Jessamin and Selwyn \ Sloom /

1- The Meadow.
The young boy laid in the middle of a vast meadow, his eyes closed and his breathing slow and steady.  The expanse of thick green grass was freckled with hundreds of different colours, from the blood red of the poppies, to the sunny yellow of the dandelions. The fragrant smell filling the air thickly, mixing with the crisp morning air to make a perfume that could not be found anywhere else. The butterflies flew up above the boys head, dancing their own unique dance routine, their colourful wings fluttering delicately through the air. The butterflies’ wings were a riot of colour, each of the colours fighting to be the brightest and most vibrant, the one which stands out the most.  They were a distraction from the bright summer sky above, the clouds like young lambs leaping through the sky, forming wondrous shapes. None of them dared jump in front of the bright sun that was shining down on the earth, lighting the world up with a golden glow. To the right of the boy’s sleeping figure was a huge forest, a myriad of fluttering leaves that danced in the high boughs. By the bottom of the trunks was a slightly rotten wooden fence, one which looked like it would fall at any increase of pressure on it. It had a slight green colouring, from where mould had grown, slowly degrading the fence. Connected to the fence was a small gate, where a cobble path lead into the woods, deeper than the eye could see. The woodland had a mystical magical aura about it, as if magic was dancing off of leaves, in a silent serenade. There was one tree that stood taller than the rest, and it was making a very faint buzzing sound, which filled the forest, but apart from that the whole forest was silent and still. Just as the young boy was.

