"Mom..."
"I'm going out to play."
A seven-year-old boy said to his mother and hurried out of the room.
From the kitchen, his mother's voice called out, "Wait a minute—" but by then, the boy was already gone.
She ran outside. When she got there, she saw her son had already gone quite far.
Raising her voice, she shouted, "Alright, go on then! But come back before it gets dark, and no mischief, understand?"
"Okay!" the boy shouted back from a distance, waving his hand. "I'll be back soon!"
Standing in front of the house, the boy's mother had no choice but to watch him walk away.
"You naughty boy," she said softly, her voice filled with affection.
Then she went back inside and returned to her work.
Meanwhile, the boy reached his friends to play. The place was a bridge that crossed the river running through the village.
"Arthur, why are you so late again!" said one of his friends waiting there.
"Sorry, Miles," Arthur apologized to his friend for being late.
"Saying sorry isn't enough. You're late every day," Miles said angrily.
Miles was truly upset.
"Sorry, Miles. Please forgive me. I won't be late again," Arthur said.
"No. We've been waiting for you for an hour," Miles scolded him.
"Let it go, Miles," came a gentle voice from behind him. "He said it was a mistake. Just forgive him."
A pretty little girl stepped forward from behind Miles.
"Thanks, Clara," Arthur said to her.
"Hush…" Clara told Arthur. "You know, we've been waiting for so long, and there was no sign of you. Didn't I tell you we were going somewhere new today?"
"Sorry…" Arthur apologized to Clara.
Arthur's face looked close to tears. "I said sorry, didn't I? I was just a little late," he said to Miles.
"Quiet," Miles snapped at him.
Arthur pressed his finger to his lips and fell silent.
"Let it go, Miles. Why are you fighting over such a small thing? We're already late, and you're making us even later," Clara said, trying to calm him down.
Hearing that, Miles went quiet and said, "Alright, I won't argue anymore."
Once Miles's anger faded, Arthur took his finger away from his lips and grinned.
"Stop grinning," Miles told him.
Arthur quickly said, "Sorry."
He stopped smiling. A faint smile appeared on Miles's face, and there was a hint of affection in his eyes for Arthur.
"So, where are we going today?" Miles asked Clara and Arthur.
As soon as he asked, Arthur said eagerly, "The forest of the Black Hills in the north!"
Hearing the name, Miles's face turned pale. "Absolutely not," he said.
"Why…?" Clara asked in a long, disappointed tone.
Miles replied, "Because I've heard there's a 'Grimor' in the forest of the Black Hills. So, definitely not. Besides, it's really far away. We're still kids—it's not safe for us to go there alone."
Hearing that, both Clara and Arthur looked disappointed.
"Please…" Clara said, making a cute face at Miles. After a moment, she brought her hand to her mouth and teased, "You're scared, aren't you? What if the Grimor suddenly appears in front of you?"
"Not at all! Who said I'm scared of the Grimor!?" Miles replied in a shaky voice.
But no matter what he said, Miles was still just a kid. Even if he tried to act brave, deep down, he really didn't want to go.
"Oh, I see," Clara said sarcastically.
"Then why don't you want to go? No one from our village has ever seen a Grimor with their own eyes. We don't even know if it's real," Arthur said from the side.
Even after hearing them, Miles said, "Still, we're not going."
When he looked at their faces after saying that, he saw their eyes starting to well up. He felt as if the light from their sad little faces might blind him. They looked so cute and helpless that Miles couldn't say no.
"Alright, we'll go—but on one condition," Miles said, letting out a big sigh.
At once, their sad faces lit up with excitement.
"Yahoo!" they shouted, jumping up. "What's the condition?"
"The condition is—we'll go, but we won't go inside the forest. We'll just walk around the edge and come back," Miles said firmly.
Clara and Arthur both agreed, saying, "Okay."
A faint mix of disappointment and joy showed on Miles's face—disappointment at giving in, but happiness for Clara and Arthur. The three of them began walking toward their destination.
On both sides of the road, fields of ripened brown wheat glowed under the warm afternoon sunlight coming from the southwest. The whole village shimmered in shades of green forest and golden-brown fields, making the scenery even more beautiful.
It was mid-March, the end of spring. Summer was only a few days away, and it was time to harvest the brown wheat from the fields.
The forest of the Black Hills in the north was still about two kilometers away. There were roughly five hours of daylight left.
In the bright sunlight, the white snow on the northern mountain peaks glittered as if Mother Nature herself were wearing a crown of ice.
Miles, Arthur, Clara, and a little puppy named Tim walked along the road, talking and laughing as they headed toward the northern forest.
After about half an hour, they reached the edge of the forest of the Black Hills.
