“Freud had postulated that dream was healing through hallucinatory wish-fulfillment and a way of protecting the dreamer from unconscious anxieties that....”

Those words were coming to Chloe, but she was in a daze and was not paying attention to the lecture at all. Instead, she was staring at a dead tree outside the window with her chin resting on her one hand and twiddling the pendant hanging from her neck with the other hand. The pendant was one in the shape of a “caduceus,” the symbol of medicine whose shape was a stick attached to a pair of bird wings and around which two serpents twined. Although her father had presented it to her with a wish that she should go to medical school, she was actually studying psychology at the university. Certain hopes in her seemed to encourage her to study it, but today she felt different. All day at school, she had been so distracted and lackadaisical, she didn't know exactly where she was and what she was doing, although she in fact drove to school by herself, and her feet took her to the classroom as usual. Disoriented, she was indulging in reminiscence.

She had developed an interest in psychometry or clairvoyance, that is, supernatural power to perceive things beyond the scope of normal human senses. She hoped she might utilize it to find out why Kip was still in unconscious state, in spite of the fact that he was operated on successfully. So, she appealed to her father to let her study psychology. Although she didn't tell him why she was interested in it, he was not opposed to it because he wanted her to be either a psychiatrist or a psychosurgeon. However, that was not the only reason why she wanted to study the subject. She was rather interested in her own innate ability or one she might have acquired since she was young. She didn't know if it was really psychometrical ability; it might be totally different. But whatever it was, she didn't care. The important thing was the fact that she could understand the feeling of animals or even plants as she went to the forest near Kip's house.

Chloe and Kip had grown up together. Their parents used to take them to the forest for picnics or camping. At that time, she didn't think it was unusual to talk to nature there. She thought everybody could do it as naturally as talking to people. But when she told her father about her ability, he didn't take it seriously since she was not mature enough to explain it well. She was a little embarrassed, but as she grew up, she realized nobody except her could understand any feelings of nature. And she had a glimmer of the fact that it was not based on any language, since animals or plants didn't think in it. She actually could feel something ineffable from nature.

Some years later, after Chloe and Kip started to go to elementary school, she moved to another town where Dr. Rorschach had become a hospital chief of staff. Since the town was far from where Kip was living, they went to different schools. At that time Chloe had no means to go to the forest where she had gone in her childhood until she graduated from junior high school. But when she became able to drive a car legally, her father let her go to the same high school with Kip.

When she first met him at school, he didn't seem to have changed at all. At least, she thought so. He still had an innocent look and was full of wonder and interest in the mystery of nature. In fact, he often studied it himself by roving the forest near his house with respect toward its solemnity.

One day, he told her he had found a stag in the forest that was very tame and showed affection for him. It was majestic and splendid. Chloe listened to his story in excitement. She asked him to take her to the place where he had found it, and he said he would that Friday afternoon.

Waiting for Friday was tormenting to her. In all her classes all week, she constantly thought of and imagined how wonderful the stag would be, instead of paying attention to the lectures.

As soon as the school was dismissed on Friday, she drove her car directly to Kip's house without going back home. She bubbled with excitement at the possibility of somehow conversing with the stag. However, she was a little worried about Kip because he hadn't come to school that day. In fact, as days passed since he had told about the stag, he seemed to become depressed. Sometimes he rambled about something mysterious or even eerie, such as “Man is a bubble...Is this really true?” and “I don't appreciate the inscrutable decrees of providence.” She didn't have the faintest idea what he meant and didn't know that something similar to prophecy was being revealed in his remarks.

But in spite of such worries, Chloe enjoyed the refreshing air of late spring blowing into her car on the way to Kip's house. The serene sky filled her heart with ineffable joy. However, when she reached his house, she was a little disturbed by a strange moth she found. It flew across her car and hung on the door of the house. She had never seen such a moth before. It had a mark like a skull on its back, which seemed suggestive of memento mori. She was soon seized with indescribable images, feelings, and words associated with “death,” and they echoed in her mind. She stared at the moth and wondered if the echo was coming from it. But it soon flew away, and the echo ceased. She followed it with her eyes for a while, but it fluttered beyond the roof of the house and disappeared out of her sight. Then she forgot about it and knocked on the door, but nobody answered. She knocked on it again, loudly.