2- The Boy and The Skunk
The boy’s sleep was disturbed by a small creature stuffing its nose into his ear. The boy squeaked loudly and rolled away from the small creature that was looking him with a small amount of interest. It continued to sniff at the boy, and eventually began to tug at the clothes that hung loosely from his body.
“Who are you? I’ve never seen anyone like you in the forest before” The boy scrambled backwards from the creature as it began talking. It shuffled toward the boy as he moved away. “C’mon, tell me! Who are you? Or don’t you understand me?” The creature asked, its long, black and white tail swaying side to side. It was a small creature, with very fluffy black and white fur that covered its whole body apart from its small black eyes and nose. “I’m Selwyn” The boy looked at the creature still slightly creeped out by it.
“I-I’m Jesse,” The small boy stuttered, “Are- are you a skunk?” Selwyn bared his small needle like teeth, in an attempt at a smile. He clambered onto the boy’s lap, using his claws to cling on to the clothing as he stood on his hind legs so their noses were touching.
“Yes, have been for a little while. Whatever you are there aren’t many of you around these parts. I forgot the English word for your type, I’m surprised you’re still like that. They don’t like your type.”
“I am a boy, who doesn’t like us?” Jesse was getting slightly more confident as he looked at the skunk, he talked to his soft toys back at home all the time, and he didn’t see why this was any different.
“That doesn’t matter now. Why are you here? That is a more pressing question.”
“I am not sure, I think I was in the car with my mum, travelling to my dad’s house when the world went black and I ended up here, I can’t remember anything else about anything” Jesse explained, taking his gaze away from Selwyn to look around.  “Where am I?”
“Well, it depends on your species what you call here. To us skunks it is...” Selwyn made a noise which was probably only able to be made by a skunk’s voice box, “You can call it that if you want.” Jesse laughed, trying to replicate the noise, but it just sounded like a dying bird. Selwyn’s eyes widened, and gasped really loudly. “What did you say to me?”
“Sorry?”
“Never say that again, it is extremely rude.”
“What did I say?” The skunk didn’t reply, his face fell into a panic, he clambered onto Jesse’s shoulder. The skunk’s nose twitched as he sniffed the air while Jesse watched the skunk closely, worry sketching across his face.
“We need to get off this meadow” He muttered, his eyes scanning over the sky. The sun was slowly setting, cast the whole place into a dark shadow. “We need to go into the woods, now, before the sun touches down.” He said, jumping off the boy’s shoulder and tugged on Jesse’s trouser leg. Jesse stood up, looking down at the skunk, hesitant to move. As pretty as he saw the woodland to be, he didn’t want to go towards it, he knew getting lost wouldn’t help his chance of getting home. “C’mon!” The skunk persisted, sounding angrier as the seconds past, and the sun was lowering further and further towards the ground, much fast than Jesse had seen it before. The skunk sighed, before turning heel and pelted towards the forest, he wouldn’t risk his life to save that of the stubborn boy who wouldn’t move.  
“Selwyn!” Jesse called out, watching as Selwyn ran underneath the wooden fence. The small animal stopped to glance back at the boy, making a gesture with his paw. Jesse set off in a sprint towards Selwyn as the sun was completely hidden from the world. The moon had made itself visible, along with all of the stars, but neither Jesse nor Selwyn glanced towards them. They kept their eyes on each other, Jesse with the fear of getting lost and left behind, Selwyn with the fear of the monster of the dark attacking Jesse as he ran as fast as his legs could carry him. A loud shriek like sound sounded from behind the boy, and it took all of his focus not to look back to see what had created such an eerie noise. He stumbled through the gate, it took a few seconds for him to work out how the clasp worked, almost knocking the whole fence down in the process. The skunk let out an audible sigh, obviously ecstatic his friend had escaped without being torn to shreds.  Selwyn led the way deeper into the forest, following the cobbled path, he didn’t turn off until he reached a large ash tree. He clambered up onto the lowest branch which was at Jesse’s eye level. The two boys stood staring at each other, recovering from the sprint, before Jesse got his breath back, enough to begin talking. “What was that?” He asked, glancing back towards where they had ran from.
“The meadow is great and all, it is a great place to spend the day frolicking about in the sun. You can chase butterflies, if you walk far enough there is this most beautiful river that you can cool down in on a hot summer day but when the sun sets, it is a very dangerous place. No one is for sure what roams there, but whatever it is, it is very deadly. You’re better off staying in the safety of this forest during the night. You’re more sheltered from them, I’ve heard they can’t cross past through the gate, or over the fence because of some sort of magical curse that has trapped them to the meadow. Personally, I have never seen them, I have never been allowed. I was planning to go look at them today, which was why I was out on the meadow when I found you. But I chickened out.” He made a noise similar to a chicken, before grinning at Jesse and hopped on his shoulder. “I like this position, can I stay here?” He didn’t wait for a reply as he got himself comfy. “I am curious Jesse, why is a boy in this forest? It is very dangerous for your type to be around here.”
“I don’t know why I am here, I said that”
“Well, what can you tell me about yourself?”
“I am called Jesse, I am eleven years old, at least I think. Everything before waking up in the meadow is blurred, I just remembered hearing my mum mention my dad (I don’t know who they are, or what they look like, but they seem important) before she screamed, and the world went black.” Jesse explained, scrunching is face up as he tried to remember. The new position gave Selwyn chance to take in the whole of Jesse’s appearance. He had medium length brown hair that often fell into his smoky quartz coloured eyes, and this resulted in him flicking his head frequently to try and get the hair out of his eyes. He was wearing a plaid shirt and jeans, with scruffy looking trainers on his feet. Jesse seemed melancholy, it wasn’t hard for Selwyn to guess why. The poor boy must be so confused and lost, being so far from home and having no idea how to get home.
“I’m hungry” Selwyn decided a change of subject might be a good idea, “There is a delightful place nearby that has the best grubs to eat. Unless you don’t eat grubs. You don’t seem the type to be a fan of bugs. Oh! I know this very good berry bush, the berries aren’t poisonous or anything. And there is a river near it which we can drink from, because I don’t know about you but I could do with a drink. We could make a little den there and everything, I could sit and braid your hair and we can live together and life will be good” The skunk didn’t seem to know how to shut up, and didn’t seem to feel sad about anything. “Let’s go!” Selwyn used his paw to point in the direction in which they should go.
“I can hardly see, Selwyn, it is too dark. I didn’t eat enough carrots to help me see in the dark” Jesse said, looking at his friend,
“Wow, boys, as a species, seem completely incapable of everything. What do you mean you can’t see in the dark? What next? You are unable to smell that really putrid smell that is coming from that tree?” Selwyn asked, returning Jesse’s look. Jesse shook his head, and Selwyn gasped, almost hard enough to make him fall off of the boy’s shoulder. “You are completely incapable of everything! I knew it from the very start.” The skunk shook his head in a dramatic way, “I will have to lead you there and I’ll try and not make you walk into tree, maybe. Depends how funny it will be” Selwyn said, with a grin, and Jesse set off walking, trusting him enough to lead him without walking into anything, most of the time. It didn’t take long for the two to arrive at the place Selwyn described, it was a small clearing with a fast flowing river cutting through it. The gap in the trees allowed a stream of moonlight to lighten the expanse, meaning Jesse was able to see more clearly. There was a large rotting log which, as soon as Selwyn saw, made him jump off Jesse’s shoulder to scramble over to it. “C’mon why don’t you try some?” Selwyn turned his head to look at Jesse, his mouth stuffed to the brim with bugs. Jesse looked disgusted as Selwyn offered a bug out to him.
“No thanks” Jesse shook his head, “I’m not hungry, and they look horrible.”
“You’re the one missing out, these things are divine! Crispy and juicy at the same time, gorgeous” Selwyn grinned at the boy as he continued eating. Jesse sat down on the grass next to the skunk, looking up towards the sky. They remained in silence for a while, the sound of the river drowning out Selwyn’s eating noises.
“These are the same stars I used to see from home. It is so different here, and I do like it, but it’s just not like home and I love home.” Selwyn turned his head away from the food, and walked over to the boy, climbing onto his lap. Jesse looked at the skunk for a second before lifting his head to look at the stars again, his fingers slowly stroking over Selwyn’s head. “I miss home, I miss mum, dad. I haven’t even gone that long” A single tear fell from the boy’s butterscotch eyes, followed by another and another, until soon a steady stream of salty tears streamed down his pale cheeks. “I just want to go home Sel” Selwyn gazed at the boy for a second, before lifting his nose to gently nudge the tears away.
“I promise I’ll get you home, Jesse. I will do everything in my power to get you there, and you’ll be home in no time, I guarantee that. It’ll be an adventure, you and me against the world! How does that sound Jesse? Please don’t be sad. I hate my friends being sad. Okay, you’re the only friend I have but I hate seeing you sad. Oh shush this is the first time I have seen you sad, but I don’t like it either way. Now, cheer up, we rest here tonight, then we set off tomorrow. I think we should go to the Life Tree for answers first. Y’know that large tree over there in the middle of the woods. That is the thing that gives us all life. I love being around it, but hardly ever travel that way since it is so far. But we’ll manage, now sleep boy. We will travel in the day so you’re incapable eyes can see.”

The boys slept peacefully through the rest of the night, hidden within a large old oak tree. The base of the trunk was hollowed out, allowing them both to fit snugly inside, Jesse’s arm wrapped around the small animal. They had found different leaves to make the small but comfortable bed.
A blinding white light that was just visible through his closed eyelids shone down on Jesse, and a recognisable female voice started shouting beside his sleeping form. Jesse wanted to open his eyes, try and move towards the voice, but he seemed rooted to the spot.
“Nurse. Nurse! He moved, he might be waking up. Jessamine, my baby, Jesse, can you hear me?” Jesse tried to move, tried to move towards the soothing sound of his mother’s voice. Towards the homely comfort. But he was glued in place, while the darkness started closing in on him as he fell to sleep again.

