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Disclaimer: This story is a work of fiction created for entertainment and reading purposes. The characters, events, places, and situations depicted are fictional unless otherwise stated, and any resemblance to actual people, living or deceased, or real events or places is purely coincidental. The story may contain fictional situations, themes, or material that may not be suitable for every reader. Some images accompanying this story may be generated using Google Gemini and may be fictional, stylized, or interpretive and may not accurately represent real people, places, objects, or events.

On the other side, where Lakah was hiding, he panicked when he saw the rabbit getting inside. He prayed to God in the hope that it would go away. Somehow, God heard his voice.

A hand penetrated the bush, grabbed the rabbit by the ear, and pulled it out.

“Ehhee… asking God for help is this easy?” Lakah thought to himself, dumbfounded by what had just happened, and he fainted inside the bush.

But at the other end, it was Verra whose hand had grabbed the rabbit and pulled it out of the bush. He held the rabbit’s leg tightly to prevent it from escaping. The pressure he put on the rabbit’s leg made it numb and unable to run.

Verra, who was holding the rabbit, turned toward Venky and said, “We got the rabbit. We can throw it at the side of the lion. With this, it will get distracted and we will run from it.”

With mild doubt, Venky believed it would work. With all the confidence in the world, they threw the rabbit far from the lion. At the same time, they made sure it would be seen by the lion while hiding behind the rock at the side of the road.

The lion, which was strolling along the path, heard the sound of the rabbit falling. It looked around to see what it was. The lion saw that it was a rabbit and moved near to it. As it did, Venky and Verra, who were hiding behind the stone, ran from there. They crossed halfway past the lion, but their movement made enough noise for the lion to notice them. It turned toward the noise, and to its surprise, they were humans. Rather than looking at the rabbit, it started to chase after them.

Venky and Verra, seeing that the lion was not interested in the rabbit but was interested in them, felt their fear cross the limit, and their faces filled with fear of getting killed. Realizing that, they started to run straight without looking back. Even though they were afraid, they were confident enough to outrun the situation. As the lion started approaching them little by little, Verra signaled Venky to run faster, and they both ran like there was no tomorrow.

Fortunately, they ran toward the city, which they were supposed to go to. But as they were escaping the lion, they realized that the lion was running toward them like it wanted to end them today no matter what. Believing they would get caught soon, Verra looked around for another way.

A few steps away, he saw another road to the left. He signaled Venky to take the turn.

Venky, who had been running at his limit, signaled that the elder had told them not to lose sight of the road.

“Didn’t the elder tell us not to lose sight of the road?” Venky asked Verra.

“Don’t you think that is also a road? If we follow it, we will come back to the same road. Don’t you think?” Verra shouted.

With a bit of fear and doubt, Venky had no choice but to accept the situation, and he spoke, “You may be right. Let’s take a turn and run on this road.” They both lost sight of the road they had been on and took a different road while the lion was still chasing them.

As they both realized that it would not leave them and would chase them no matter what, they looked around for something that could help them escape the lion. Far from there, Venky saw a huge tree on the side of the road. He signaled Verra to climb it to escape.

Verra accepted the decision, and they both ran toward the tree and climbed it, which was huge enough for them to lie down on its branches.

The lion, which couldn’t do the same, stayed below while both of them looked down from the branches of the tree, making fun of it. The lion strolled around the tree while waiting for them to come down. It stayed until evening, but they didn’t come down. Realizing they would never come down, it left the place and headed toward the place it had come from, leaving them both on the branches.

Looking at the lion going back, Venky and Verra sighed with relief and started celebrating. They had succeeded in escaping the lion.

But soon, they realized that it was already evening.

“Looking at the clouds, I think reaching the city is impossible,” said Verra.

“I think what you are saying is true,” said Venky.

“What should we do then?” asked Verra.

Venky narrowed his eyes, glanced at the tree and the branch floor, and spoke, “What’s there to do when we have everything right here? The floor, the food, and the clothes. We will camp out here tonight. With the clothes, we can make a carpet to sleep on, and with the food, we can fill our stomachs. This branch is big enough to act as a floor to sleep on. We should camp out and leave for the city tomorrow morning.”

“Seriously? On the tree?” asked Verra.

“With an unusual expression, do you have any other option? Tell me. Let me hear,” asked Venky.

While looking at Venky and having no answer to Venky’s question, Verra realized he was serious. After much thought, he accepted Venky’s decision.

At a different scene, where Lakah was hiding, he woke up from unconsciousness. Soon, he realized he had been unconscious for too long. Quickly turning his head here and there, he looked around to see if the rabbit was still there. To his surprise, it was not, so he sighed with relief. But his relief didn’t last long because he soon remembered the reason he was hiding there: the lion he had seen in the middle of the road.

He peeked his head out from the bushes with his eyes closed, praying that the lion would not be there. When he opened his eyes, he realized the lion was gone, and he sighed with relief again while putting his hand on his chest.

But soon, he was hit with another situation. When he looked around, he started to notice that the light was getting darker. He realized it was already evening. He thought that if he walked with long strides, he could reach the city at night. So, he picked up the bag that was in the bush and started to move from that place.

As he moved a few steps, he saw a rabbit lying unable to move on the side of the road.