“Nobody is there.”

Chloe heard the low voice from outside. It was Kip's. He was lounging in a hammock hanging from the laurels in the garden. He was gazing up at the sky with a serious face, plaintively tootling on a reed pipe. These were his favorite trees, from which he used to make laurel crowns for Chloe when they were children. But the pale greenish yellow blooms that were in full blossom now were beginning to fall off the trees in spite of the pleasant spring weather.

“Ah, you are there! How are you doing, Kip?” said Chloe cheerfully.

“Fine,” Kip said flatly, but he seemed glum as if depressed about his life.

Chloe frowned at his dejected voice, but ignoring the dismal atmosphere, she asked him with the curiosity of a child about the moth she had seen.

“You know what, Kip? I saw an interesting moth on the door just now. It had a skull mark on its back! I have never seen such a strange moth before. Do you know what it was?”

She thought it would arouse his curiosity, but he remained gloomy. She noticed that her words made him turn pale. He seemed to feign calm, but she felt he was scared of something.

“It is called a death's-head moth,” said Kip plainly in a low voice. “The scientific name is Acherontia atropos. But I don't think we can find it in such a place.”

His voice trembled slightly, but it was noticeable to Chloe, who then realized his entire body was quivering as the leaves of trees trembled in the breeze that caused the blossoms to fall off.

“Really?” said Chloe, staring at him with wonder about whether he simply shivered with chill. “Well, I might be confused with an optical illusion. It looked like a skull to my eyes, but it might be just a mark.” She didn't insist any further that it really looked like a skull because she didn't want to worry him, although she was certain it was a skull-like shape, and the clear eidetic image remained in her mind.

“By the way, Kip, are you ready to go now?” asked Chloe, suddenly changing the subject. She wanted to let him forget about the moth in hopes of dispelling the dismal air surrounding him.

“Where am I going?” asked Kip dully.

As she suspected, he didn't seem to remember that he was to take her to the forest.

“Of course, to the forest where you found the stag. Don't you remember you said you would show me the wonderful stag you had found?”said Chloe, suppressing her irritation.

“Well, I am sorry, I don't want to go today.”

“Why not?”

“Just because I don't feel well now.”

“If so, you should go there. Don't you want to feel a breath of vigorous nature? It is a very fine day today to go there! The serene weather, the limpid air, the bracing warble of birds. These will give you life and make you feel its joy! Ah, I cannot wait any longer to go,” said Chloe with rapture shining on her face. She beamed with verdant innocence. It even made Kip relax his tense face, and he couldn't help chuckling at her seraphic face, but he tried to suppress it and maintain a reserved attitude.

She scowled her disappointment because she had been tingling with excitement and curiosity to see the stag.

“Don't you think the lovely stag is waiting for you?” She still tried to persuade him to take her to the forest like a willful child, and to Kip's eyes, the image of her innocent young face now replaced the angelic countenance.

“That frown doesn't suit your loveliness at all. All right, I'll take you there. Give me a minute,” said Kip. His face was lit up by a smile, but it was a faintly reminiscent one.

Although it was obvious to Chloe he was trying to smile his fear away, she didn't know what he was worried about, and she just hoped the affectionate tame stag would cheer him up.

Kip drove his own vehicle to take Chloe to the forest. He used to bicycle and hike there when he was young, but now he had his own truck. It was very convenient to carry his camping goods and equipment for his study. It was a powerful four-wheel-drive vehicle that ran on the rugged road without any difficulty. Chloe wanted to ask if Kip had taken a detour because it was a longer drive than she remembered from her childhood, but she just hung on without talking in order not to bite her tongue until he parked the car at the end of the road.

“You don't mind walking from here, do you?” Kip asked.

“No, not at all,” Chloe answered in excitement.

But Kip, who got out of the truck with his backpack, didn't appear to be happy at all. Trying to maintain a cheerful spirit, she said, “Ah, this smell of the trees makes me remember the pleasant day we spent in our childhood. You often found something new and vexed your parents by asking what it was. You even picked up a praying mantis with no head and showed it to your mom, but she screamed and pushed it away. Do you remember?”