3- Macaw
“Jesse?” A dampness nudged underneath his jaw, “Hey, Jesse, wake up, you won’t stop fidgeting. You’re ruining the whole bed. Buddy! Wake up” Selwyn nipped Jesse’s neck, startling the boy awake. He shot up into a sitting position, banging his head as he did so.
“Mum? Mummy?” Jesse rubbed the top of his head as he gazed around, sighing sadly as he noticed where he was.
“What?” Selwyn crawled away from Jesse to look at him properly, his head tilted as he watched the boy carefully, taking in his every movement.
“Mum, I heard my mum, I tried to get to her, but I couldn’t. I was frozen in place, I couldn’t move.”
“Where were you?”
“I don’t-don’t know, my eyes were closed. It was very bright though, and there was a loud beeping noise, and a whirring. You know like that large tree over there?” Jesse made a brief gesture towards where the tree would be. “Maybe it was real?” Boy sounded hopeful, closing his eyes as if trying to return to where he had heard his mum. Selwyn sighed, resting his head against Jesse,
“The sound of the tree might have snuck into your dream, it happens sometimes.” Selwyn noticed, staring intently up at Jesse. Jesse sighed again, rubbing Selwyn’s head, “We’ll get you home, you have my word. C’mon let’s get going, I know someone who might be able to help us. But it is at least a day’s travel, no time like the now.”
“Who?”
“Her name is Charmaine, she’s a witch, a friendly one though, not like those ugly ones.” Selwyn noticed, standing up and stretching out his tight joints. He wandered out of the large tree onto the grass, lifting his head to sniff the air with a strange satisfied aura. Jesse followed him, blinking in the bright morning sun, running a hand through his hair, making parts stick up on end. Selwyn grinned at his hairstyle, clambering up onto the boy’s shoulder to comb it down for him. “C’mon let’s go” He remained on Jesse’s shoulders as he began walking in the direction Selwyn told him.
As they walked, they decided to get to know each other better, or more Selwyn spoke a lot while Jesse listened. “And then Polly fell out of the tree, knocking the wasp nest so she got stung so badly she had to spend over a month at Charmaine’s!” Selwyn laughed, almost hard enough to fall off of Jesse’s shoulder who was only half listening as he walked. He smiled softly in response, lightly amused by his friend. Jesse jumped when the trees rustled above them, more harshly than when previously moved by the wind.
“Oh my God, Selwyn! How are you? It has been so long! Who is your new boy toy? What even is your new boy toy? Whatever it is, it is adorable” A loud squawk sounded from above them, again almost making Selwyn fall off of Jesse’s shoulder again. A bright red bird fluttered down on Jesse’s other shoulder, since it had a beak, Jesse didn’t know if it was smiling or not, but it wasn’t pecking his eyes out. That’s a good sign.
“Scarlett, meet Jesse the boy, Jesse meet Scarlett the parrot”
“I’m a macaw!”
“Parrot”
“Macaw”
“Guys! Shut up!” Both gave Jesse an offended look, perfectly echoing each other’s expressions.
“No.” Jesse sighed and decided to ignore their bickering as he walked.
The two animals argued for the majority of the walk towards the tree, and Jesse had no idea why Scarlett stuck around, since they seemed to want to rip each other’s head off at any given second. However, Jesse only tunes properly into the conversation when he hears his name mentioned,
“Why are you with Jesse, a human, anyway?” Scarlett asked, as if completely unaware she was still sat on the person she was gossiping about’s shoulder.
“He was on the meadow” Selwyn said, matter-of-factly, seemingly quite smug of himself. But from Scarlett’s loud squawk and ruffling of her feathers, it was easy to tell she was very unimpressed at Selwyn’s actions.
“You went on the meadow? You complete utter cloud!” She screeched, Jesse had to rub his ear from the obnoxious sound, “You know what’s there, they could kill you. You know that!”
“I’m sorry! I saw Jesse and had to go get him.”
“Why were you there in the first place?”
“I-I was, just walking that way” Scarlett shot him a dark glare around Jesse’s head, “I saved Jesse’s life”
“But you could have lost yours. You shouldn’t have risked it for him.”
“What would you have done, Scarlett? Left the poor boy to die?”
“Yes” Selwyn’s face dropped, not believing what his friend had just said,
“What?”
“He was the one that got himself there. I shouldn’t be the one to help him”
“I don’t believe you. I can’t believe you would just leave him like that. Actually. You know what, since you didn’t want to save him. Go away. Get out of here. I don’t want to look at you any longer” Scarlett studied his face for a second, digging her claws into Jesse’s shoulder, making a slight hiss.
“You care about him that much? Fine.” She stretched her wings, “He’ll be your downfall.” With that, she took off, leaving a bewildered Jesse and a seething Selwyn.
“Feather brain!” Selwyn shouted after her, baring his teeth at her disappearing into the horizon. “God, I really dislike her sometimes” He continued glaring at where she had flew away.
“Is the meadow really that dangerous?” Jesse asked quietly, not wanting to get bitten by the angry creature on his shoulder, his little teeth looked like needles, and Jesse doesn’t like needles at the best of times. “Why did Scarlett get so annoyed?” Selwyn let out a small sigh, trying to calm himself down.
“I mentioned the monster? Yeah, they get pretty angry if you’re on their turf, literally” He looked at Jesse, “They’re the ones who hate boys, humans, whatever. They would one of two things if they got their hands on you. One; they would kill you. Two; they would kill you. Oh wait, they’d just kill you. Watching the monster murder people is not something I enjoy.” Selwyn grunted angrily, before falling into silence. His tiny body was trembling with his anger at Scarlett, but neither mention her as they continue their walk towards the place where Charmaine resides.

