Last night was sad. We all got up early in the morning and had breakfast. Daneel had to feed the animals in the barn. He would wake up at night and check the weather from time to time. Today, we were lucky to see it was partly cloudy. Daneel had to do things in the city and rode his horse and zebra and went to the city. Arwa had taken me with her as her apprentice healer.
Today, she started telling me what medicinal plants were used for, how to cure certain diseases and how to make medicine from plants for these diseases. She told me what many herbs she found on the forest-covered mountain across from the adobe house were used for. Some of the materials she needed to explain were not in the adobe house. She also explained theoretically how they looked and what they were used for. She promised to tell me what she knew every day. Then, she went outside to do her work since there was a lot of work piled up from yesterday.
She had to milk the spotted goats and make cheese for the winter. I said I could work with her. She said there was no need to rest or I could walk outside. I wanted to see the forest-covered mountain across from me. I also wanted to collect the plants Arwa told me about and make Arwa happy.
I had taken baskets made of spears and a clay jar from the house. I started walking towards the mountain alone. When I looked from the adobe house, it seemed very close, but contrary to what I thought, it was far away. I had doubts that it was the end of the forest. As I got closer to the forest, I heard the sound of birds, the flowing water and other sounds that I could not name. The Ancient Forest made me feel that it was here even when we humans were not here. The trees were so tightly packed together that the sun's rays did not penetrate the forest very much. It made the forest seem dark.
Although I could not understand it, it filled me with both peace and fear. Why did humanity always encounter this feeling when they went to the forests since the beginning? Was it trying to say something about forests in our subconscious thoughts? I put my hand on the tree that looked like a coniferous cedar tree that I thought was old.
"Siri, can you check if there is anything abnormal? You can use any method you want while checking," I said.
I didn't think there was anything abnormal.
"More data is needed to check if there is an abnormality. The answer is insufficient due to lack of data," Siri said.
"Let's continue collecting data. I have a feeling there is something unusual in this forest," I said.
"No other voices were detected from you. Data is still being collected. You will be notified when the process is complete," Siri said.
I sighed at Siri's inability to understand abstract concepts, and I continued into the ancient forest. I headed deeper into the forest.
"Siri, I have an additional task for you. Create a file directory for the healing ingredients Arwa described. I want you to use the data in my memory, find the herbs that match the recorded data, create a separate file for me and transfer them to my mind," I said.
"The task is being created, it will take a while to complete, please wait," Siri said.
After a while, healing ingredients that I hadn't noticed while walking among the trees began to appear in my memory and mind. The healing ingredients that matched the valuable data that had grayed in my eyes began to appear in a pale blue color. I gathered marjoram, tarragon, sumac, cilantro, rosemary, pennyroyal, thyme, basil, and sage into the empty baskets in my hands. Although they are not rare, they are not that easy to find. As I made my way home, the pale blue beams shone even brighter as they were clustered in multiple places. As I approached the clustered bright blue light, I was astonished by what I saw. The steak mushrooms in front of me were.
They resemble a large tongue in shape and are covered in red and brown. One reason they are called steak mushrooms is because when they are cut, they ooze a blood-colored liquid just like meat. I shouldn't have been surprised to find so many of them or to have this strange mushroom. According to Arwa, they are good for heart and respiratory diseases and even mental illnesses. I cut them off carefully with my copper-nickel alloy knife without cutting the parts that were attached to the tree and put them in my basket. The reason I did this was because I wanted steak mushrooms to grow on the tree again, so I cut them carefully.
All of my baskets were full. I set off to go home. I was so happy that I had discovered a new potential for Siri.
"Siri, play me Rick Astley's song Never Gonna Give Up," I said. Suddenly, a song started playing in my head. The song represented exactly the general state I was in. I started dancing with my septums, who were immersed in the song, towards home.
Sometimes I would leave my baskets and dance for a certain time, then pick up the baskets and continue on my way. Listening to the song, I was immersed in the magic of the ancient forest.
"Anomalous conditions have been detected. Very small fogs are forming and disappearing around the coniferous trees. A non-human shadow has been following you since the time you picked the mushrooms." My heart tightened when I heard these. I told Siri to turn off the song. I couldn't hear any sounds although I should have heard the sounds of birds and insects.
"Siri, can you show me a photo of the shadow following me?" I said. Instantly in my mind. He was 1.80 meters tall, considered very tall or giant for his erea age we live in. His head didn't resemble a human head. This uncertainty was increasingly scaring me.
"Is Siri still following me?" I said.
"Yes, you are still being followed," said Siri, a voice devoid of emotion. I was afraid to look back. I didn't have the courage to ask how close the monster was to me. I could feel it was close to me. So far it hadn't hurt me, but there was no guarantee that it wouldn't. I had to keep dancing, to prevent it from getting suspicious.
"Siri, play Alpaville forever young. Sing it with me. Girl, today we're going to conquer our fear," I said. Then the song started playing and Siri started singing the lyrics with me, as expected. No matter how scared I was, Siri was with me. I was singing and dancing with her. I could feel the monster's presence behind me.
I tried to get out of the forest as fast as I could. Finally, I was dancing and singing so fast that the monster found it strange and sped up even faster. Now the monster knew that I noticed it. I also noticed that it noticed me.
Now I stopped singing and dancing and started running towards the exit of the forest. My little trick worked for a while—just long enough for me to survive. When I got out of the forest, the monster stopped following me. I was afraid to turn around and see what it looked like, but I overcame my fear and turned around.