There, they met an old man who had gone into the forest to collect medicinal herbs.
"Children, what are you doing here in front of this forest? Where are your parents? Don't you know there's a Grimor in there?" the old man asked Miles, Arthur, and Clara.
"We came here to explore. We're not afraid of the Grimor! If it comes near us, we'll punch it away," Clara said with innocent confidence.
The old man chuckled and said, "Alright then… but stay outside. Don't go inside the forest."
"Grandpa, have you ever seen the Grimor with your own eyes?" Clara asked curiously.
"No… but the Grimor is real," the old man replied.
After talking for a while longer, the old man left with his bundle of medicinal herbs.
Arthur turned to Clara and asked, "Should we go inside?"
The question reached Miles's ears, and he immediately shouted, "Absolutely not!"
But ignoring him completely, Arthur and Clara both stepped into the forest. With no other choice, Miles had to follow them.
Miles had a naturally protective nature. Since he was the oldest among them, he felt responsible for the others. Though he was only ten, he was quite smart for his age.
Arthur, on the other hand, was quiet and a bit naive, while Clara was his complete opposite—restless and full of energy.
The three of them kept walking deeper into the forest. From behind, Miles kept calling out for them to stop.
"Arthur, Clara, please stop! Don't go any further. We should go home now—our parents will be worried," Miles pleaded.
"Chill…" Clara replied.
"Why are you so worried?" Arthur asked him, then added, "If you don't want to go, you can head back. But we're not turning around."
Hearing that, Miles couldn't say a word. He was tired and frustrated. After walking a bit more, they reached a clearing.
As they stepped forward, a strange flash of light caught Miles's eye through the trees—it was so bright it nearly blinded him.
His tired, pale face suddenly lit up with wonder. When he stepped out from behind the trees and looked clearly, the sight before him was breathtaking.
There was a large natural pond, its crystal-clear water sparkling in the sunlight. Around its edge grew countless flowering plants, and the forest beyond was filled with fruit trees.
The whole place seemed enchanted. Sunlight glinted off water droplets on petals and leaves like scattered diamonds. Bees and butterflies hovered over the blossoms.
Birds splashed joyfully in the pond, while fish leapt from the water. A flock of swans glided across the surface, and other animals came to drink from the edge.
Butterflies fluttered through the air; sparrows chirped from nearby branches. And above this magical scene, right in the middle of it all, shimmered a magnificent rainbow, woven like threads of light and color.
Seeing such a wondrous sight, Miles's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Isn't it beautiful? This is the place, right?" Arthur asked Miles with a bright smile.
Miles was speechless, still staring at the magical scene before him. He had never seen anything like it in his life.
"I told you I'd bring you somewhere you've never seen before," Arthur said proudly.
After a long silence, Miles finally said, "I can't believe such a beautiful place exists here, and I never knew about it!"
"Oh, I didn't know either," Arthur replied quickly. "My father brought me here a few months ago."
"Tell me the truth, Clara—did you know about this all along?" Miles asked, then added, "Is that why you were so eager to come here?"
"Oh no, really, I didn't know anything. Arthur never told me about it," Clara replied. "He just said he'd take us to a beautiful place. And it really is—this place is so lovely. We should come here often."
"Hmm…" Arthur hummed, looking quite pleased with himself for showing his friends such a wonderful spot.
Miles smiled and said, "It really is beautiful."
The three of them spent a long time there—picking fruit from the trees, eating until they were full, and playing together by the water. Clara gathered flowers and made a garland, placing it on her head.
After a while, as the sun began to set, they decided it was time to go home. They promised each other that they'd come back again whenever they could.
"Woof! Woof!"
Just as they were about to head back, their little puppy Tim suddenly began barking loudly. Clara tried to quiet him down, but he wouldn't stop.
Then, all at once, the animals around them began to run—scattering in every direction, as if something dangerous was coming their way. The air grew heavy, and the peaceful atmosphere turned tense.
"What's happening? Why does it feel like this? My body feels so heavy. I can't move my legs… Why do I feel so scared? I can't move because of this fear," Miles thought to himself, panic rising in his chest.
His eyes widened, sweat ran down his face, and his legs began to tremble. He quickly grabbed Clara and Arthur's hands tightly.
Meanwhile, little Tim kept barking furiously, facing a thick bush in the forest.
It's said that animals can sense danger before humans do—and Tim seemed to know something terrible was near.
He barked again and again at the bush, wanting to move closer but unable to. Then, suddenly, Tim turned and bolted backward.
Clara rushed to catch him, but at that very moment, a huge shadow leapt out from behind the bushes—straight toward the three of them.
Their screams echoed through the forest.