4- Charmaine
“Selwyn!” A sleek black cat leapt gracefully down from a branch as the two approached, her whole body a deep jet black, apart from the few white speckles that sprinkled her chest. “Scarlett is pretty mad at you, she came to see me to ask me to do something that would ruin your day. Not in those words, in fact, they were said a lot ruder but you get the gist.” Charmaine’s voice was silky and chocolatey, a voice that just enveloped you in warmth, a voice that Jesse would enjoy sitting and listening to.
“Why is she mad? What does she have against Jesse?” Selwyn asked, and Jesse realised it would be a conversation that he wouldn’t be able to speak in again.
“She thinks Jesse is your ‘boy toy’ as she put it.”
“But he isn’t. And why does she care so much whether or not he is?”
“You don’t know?”
“Don’t know what, Charmaine? Tell me.” Selwyn was glaring darkly down at the cat, who sat calmly with her long black tail delicately draped over her paws.
“Scarlett likes you. She always has.” She replied, almost uncaringly.
“What? Ew. She is a parrot, and I am a skunk, how would that work?”
“Macaw” Jesse jumped in, receiving a death look from Selwyn, “She’s a macaw.”
“Shut up. It doesn’t matter, she and I would never work. Ew.” Charmaine glanced between the boy and the skunk, a grin growing on her face. “What? I would much rather be human than be with her.”
“Would you?”
“Yes.”
“Well, I can grant that for you.”
“What?” Charmaine vanished into a hole in her tree for a second before reappearing with a drink that she placed on the floor for Selwyn to drink. He wrinkled his nose at the repugnant smell that emitted from the dark green drink.
“Drink.” Charmaine demanded, nodding to the drink.
“Why?”
“You’d rather be human than be with her. Let’s see if that is really true.” Selwyn squinted at her for a couple seconds before hopping off of Jesse’s shoulder and marched over to the drink. He lapped the liquid quickly, wincing at the flavour and burn as it went down his throat.
“There, happy?” He asked, shoving the now empty bowl away from him with his paw and headed back over to sit on Jesse.
“I wouldn’t be sat on his shoulder in the next hour or so, if I were you. The results might be slightly damaging.” Charmaine winked at the two, “Bye boys.” She said, and with a wave of her tail, she hopped back into the tree. Selwyn scowled at her tree, his claws digging into Jesse’s shoulder, who just ignores the pain to look questioningly at Selwyn.
“Where now, Sel?” Jesse asked, and the skunk shrugged
“Charmaine, wait! We need to ask you how to get Jesse home.” But the cat didn’t return, or reply, making Selwyn curse angrily at her tree, “C’mon, Jesse. We didn’t need her anyway.” The boys walked in silence for a while, Jesse occasionally glancing over at Selwyn in concern.
“Sel..?”
“What?”
“The drink Charmaine gave you, will it turn you human?”
“Probably not. Charmaine claims to be a good witch, but I don’t think she is. Well, at least she has never proved herself to be, she just wanted to scare me into being with Scarlett. She and Scarlett do go back a long while.”
“Why human?”
“I told you, being human is deadly around here. The monster hates you.”
“Oh.” The two remain silent as they continued walking, Selwyn didn’t mention where they were going, but he occasionally nudged at Jesse to make him turn a certain way. The silence wasn’t awkward, but it wasn’t comfortable, either. It was heavy, weighing down on each of the boys, both of them wanting to talk and break it, but not knowing how they could. All of a sudden, Jesse yelped and went crashing to the floor.
“Jesse?” Selwyn had managed to jump off the boy’s shoulder before he was squished by the young boy’s body. He nudged at the unconscious boy’s cheek with his nose, “Jesse? Jesse?” There was no response as Selwyn continued pushing at Jesse’s shoulder trying to wake him up.
Jessamin was hurting all over, his eyelids too heavy for him to lift. The bright white he could see behind his lids was the same as what he saw when he was sleeping previously, but this time it felt like his chest was on fire. He was writhing, able to move this time, but it was painful. Each twitch was like a stab with a burning blade. He felt like he was in the same place as he was before, it had the same sterilised smell, same bright whiteness. However, this time there was no sound apart from the occasional beep of a machine.
“Please wake up.” Selwyn had shoved his way underneath Jesse’s arm to nudge at his face, licking under his jaw. Selwyn sighed, laying down next to him, confident that Jesse was still breathing and alive but he was tensed up, his face scrunched up in what looked like pain. Selwyn tucked himself more into Jesse’s neck, closing his eyes but keeping as perked as he could be aware of danger if any came. Or at least he tried.