“Yeah,” said Kip, embarrassed, but his words brought a smile to his face. “Well, everything was so interesting to me. There are so many kinds of living things present here. They lead their lives quietly but dynamically interacting with others in this ecosystem. Some of them can't be seen; they don't even have any names. And without being known by anybody, they are born and die. Some of them are even eaten by others. In spite of their fate of death, they are born in this forest. I always wondered about it, and I wished to know the answer to the question, 'Why do they struggle to survive and to reproduce before they die.' I wondered if they would continue it forever. My father used to try to explain it with Buddhism when I was a kid.”

Kip glanced at Chloe then continued. “You remember my father is from China, don't you? He often talked about metempsychosis, which means we transmigrate into another physical body after we die. Your next form of life is determined depending on your conducts in your previous life. You may be born as a human again or as a bug. But you never know. And through the cycles of births and deaths that are almost eternal, you may experience the perfect spiritual awakening. Then you can reach Nirvana. I didn't understand the concept very well at that time, but I remember that it was a fascinating idea to my very young mind. Although he didn't talk about it when your family was present since they were Christian, he often tried to explain to my mother. She is Christian, too, but she showed an interest in it and often asked him if it was something like reincarnation believed among Gnostics, that is, people who belonged to one sect of Christianity in ancient time. But whenever they started to discuss the difference between Buddhism and Christianity, I quit listening to them and began searching for something new in this forest. I was not interested in religion itself. I was actually interested in what he told me. He said everything had some reason to be born in the form of what they were.”

Then Chloe interrupted him and said, “If so, there must be some reason that the strange moth I saw had a skull-like stain on its back.” It was her innocent wonder reacting to his philosophizing, but she immediately stopped talking because she realized he was frowning on her remark.

“Well, let's quit rambling about such a subject. We have a long walk today. Keep your stamina and just follow me. Don't stray off,” Kip said flatly, in a low voice. Once again he became gloomy looking and just walked into the dense forest. Chloe followed him without talking any more.

But she wanted to ask him why he was going into such a dark, woodsy place. It was definitely different from the image of the forest she had in her mind. She wondered if the forest had changed since she had come there in her childhood. But she thought what had actually changed was Kip, not the forest. The first time she saw him in high school, he was the same as he used to be in his childhood. But he was different today. If he were the same person, he would have showed some kind of interest in the moth she found. But he actually looked frightened when she talked about it.

While she was thinking of these things, he was just walking deep into the forest in silence, never looking back to make sure if she was following him without any difficulty. As they walked deeper and deeper into the forest, it became dense, the air became cooler, and the mist hung dimly around them. She had no idea where she was going. It made her realize that she had never come to this part of the forest.

While lost in her thoughts, she heard a muffled roaring. Kip stopped walking, cupping his hand behind the ear.

“What is this noise? Is it a waterfall?” asked Chloe hesitantly, sensitive to Kip's mood.

“Yeah,” answered Kip, but he was not interested in the waterfall. What concerned him was actually the sound plaintively rapped out somewhere. Although Chloe didn't notice it, he knew it was made by deathwatch beetles, and he was apprehensive of some impending danger unknown to Chloe.

“I didn't know there was a waterfall here! Is there a basin below the waterfall where we can swim? Should I've taken a swimsuit with me?” Chloe was so excited that she promptly jerked his hand, without noticing that his countenance had changed again, and said, “Let's go faster!”

As she started to think about how gorgeous the waterfall would be, she got over the fatigue of the long walk and almost forgot about the stag they were looking for. As the roar of the waterfall became louder, she walked with light steps, but Kip was still plodding along. She didn't know how long she had walked, but it didn't matter to her. She just wanted to see the place where they were destined as soon as she could. She thought it would be a beautifully preserved place, since the dense forest where they were walking was isolated from the outside world. So, even when she needed to struggle over the moss-covered, rugged ground, she continued to make a headway.

When the warble of a bird came audible, she thrilled with joy and began to croon a song of accompaniment, while Kip's silence was contrast with the bird she thought was welcoming them. It even seemed to be speaking to Chloe, looking down at her from the tree. When she noticed that, it flapped off the branch and flew around in the sky.

“It must be trying to tell us something!” She was so excited she couldn't help talking back. “Hello. Can you hear me? What do you want to tell us? Please let us know!”

