like a blanket and somehow she found rest in the hard pitch black cave.

Her last thought before unconscientiousness toke her was the very word the bear had screamed into the night; where? Where could she be that had an underground tavern in her small world?

…..

When Cecelia awoke, she couldn't believe she was still alive, nor did she know if she wanted to be anymore. Every move she made to try and better her situation seemed to get her further and further away from safety. Realistically, she didn't know if she would ever get home, if now she was in a world where bears stood 15 feet tall and asked her whereabouts.

No, she couldn't believe that.

She was just frazzled and was making too much out of terrible but normal occurrences. There had to be some way home. There would be an end to the agony. The question was, would her body hold on until then?

After a gathering her courage, she pushed herself to her feet. It wasn't easy, but she managed. She began to stumble slowly across the rocky ground, arms in front to brace herself. When she found a wall, she decided her only option would be to follow the wall as long as she could and hope she found another exit. Why had she come to the stupid woods in the first place? Why couldn't she remember anything? Her mother would pass out from shock if she knew the situation her responsible daughter had gotten herself into.

Although, she wasn't exactly sure how true her mother's summation of her character was. Over and over, she replayed the moment she had given into that darkest part of herself. The one that had to see the bear again, even if it gave away her location. The careful woman wasn't exactly the role she was thrilled to play, but still it had always seemed to be in her nature. She didn't know what you would call the verson of her who choose experience over safety. Cecelia wasn't sure if she wanted to be that person either. As she continued her arduous journey, her only company was the massive array of terrifying thoughts that her panic-stricken brain spit her.

At first.

Then she started to hear whispers; soft, high pitched, yet hoarse whispers. At first, she thought she was imagining it, that the dark was finally making her loose her senses. Then they got more insistent, more undeniable. Maybe it was animals scurrying and she was misunderstanding the noise she assured herself, but that didn't last long. Soon, she could make out words.

"Why she here?" one questioned in annoyance.

"Humans everywhere." the other responded with a strange wheezy cackle. Disbelief spiked in her mind. It wasn't human. It admitted it full out. Somewhere in the darkness were multiple creatures who could speak somewhat intelligently and didn't identify as human.

"This one broke." a voice declared as if it was astonished. Cecelia tried to pick up her pace, but it didn't do much good. With harsh breathing she pushed foreword, even when she found a bend in the wall.

Wait, was that a light she saw?

"Her die?" another asked gleefully. The word she had been throwing around all night in her head mocked her. Soon, all of the many entities surrounding her began to laugh as they spoke that rancid word. Those once soft whispers began to boom in the echoing tavern as they chorused together in a jovial manner.

Cecelia ignored it. Dim light was illuminating the walls of her inclined pathway, but there in the way was a large shadowy mass hanging from the ceiling. As she got closer, she realized it was pure white, with wings and pointy ears. It didn't seem to be joining in with the chanting behind her. Maybe it was asleep.

As quietly as possible she tried to sneak by to freedom, and yet...her feet stopped. Her body was about to give, her heart was screaming at her to run, but something glued her feet to their ground.

What was this creature?

That, out all her mistakes that night, had to be one of the worst. In a flash it unfurled it's wings to expose a familiar face; a bat. Of course.

"Want die?" it seethed as if it were releasing a long held breathe filled with distain.

Cecelia shook her head vehemently as her battered body dashed back into the starless night. Despite the pain it kept going till it was vibrating, and unable to see the exit to that disturbing cave.

What kind of person would do that, she screamed internally at herself.

The young woman dropped, her back flat against a thin tree. A tree Cecelia was strangely acquainted with. A tree like many others, encompassing a small clearing with itchy grass. One that the sitting woman had used as a bed what seemed like forever ago.

She'd somehow made a full circle. It didn't even faze her anymore. Of course, she had.

As she tried to calm herself by rubbing her arms for warmth, she noticed a brown and white bird with beautifully soft feathers that was sitting square in front of her. Its nose, or beak Cecelia supposed, was long and thin. Its eyes were large and pure black, as it stared calmly at her. Anger flared in her stomach at the animal, because she knew this routine.

"What?" Cecelia said, finally voicing her own question through angry hot tears. "What, could you possibly want from me?'

"Who?" it answered simply.

Cecelia halted. Okay, maybe it was a normal owl she decided with a sigh of relief. Cecelia buried her face in her hands, now ready to ignore the animal.

"Are you daft? I asked who?" it inserted. Cecelia gazed at it once more. It was talking to her. Full on talking to her.

"The owl asked me who and expects a response." she said with almost a crazed tone. There was no way she could deny that.

"Well, you didn't answer when the cat asked you how you got here. Or when the bear inquired if you knew where you were. You ran as the bats asked why, so I thought maybe the one thing you would know is who you are." the owl explained in low masculine voice. "Not that I particularly care you see, but your terror is ruining this lovely night."