5- Running
Jesse woke up to a tuft of brown hair under his nose, which shifted as soon as Jesse had moved.
“Jesse! Thank God! I thought you were dead!” The owner of the brown hair sat up, dragging Jesse up with him. Jesse stared at the boy for a few minutes, completely confused as to who it was.
“Who..?”
“What? It’s Selwyn, your best friend. Why don’t you recognise me?”
“Selwyn is a skunk. You’re not a skunk.”
“Yes I am, aren’t I?” Selwyn glanced down towards what were his paws but instead furless hands with imposable thumbs looked back up at him. “WHAT THE HELL?” He screamed, making Jesse jump back in shock, wincing at the pain that jolted through his body. However Selwyn paid no attention to him as he felt over his face. “Jesse? Jesse I don’t understand! How..? Why..?”
“Charmaine” Jesse muttered as he stood up, again being completely ignored by Selwyn.
“It must have been that cat with her stupid rotten rat soup! I’m going to kill her!” He paced back and forth, anger radiating off of him. Jesse walked over to him, putting his hands on to Selwyn’s arms to stop him, they stared at each other for a second in silence.
“I’m sorry this happened to you, Sel,” Jesse said, his eyes flicking over the boy’s face. He still had the dark brown eyes, and in his hair was a single white stripe, akin to the one that used to be on his muzzle. Selwyn sighed audibly, shrugging Jesse’s hands off of him.
“Brought it on myself. Now, let’s continue walking. I think the next place to search for a way to get you home would be the Tree. It is said to be able to grant wishes. Like the Wizard of Oz but with a brown, leafy road and it’s a tree not a wizard, or whatever.” Selwyn grabbed Jesse’s hand and pulled him in the direction of the one Tree that towered above them all.
“You know about the Wizard of Oz?”
“Of course I do. It is a classic. A little dog gets caught in a tornado, and is transported to somewhere she says is ‘somewhere over the rainbow’ and on the way she meets a scarecrow, a tin-dog and a lion. The wizard himself is a cat like Charmaine. I have a feeling that all cats are magic.”
“Wait. Dorothy is human, she has a dog called Toto. And it is a tin-man, not a tin-dog. Oz was human too.”
“I don’t know what version you were reading, but it sounds terrible.” At the offended look on Jesse’s face, Selwyn laughed, reaching over to tap his cheek gently with his hand. “Having legs this long is so strange. I feel like a fawn. Does it always feel like this?”
“I don’t know, no? You’ll probably get used to it.”
“I don’t want to get used to it. I’m a skunk, not human.”
“You’re human now.”
“This potion should wear off by midnight. That’s what it says in the stories, isn’t it? So we’ll wait until then. I hope it does wear off though.”
“Why?”
“I’ve already told you that being human here is a death wish. If you leave and I am left here alone as a human I am dead meat.”
“Come with me, then.”
“What?”
“Come home with me. I’m sure mum would let you stay with us.”
“Really?”
“Yeah! It’d be like having a sleep-over every night! It’d be awesome.” Selwyn remained silent for a little while, staring at Jesse while they walked, trying to weigh out the positive and negatives to Jesse’s suggestion. Jesse kept his gaze forward, pointedly not wanting to look at the boy next to him.
“Okay.” Selwyn said, he had been lonely before he found Jesse, his only friend being Scarlett. But he was still angry at her for what she had said about Jesse, and he felt protective of Jesse, since he had already saved his life once. “Only if I remain human after midnight though. I don’t think your mum would like you to keep a skunk in your room.”
“True. C’mon, let’s go.” Jesse grinned at him, squeezed his hand. With a single tug he got him into a sprint. Leaping over roots and rocks, they ran through the forest, Selwyn’s laugh echoing through the branches.
“Skunk legs couldn’t do this very well.” Selwyn noticed loudly, stumbling often as he tripped over his own feet or the odd root. “Too short.” Jesse snorted a laugh as a reply, keeping his eyes on the path below so he didn’t fall and injure Selwyn in the process. Selwyn felt the pound of his heart in his chest, beating hard enough it felt like it would burst out of his chest. He felt the pleasant ache in his legs as they collided with the floor with every step. He felt Jesse’s slightly clammy hand in his, gripping tightly for dear life. He felt the cool breeze ruffling his hair. But most of all, he felt like he was on top of the world.

6- Shadow

They slowed to a steady walk once they couldn’t continue with a run, breathlessly laughing, gripping onto each other’s shoulders so they didn’t fall.
“I’m pumped now. Let’s do it again!”
“No! No we are not doing it again Sel!”
“Why?”
“I feel like my legs are going to drop right off.”
“They’re not going to fall off are they? Do human legs grow back?” The traumatised look on Selwyn’s face made Jesse explode into an even harder laugh, clutching his side as it burned at the effort. He sat down on a nearby stump to calm himself, brushing the tears that ran down his cheeks away.
“I don’t want you to get left behind.” Jesse said, once he had caught his breath. Selwyn sat on the stump beside him, watching Jesse intently and curiously as Jesse looked deeper into the forest where they were heading. “I’ll be lonely without you.”
“It isn’t that bad here,” Selwyn started to ramble, “But yeah it does get lonely, I haven’t met another skunk here before, everyone seems to be a different animal, I like the diversity of it all. My only friend was Scarlett, but she wasn’t much of a friend, even before she was unkind towards you. And-“
“Sel.” Jesse tried to interrupt the ramblings with no succession.
“I do like spending time with you. You’re the best friend I’ve ever had.”
“Sel!”
“What?”
“Do you know them?” Jesse nodded to a shadow that was moving slightly deeper in the forest. It drifted in the slight distance like a piece of the night, like someone had cut carefully around it and peeled it away, leaving only blackness behind. Selwyn looked up and fear crossed over his face. He grabbed Jesse’s hand and dragged him out of the opening, into the cover of a bush.
“Don’t let it hear you.” He whispered into Jesse’s ear. He got a nod in a reply as they remained squatted in the small bush, Selwyn intended staring out of the bush in the direction of where the shadows moved slowly through the woods.
“What is it?”
“Not meant to be here.”
“What?”
“They’re meant to be at the meadow! How did they get so far into the forest?” He asked, running his hand over his face as he moved back, deeper into the bush, pulling Jesse with him.
“What should we do?”
“Wait until they’ve gone. We’re both human, it is a terrible idea for us to be seen. It’ll rip us to shreds, it’ll be suicide.” Jesse slowly nodded, not daring to talk. He was tempted to hold his breath to make himself even more silent but he was unsure how long the monster would be near them, and he didn’t want to pass out from lack of air.
The boys sat huddled together, they were unsure for how long, but to the two of them it felt like hours. It took a while for Selwyn to pluck up the courage to look out of the bush to check if the creature was still there. He approached the small gap, his eyes wide with fear as if he was trying to win a staring competition with a statue. He looked ready to bolt at any second, but his audible sigh sent a gust of reassurance over Jesse as he watched Selwyn’s every move from his seat on the hard soil. Selwyn climbed out of their leafy bield, stretching out his sore limbs as soon as he was out in the clearing. Jesse crawled out after him, Selwyn helping pull him to his feet.
“What does the monster look like?” Jesse asked, brushing the mud dust off of him. Selwyn replied with a clumsy shrug,
“I’m not completely sure, I’ve never seen it myself. I’ve heard it doesn’t have a particular form though. It takes shape of what you fear most. But it is only a shadow of it. Like a projection image. It can’t physically hurt you in that form, but it can and will tear you apart mentally. It plays tricks with you. I’ve heard it being described as the Darkness before the world was created. The Creator had to put the Darkness somewhere, so They condensed it into a singular being. It was meant to be kept contained in the meadow.” Selwyn explained, and started walking without waiting for Jesse to catch up. “Let’s find somewhere to get water and food. I don’t know about you but I’m starvin’!”