As Lakah was a soft-hearted and helpful person, he decided that he would help the rabbit. So, he picked the rabbit up from the ground. Soon, he realized that it was the same rabbit that had been getting inside the bush. But without minding it, he took the water bottle from his bag and started pouring water into the rabbit’s mouth to make it better.

The water was slowly swallowed by the rabbit, and it started to regain energy. As it fully regained energy, it kicked Lakah and escaped his hold. It ran a few steps, but then it realized that he was the one who helped it and stopped.

Lakah, who saw the rabbit stopping in the middle and turning toward him, got scared that it would bite him, so he turned left to run from it. But his legs gave up, with fear taking over his face as he saw the lion staring back at him. Lakah got frozen and fell back while facing his face toward the sky.

The lion moved near Lakah and roared in his face. As he was about to go unconscious again, the rabbit lunged forward toward the lion and stopped it from taking any other action while they both got into a confrontation in their own way.

“Maybe it is one of the languages they speak,” Lakah thought.

Finally, the situation was resolved, and the rabbit came toward Lakah. As he was lying on the ground, he couldn’t do anything because he was filled with fear and confusion.

The rabbit started to speak in human language. “You don’t need to worry about anything. We are not going to do anything to you because you helped me regain my energy. For this, I want to thank you and help you. Do you need anything that I can help you with?”

Listening to the rabbit, Lakah, who was on the ground, stood up slowly with shaky legs, with a slight fear and confusion and shock at seeing an animal speak human language. He never thought he would encounter an animal that could speak human language.

So Lakah, with shock, looked at the rabbit and asked, “How can you help me? And first of all, how are you talking in human language?”

While making a doubtful expression, the rabbit spoke, “Ohh, that? Yes, we can. Not just us, but there are others too,” replied the rabbit.

“There are others too?” Lakah gasped in shock.

“Yup, there are. Putting that aside, what are you doing here exactly at this hour in the forest?” the lion asked, interrupting Lakah’s words.

Lakah, who heard the lion, started explaining the situation: how he left the village, why he left the village, how he got stuck, and how it led him to where he was now.

The rabbit, listening to his words, interrupted with a huge sigh while looking at the lion. “Seriously, you scared this guy to this level.”

“Good God! You’re saying that because you saw me, you got stuck here until evening in the bushes?” the lion told Lakah, and looking at the rabbit, continued, “Come on, I was guarding you because you are too fragile to wander in the forest, you know.”

With anger on the rabbit’s face, it said to the lion, “Who said I needed protection from you? Just say you were with me just because of the food.”

“Whatever, leave it at that. I don’t want to continue.” It looked at Lakah and asked, “So, are you gonna go to the city now or go back to the village?” asked the lion.

“I would want to leave this place to reach the city as soon as possible,” said Lakah.

“Then leave,” said the lion.

But the rabbit hit the lion on the head while saying, “You really want this guy to go to the city this late? As if letting him into the dangers of the forest while he helped me isn’t enough.”

The lion, with confusion, looked at the rabbit and asked, “What do you want me to do now if he wishes to leave for the city?”

“What you need to do is just drag him to the village,” said the rabbit.

Interrupting the lion and rabbit, Lakah shouted, “You will drag me to the village? I left the village just this morning!” he asked them in disbelief.

“Yup, this is the best way for us to let you go back to the village, or else you will run on the road to the city and expose yourself to the dangers of the forest,” replied the rabbit.

While the lion was smirking evilly and looking at Lakah, Lakah decided to go back to the village rather than getting dragged by the lion.

“No worries. I will walk back to the village,” said Lakah to the rabbit.

With great confusion, rabbit said, “Ohh, you have decided to head back to the village, huh? But I don’t have the slightest confidence in you, so we will escort you to the village.”

“Escort me? Seriously? At this point, I can’t even deny it, as you guys are the dangers here.” He accepted their escort, and they all turned toward the village and moved. While on the way, the lion asked, “Do you know any other guys who left the village with you?”

“No, as far as I remember, I was the only one who left the village in the morning. If there was anyone who left after me, I wouldn’t have known it,” he spoke while rolling his eyes upward as if he was thinking hard. “By the way, why are you asking this? Did you see anyone?” he asked the lion.

“That is none of your business,” said the lion while smirking.

“By the way, why can’t I go to the city at this hour?” asked Lakah.

“Ohh, that one. I am gonna tell you since you helped me. Just keep it to yourself. Don’t utter these words to anyone,” said the rabbit.

“Okay. What are the dangers of the forest?” Lakah asked.

“Okay, listen carefully, my boy. Since you’re adamant on knowing, I will tell you about the dangers. Let me tell you the history. This forest has a history of making others lose sight of the way they were supposed to go and get lost in the woods. And they will get erased from reality, and people who know them forget about them. It is kind of a cursed forest, and this happens especially around nighttime. With this, let me tell you the rules. You will have the idea,” said the lion.

“First rule, don’t let the road out of your sight even for minutes. If you do that, you will never see that road again.

“Second, this is something you must follow and never ignore. If anyone asks you something, makes a sound, asks for help, or wants to help you, never listen to them. Just ignore them. If you fail to follow either of these rules, you are doomed to lose all of your memory and will be lost in the woods forever.

“Remember these two rules, and you will be good anytime you come back here.”