After a long moment, Cecelia decided to break the mold she had created for herself in this forest. What else did she have to lose?

"I am Cecelia." she finally answered. The owl made a noise of acknowledgment almost like a chirp and shuffled his talons closer to the edge of the branch.

"Yes, now who is that?" it continued.

"Me." the young lady repeated in a confused manner.

"Who are you?" the owl resounded with a scoff of derision. "You see, animals for the most part are quite simple to understand. If you find a fish out of water than, clearly someone has put them there. A being with no lungs or legs would never choose that road as death is surly at the end. "

The bird toke flight fluttering carelessly around the clearing; his long snow driven wings seeming to almost hypnotize Cecelia. It landed on another tree closer to her.

"But a human. If a human is deep in the water, with no gills or fins than the answer will be much more complicated. Is that person a swimmer or not? Does he have enough knowledge to choose the right equipment? Did he mean to get in the water? Is he the kind of person to purposely choose a road that ends in failure? Their curiosity and ability to develop tools has somehow interfered with some of their basic survival instincts. I figure if we can parse out who you are. Maybe the rest of those questions will be easier." he explained carefully with a prideful tone. "Aren't you grateful for such a magnificently wise guide?"

Cecelia furrowed her brows in concentration, pondering on how to explain herself while trying to ignore the owl's increasingly condescending tone. It seemed pointless after all.

"I guess, a responsible person. This is very unlike me." the frostbitten girl explained, but even as she did it felt wrong, so it made the words stick uncomfortably in her throat. The owl watched Cecelia with a haughty gaze, as if he could see right through her.

" Everybody always says it; how put together I am." She added eventually under the pressure of that stare, as if to give herself credence. The owl rolled his eyes sarcastically at her response and toke flight again. This time aiming straight for Cecelia, his sharp beak making contact with her chilly cheek in a hasty motion before finding another tree limb to sit upon. A shriek of sharp pain stung her face as she cradled the wound. Bright red coated her fingers as her heart jumped from its previous coma. She almost couldn't believe that even the owl would prove dangerous to her, so she stared wordlessly at her new foe.

Were beaks supposed to be that sharp?

" Wrong!" it chided in a sing song voice. " I didn't ask for the opinion of humans I've never met before. Who do you think you are?"

"What do mean? I said a responsible person. I would never be crazy enough to end up here." she exclaimed defensively, but before she could react the owl was flapping behind her, yanking at her hair with his razor-edged talons.

"Maybe you're a liar? Or perhaps stupid?" the owl taunted gleefully. It suddenly dawned on Ceclia that the owl had been watching her. Afterall, he knew of all the other creatures.

"The kind of person who stops to inspect a deadly creature while running for her life I guess." she answered at last, revealing her most recent mistake to the feathered creature. That was the only thing she could think of that would make her former answer wrong. "The very kind you're talking about."

"So, you are indeed a curious person." he nodded as if surprised, even though Cecelia was positive he knew about the incident. It made the young woman's stomach curl in an unsettling manner. It seemed to her the owl already had an opinion, he was simply trying to guide her there. "Well, that's quite troubling."

"Troubling?" she repeated, her anger swirling vibrantly underneath her words. "Curiosity is troubling?"

"Human curiosity is indeed." he said pointedly. "It's almost a physical need to satiate. To stimulate their mind."

"Well, I may be curious, but I'm not exactly reckless most of the time." Cecelia asserted once more, while guarding her face as she expecting to be attacked. Part of her believed the owl's words, but her entire world had been built on her intelligence and caution. How could she admit to the mocking owl of her own failure if she couldn't easily visit that thought in her own head.

"Oh? So, you're prudent, are you?" he rebounded, this time actually listening to her words.

"Yes. I work a full-time job and do night school. I'm always trying to do the smart thing." she explained hurriedly. "I always choose the secure path. I get all A's in school. I'm never late for a shift. I haven't even bought myself new shoes in a -"

Suddenly a foggy memory surfaced in her mind. Cecelia was talking to her mother, upset and exhausted. Somehow even though her life was "safe" she always felt like she was end of rope. Her mother consoled her. Told her she needed some excitement, maybe a different look or a new experience. Cecelia had taken that advice and gotten a brand-new pair of bright red high heels she could barely walk in. The feeling she felt then was similar to the one she had went she peeked her head out of the cave, an interest in the new and unique.

It had felt good, yet scary. She had something new, something interesting, to look forward to, something to dread. Was she the kind of woman to wear those shoes?

"Is that why you're shoeless?" the owl asked in a bored manner. "Because you have none?"

"No. I had shoes." she answered miserably, starting to figure something out.