7- Scarlett, Part 2
The boys walked side-by-side, their hands brushing occasionally. The afternoon was sunny, but the gentle breeze that ruffled the leaves cooled the forest nicely, making it a day Jesse would count as a pleasant. The breeze brought the crisp smell of plants, a calming overwhelming aroma, it made the world seem dangerously and free. Apart from the rustling of the trees and tweet of birds, the only sound Jesse heard was Selwyn’s carefree, amiable humming. He had an odd spring in his step as he walked in time with whatever song was repeating itself in head. Noticing Jesse’s staring, Selwyn flashed him a bright grin, nudging his elbow into Jesse’s side.
“Hey, Selwyn?” Selwyn gave a nod to show he was listening, “Where are we going?”
“I told you, weren’t you listening? We’re going to the tree.”
“Why?”
“If there is any way to get you home, it is there.”
“I- erm, thanks. Sel. Really.”
“Don’t thank me yet. You’re not home just yet.”
“Selwyn!” A new voice, a new angry voice, was added to their conversation. Scarlett leapt out of the tree, grabbing the scruff of his t-shirt. “This is all your fault!”
Scarlett was no longer a parrot, or macaw as she constantly reminded the boys, she had nutmeg coloured skin, large brown eyes which were blazed with anger, and hair that stood out wider than her petite body.
“You drank that stupid potion didn’t you? You are such an idiot!”
“Scarlett..?”
“Shut up, Selwyn! Charmaine said you wouldn’t drink it! She said you’d rather stay skunk.” Scarlett made an over exaggerated sigh, shoving him away from herself, in disgust. She growled at him, and looking him up and down like he was a meat punching bag. Jesse stepped forward, ready to help Selwyn if he got himself into trouble.
“How are you human?”
“Same way you, nitwit!”
“You drank the potion? Why?”
“Why did you drink it?”
“Charmaine made me.”
“She gave you a choice.”
“And I chose the best out of a bad bunch.”
“Why you little-“
“Guys!” The two had got up into each other’s face as they snarled at each other, Jesse shoved his way between them before there was blood shed. They both took a deep breath, taking a step back from each other, Selwyn walking further away from them. “Why did this potion turn you both human?”
Scarlett is the one who replied, looking as like she would if she still had feathers to ruffle in her annoyance, “Because Charmaine is a better which than a lot of people would give her credit for. She has a few tricks up her sleeve, or in her fur, whatever. She told me that the potion would get Selwyn and is what we wanted. Turns out we want completely different things.”
“What does Selwyn want? What did you want?” Jesse asked, his eyes flicking over Scarlett’s face before moving over to look at Selwyn, or more his bare feet. He was thankful to say that Sel had gotten clothes during his transformation, if they were only old ratty things that would have been refused in a charity shop. But, strangely he handed got any shoes or socks. Not that Selwyn seemed to mind. Jesse guessed he would just get angry at them.
“I wanted to be with Selwyn. You can see how well that turned out. And if you want to know what Selwyn wants, ask the stupid skunk yourself, not all of us want to go out of our way to make your life easy and kiss your feet.” Scarlett hissed at him, flicking her hair into Jesse’s face before turning away from him. “No point me sticking with you and your boy toy, Selwyn. I’m going to see Charmaine to see if she can me out of this mess.” She walked away from Jesse, throwing a glare at Selwyn as she passed, and headed in the direction the boys had come from.

