7

I browsed a few more shops, before stopping to rest for a bit. I sat down on a long bench at a worn but sturdy, wooden table. Others were at this table as well, relaxing, eating, multiple conversations going on. I meant to keep to myself and quietly eat the loaf of bread, but almost as soon as I took a seat, I was invited into the conversation. The topic was switched to me, the people excited to be speaking with someone from elsewhere. The question of where I had come from frightened me. My answer could dissolve my lie of being a traveler. I was as honest as I could be. I said I had come from just outside the start of the forest, and in regards to my life in this world, that is true. A look of mild concern appeared on their faces. “You don’t often get into altercations with the beings there?”, “Isn’t the forest dangerous?”, “You aren’t scared?” These questions sent a wave of relief and fear over me. What I had experienced in the forest was considered normal and expected of the place to these people, when I had felt it to be completely unknown and fearsome. I did not feel safer, but comforted. These questions made me uneasy because my answers could reveal my true identity.