"Then who would walk around without shoes, when she has some? A moron? So engulfed curiosity she forgets her own morality?" he pushed, taking flight and circling the brunette swiftly. Cecelia's blood rushed violently as she prepared to fight. yet the animal was too quick for her to guard against. His talons ripped at the already bruised and battered skin along her arms. She debated on if she should run, but she didn't know where to go and she was so tired.

"A girl with heels." Cecelia answered petulantly, her voice teetering with fear. After buying them she'd begun to go out on her few days off with some friends she hadn't seen in years from high school.

Friends that were reckless with curiosity.

"And this girl with heels who is curious, but not normally reckless in her right mind, how did she get in the woods with shorts in the cold?" he questioned, but it seemed almost rhetorical at this point as his beak shoved into her back.

"She wasn't in her right mind." Cecelia concluded. At last, she knew what happened last night. Even if she couldn't physically remember it. Her last-minute friends called her. She went out. She got drunk for the first time in her life and somehow ended up there. Such a simple answer. Not a mystery, just a bad choice.

"Or perhaps she was. Perhaps she grew weary of pretending? Of trying to seem more angelic than she was?" the owl whispered pointedly as he stared into her wide eyes and hovered in front of her. Shame was trinkling into her heart.

Maybe the deep haunting voice was right. Cecelia couldn't be happy with what she had always known.

"Foolish girl. It's not as if anything good will happen for someone like you." the owl snapped as he launched an attack on her exposed thighs. Cecelia stumbled back, her confidence crumbling. With as much as haste as she could manage, she limped foreword wanting to escape, yet the attacks began to increase. Somehow it felt as if there was a swarm instead of singular bird tearing into her flesh with words and knifes.

"Who would even be waiting on someone so unlovable like you. You should have stayed put." the owl echoed in the warmthless night. Cecelia was ready to give up, to believe the harsh accusations thrown her way and seep into the endless darkness surrounding her. Into the nothing.

However, a single luminous being interrupted the barrage of beak and plumage diluting her vision. The odd entity was flying as well, but instead of hurting her it crashed violently into the owl, sending it tumbling into a nearby tree.

"Oh, would you be quiet you waste of feathers." A smooth and innocent sounding voice called. Somehow it managed to be masculine and demanding yet soft.

Cecelia wobbled as the animal fluttered closer to her, allowing her vison that had been blurred from the attack to catch a dazzling snow-white dove peering attentively at her. The sight of its glowing soft body floating timidly around Cecelia's own, dulled the nausea that had been swirling around in her stomach. Each of its features were delicate and finely tuned, but it made Cecelia feel safe somehow.

" Sweet girl, don't listen to that angry bird." The dove whispered as it flew around her and landed carefully on her shoulder. It nuzzled its little head against her scarlet neck, and vaguely through the haze of pain Cecelia hoped she wouldn't stain its pristine coat. "That thing has no hope left, so it wants to take yours."

" Is curiosity such a bad thing?" Cecelia asked, feeling hot tears rolling down her cheeks. The small bird was silent for a moment, and the owl toke that span to insert its voice once more. However, it avoided moving any closer and risking irritating the dove one more.

"Of course, it is! See how stupid you are to even ask." it hooted while setting itself upright.

"And last week that bird said curiosity is the only thing of value that humans have to offer. He is liar to the lost. " The dove squeaked. "I tell you that human curiosity can be a flaw and a grace. However, I must say it is impossible to gain wisdom without first posing a question. Struggle and growth go hand and hand." The Dove explained as the owl scoffed but dared not say another word.

"Know this, who you are is not as he says. You are flawed human, but not bad. Imperfection does not equal evil." the dove concluded.

Cecelia listened as well as she could, given the situation her body was in. Though it did seem to be feeling better in the presence of the warm light engulfing the dove, as well as her tattered heart. As if realizing this, the dove sprang foreword.

"Come, I will guide you home." the dove chirped as it glided into the trees. Cecelia began to follow the kindly animal mindlessly. Eventually as she moved through the angular trees her body felt lighter and the hobble she had taken to turned into a stride, then a dash as the quick bird dived and swerved through the forest.

Soon enough, she was bursting through a cluster of trees into a bright open plain. The sun, Cecelia had long given up on was high in the sky, warming her Carmel skin. Skin that was somehow free of its former vermillion color and the almost paralyzing pain that had followed her moments ago. Disbelief swam through her like a pulse, but she didn't have time to ponder as familiar arms were throwing themselves around her.

"Cece, my baby. Where have you been?" her mother's frantic tone asked her. A mob surrounded her of police and friends asking pretty much the same question. Cecelia couldn't bring herself to answer as brilliant rays of sunshine danced over her. The truth was even Cecelia didn't know.

The absence proof for what she had been through was already making her question her own eyes when a soft low voice called from somewhere far away.

"Who?"