8- The Stream
“Well, she just seems to get more charming every time I see her.” Jesse noticed, “She used to be your friend?” Selwyn gave a small snort as he approached the other boy’s side. He ran a hand through his hair, smirking darkly.
“She was my best friend. We spent most of our time together. She was… okay company, I guess. She was the best I could get, for some reason, skunks get avoided. It’s probably our ability to spray. I don’t think I’ve ever sprayed anyone on purpose. It’s mostly accidents. I do think I’ve found myself a better friend now though.” Selwyn, who stared at the ground while he spoke, noticed, and he cleared his throat before looking up at Jesse with a smile. “I’m no less hungry then I was before Scarlett joined us. There is a small river not far away, we can rest there and find something to eat.”
The two walk in a silence, neither really wanting to break the peace and security it brought. They kept their shoulders and hands close together, often nudging against each other in playful tip tapping. They reached the water not long after their encounter with Scarlett, both happily scooping water into their hands and slurping it down noisily.
“Wait, is this water safe to drink?” Jesse asked, wiping the remnants of dribble from his chin. Selwyn tilted his head slightly as he gazed down at the water.
“Should be, or at least I hope so. I have drank this water for my whole life, or at least water from the same source. It hasn’t done me any lasting damage to me has it?”
“Well…”
“Actually, shut up.” Jesse laughed, receiving a sharp nudge in the shoulder, hard enough to knock him into the water.
“Sel!” A large splash of water flew over and hit Selwyn in his chest, before grabbing the front of his shirt and pulled him into the water.  
“Jesse! I don’t know how to swim!” Selwyn complained as he flailed around in the water for a second while Jesse laughed at him.
“It isn’t deep, Selwyn, don’t worry.” Jesse said as he stood up, the water only coming up to his shins. He laughed more as Selwyn stopped thrashing and his lips formed a silent ‘o’. He sat up properly to look at his sodden clothing and scowled up at Jesse, who offered his hand down to help him up. “I think I see bushes over there with edible food. Let’s go check it out.” Jesse noticed, stepping out of the water, wincing as his shoes made an obnoxious squelching noise. He swiftly took them off with his socks and held them in one hand as he and Selwyn walked over to the fruit.
“Blueberries!” Selwyn grinned brightly and picked up his pace, and already had a mouthful of berries as Jesse reached his side.
“Y’sure they’re blueberries?” Jesse asked, spying the fruit wearily. He’d always been taught to not eat wild food unless he knew for certain what it is. The berries in front of him did look a lot like blueberries, and by the way Selwyn was stuffing them into his face, (he wasn’t hitting his mouth very well) they must have tasted okay. Jesse knew he hadn’t eating in quite a while, the angry grumble of his stomach helped prove that, and he was hungry. He picked one of the berries careful observing it before placing it in his mouth and crushed it with his tongue. The distinctive flavour flowed over his tongue, just as a headache stabbed him in his skull. He fell to the ground like a sack of potatoes, his back roughly hitting the ground.
“Please, Doctor. Give him a couple more days. He might have a chance to wake up.”
“I’m sorry, Ms. You know the rules, if you can’t afford for the life-machine it has to be turned off.”
“Please. I’m begging you.”
A loud sigh, “Fine one more week.”
“Jesse?!” A fruit covered face peered down at Jesse as his eyes open, groaning as he sat up. “You seriously need to stop doing that. You’ll give me a heart attack.”
“I don’t do it on purpose.” Jesse growled at him, but sighed and apologised as he rubbed his temple and saw the sorrow cross Selwyn’s face.
“What even happens?” Selwyn asked, settling on the floor next to Jesse, handing him a handful of berries to eat. Jesse thanked him and placed a berry in his mouth before he began talking.
“It’s like my eyes are closed while I’m there. I can still see light, or at least levels of brightness, but that’s it. It’s mostly bright there.” He didn’t know where there was exactly, but he knew it wasn’t a place he had been before. “I hear voices, but it is mainly one talking, one that sounds a lot like my mother used to. It could be my mother, for all I know, but they’re painful.” Jesse explained, pausing a couple times to chew slowly on berries. He ran a hand swiftly through his hair, making it stand up awkwardly in places.
“So you’re like transported another place?”
“In a way, yeah.” Selwyn smiled kindly, reaching over to fix Jesse’s hair back in place as while the other boy sat and munched slowly on the fruit. They smiled at each other before standing up to start walking again.

It was early evening when the boys arrived at the tree. The loud buzzing whirred around them as they stared up at the giant tree in front of them, instinctively stepping slightly closer to each other.
“That is one large tree.”
“I’ve heard it is over a thousand years old. Apparently it can grant wishes, so we’re going to test that theory today. We shall wish to get home.”
“We?”
“Yeah, I wanna go with you. There isn’t particularly much for me here. So, I wanna see how the other side lives.”
“You’re making it sound as if I am dead.” Selwyn shrugged slightly, but grabbed Jesse’s hand as they approached the tree, “So what do we do now?”
“We’re meant to put our hands on the bark, then make your wish. Something like; ‘I wish to go home’. Let’s hope this works.” They placed their hands against the trunk of the tree, surprised at the warmth that radiated from it, like the warmth felt when a battery has been used for a long time. The tree felt solid and strong beneath them, seemingly buzzing with life. Both boys squeezed their eyes shut as they made their wishes, the words utter exactly the same but with awfully different meanings. They both opened their eyes and turned to each other, after a couple of seconds, confused as to why nothing had happened. Until Jesse started fading.
“Jesse? What’s happening to you?” Selwyn reached out to grab Jesse, staring wide-eyed in fear. Jesse glanced down at his hand, the flesh and bone dissolving into the air, as if each particle was being blown away by the gentle breeze. “Jesse! I thought I was meant to go with you! Don’t go without me. Please?” Selwyn tried to reach out to grab his friend, but his small paw-like hands went straight through him like something had rubbed out the boy with an invisible eraser. Jesse tried to speak, to calm Selwyn, but no words of reassurance were able to be spoken, no words were. He just kept fading and fading, until, eventually, there was nothing were he had stood, just an empty space of air and a memory engraved into the mind of the young boy stood helpless.
A loud startling crash brought Selwyn out of his mourning stupor. He lifted his clouded gaze towards the trees as a large monstrous creature bounded out of it, heading directly towards him.  The shape was undisguisable, the contour constantly shifting, not settling on one particular shape. Selwyn stared at the creature for a second before he came to his senses enough to stumble towards the tree and began climbing up it, scrambling to a branch that was suitable to sit on without it breaking. The shadow creature paced at the bottom of the tree, what Selwyn supposed was its head staring up towards him.
“Selwyn.” The creature called up to him. “Selwyn!” It called again, dragging each syllable, the word echoing through the branches of the trees in an eerie ghost like sound.
“What do you want? You’re supposed to be in the meadow.”
“I want to help you, Selwyn.” Each word said was slow and deliberate, like the creature was worried of pronouncing a word wrong.
“Why? You hate humans like me.” The monster’s laugh was like black treacle. It was dark and tar like, the flavour strong and unpleasant.
“The creatures of the forest do like to make up rumours about me. I don’t hate humans, just I have a severe disliking of them. Not you though. I like you more than other humans. I want to help you, Selwyn.”
“Why?” The creature had stopped its pacing now, and had settled into a sat position, even if its body around it kept moving and shifting. Its non-existent eyes glued onto where Selwyn was sat.
“I like you, you’re amusing.” The monster said, the nonchalant shrug easily evident in his voice. “Now come down here, so I can help.” Selwyn eyed the creature warily for a second before sighing and heading down towards him. What did he really have to lose?

10- The White Room

“Jessamin, my baby. Oh thank God!” As Jesse’s eyes adjusted to the bright white, a body collided with his, one that was warm and smelt like home.
“Mum?” He mumbled, the grip around him softening slightly. “Where is Selwyn?”
“Who’s Selwyn, dear?”
“He was a skunk but then turned into a human. He’s my best friend now. Why don’t you know where he is?”
“We don’t know a Selwyn, Jessamin honey.” Jesse pulled away from his mother’s sloth grip, not looking at her to study the room fully. The room was like a sanitised prison cell, no colour apart from the cream that coated the walls, and Jesse realised why people brought flowers to patients, they gave life to the otherwise dead looking room. The bed the boy laid in sat low to the ground, the frame baring the signs of rust and the mattress worryingly thin. His mother was perched on a plastic looking chair, the bag she carried everywhere was placed at her sandled feet. Opposite her, the heart monitor beeped in its slow, monotone tune, a background noise the two didn’t pay any attention to.
“But Selwyn promised-“
“There is no Selwyn honey.” The young boy’s face scrunched up, water billowing up in his eyes, and in no time at all, he was crying. His crying was both ferocious and noisy. He blinked briny tears from bloodshot eyes, his thick lashes stuck together in clumps like he believed they were when he went swimming with Selwyn. The tears made wet tracks down his face and dripped from his wobbling chin. Clear watery snot streaked from his flaring nostrils down his red mottled skin to his open quivering lips. His hands open and closed, rhythmically clenching at his mother’s old jumper. His mother tightened her grip around Jesse, bringing him closer into her body to shield him from the world, her heart slowly breaking into pieces at what appeared to be her son’s world crumbling into pieces around him. “Shh, baby, it’s okay.” Jesse knew it wouldn’t be okay. How could it be when his best friend was trapped, in a place he had no idea where it was? The monster could have reached him, who knew what would happen with Selwyn alone, no one there to help him.

11- Boss' Office

-15 years later-
Jessamin grew up. Everyone does, there’s no avoiding it. It’s how the world is, how it has always been. But this little boy never forgot his skunk. Friends came and went, as did school, and university. He got a job, a mortgage even a dog; a border collie named Selena.
Jessamin was fearful when he was called to his boss’ office that morning. As he stepped into the lift, he ran the last week through his head, trying to work out what it is he has done to be called into the office. He distinctly remembers turning in all his paperwork early, and he hasn’t been late at all this week. Maybe it was because he spilt coffee on the hallway floor, he did try to clean it up. Jesse’s head was still buzzing as he knocked on the door, a throaty ‘Come in’ sounded from the other side. The office was painted grey, and it had only one floor-to-ceiling window, which faced the main road. In a corner, the air conditioner was blasting at medium, and there was a swivel chair in the middle of the office. A bookshelf, bursting with books, most of them looking unread, was in a corner, with stack of papers under a paperweight that was shaped to look like a tuft of grass. A few pens were lying on the papers, but some had fallen onto the top of the bookshelf.
“Manning! Good, c’mere.”  The bulky old man sat swinging side to side on his chair, his face cracked into a huge grin. “C’mon, idjit. Chop chop. Sit yaself dann. I need ya t’meet the new guy.” Jesse lowered into one of the two chairs in front of the boss’ desk. The mahogany desk was covered in stacks of paperwork, an old battered laptop, tiny pieces of American memorabilia and pictures of who Jesse supposed was the boss’ family. The chair next to him was occupied by a men with pitch black hair which strangely had a white stripe going down the centre of it. He seemed to be buzzing with an excitable energy, a small smile plastered on his face. “Manning, this is your new assistant.” The young man turned to Jesse and held out his hand to introduce himself, and grin on his face so familiar to Jesse it was painful. He still had the constellations of freckles scattering his button nose and dark brown eyes that just glowed with happiness as he looked directly into Jesse’s eyes. He wore a green checked shirt with a messily tied green tie, and dark slacks.
“Hi! I’m Sel Wilkinson. I am very happy to be your assistant and I can’t wait to work under you! And can I say that jumper is very fetching.” He still spoke in the same rapid fire voice.
”Selwyn?” Jessamin hesitantly took the offered hand and shook it.
“You know my full first name? Oh that is so cool!” Jessamin stared at Selwyn confused, how come he didn’t remember him? Fifteen years is a long time though, Jesse regards. He had begun to doubt Selwyn’s existence, but seeing him here, alive and very much grinning, he didn’t doubt anymore. So what if Selwyn didn’t remember their times? Jesse had his best friend back. He wouldn’t let that opportunity go for the world.
“Hey, Sel, what do you think about skunks?"