The bird with brownish plumage flitted down to the ground and soared again to the sky. She gazed at it without understanding. Then it repeated its actions.

“I think it's trying to show us something on the ground!” She trotted to the spot where the bird flew down and carefully looked around, but she didn't find anything. She looked up at the bird again, but it was just watching her from the branch of the tree. Although she could feel the bird trying to show her something, it was hard for her to know more than that. She turned her eyes back to Kip, though he didn't seem interested in anything that might be shown by the bird.

“Kip, do you know what kind of bird it is and what it's trying to show us?”

“It's a nightingale...I think. But I'm not sure though because it is unusual that it warbles in the daylight,” said Kip and frowned about the bird's strange behavior.

“Why is it unusual?”

“Because it is nocturnal.”

“Well, even so, I think it can't help warbling on such a beautiful day,” Chloe simply guessed as if the bird were also enjoying the warm spring day. “Kip, do you have any idea about what it's trying to show us? I can't find anything interesting,” she asked just like a curious child.

But he said bluntly, “Look carefully around the moss and grass on the ground.”

She looked closely at the ground for a while and finally found something strange. “Kip! What is this? There is a dark green circle of the grass on the ground. The color of the grass is slightly different from that of grass outside the circle, and the circle is enclosed by many mushrooms.”

“That's a fairy ring.”

“A fairy ring?”

“That is a trace left after fairies gave a dance there.”

“Really? I didn't know fairies were real. I thought they were simply characters in a fancy tale.” Her heart danced with joy and surprise, but Kip's next words dampened her enthusiasm.

“It is just a superstition, though. The ring is, in fact, formed as a result of the radial growth of mycelia, that is, fungi. From year to year, they grow under the ground, and the ring becomes larger and larger. As they grow, they kill grass by depriving it of nutrients in the soil. However, the grass can soon grow again from the underground roots. That's why the color of the grass is subtly different from that of grass outside the ring.”

“Do you know what these mushrooms are called?” Chloe asked.

“The most common mushroom forming a fairy ring is Marasmius oreades. It is very palatable and has a nutty taste.”

“Wow. Your father might be pleased if we bring them home. He cooks many strange plants to serve delicious dishes, doesn't he?”

“But I don't know if it is Marasmius oreades. Because it lacks prominent features, it is difficult for me to identify. Some of mushrooms growing in a ring are even poisonous, so be careful if you want to eat them.”

Chloe promptly stepped back away from the mushrooms in surprise.

“By the way, I don't know why they are in such a place. They are generally seen in a grassy area such as a lawn or meadow. Look at the ground around you. There are only moss and ferns growing. But only at that spot, there is grass making the fairy ring....”

“So do you think this would be a real fairy ring for dancing because it is unlikely to be formed here naturally?”

“No. It probably formed here just by accident,” Kip answered in a low voice.

His answer made her look sadly up at the bird. “Well, you thought this was a real fairy ring, didn't you?” There was no answer from the bird, which flapped off the branch again and flew over her head. Then it flew with a chirp in the direction they were originally headed. Regaining her hopefulness, she jerked Kip's hand and said, “Let's follow the bird! It will lead us to the place we want to go!”

She tried to encourage him and made his reluctant feet run. As the memories of childhood raced through her mind, she ran joyfully, hand in hand with Kip.

“Ouch!” Chloe jerked her hand with sudden, prickly pain and came to a standstill.

“Be careful,” said Kip, who then pulled gloves out of his backpack. “Put these on. Those plants are called stinging nettles. They have numerous small bristles that have formic acid. Your hand must be tingling now, but it will go away in ten to fifteen minutes. So be patient and don't touch them again, though you will find a lot of those plants as we get closer to the glade we are seeking. Don't run again. Let's walk carefully now.”

Although he was still serious and looked different from the way he used to be, Chloe thought that he had a calm attitude toward nature and showed his knowledge.

So, she decided to just follow him as he carefully pushed his way through the cluster of those plants. They were taller than she was and very densely thriving so that she could not see anything beyond them. She even became frightened because she couldn't help thinking again that the place where they were going might be really an isolated area that would not allow anyone from the external world to enter.

However, as soon as the cluster of those plants separated after about an hour's walk, her fear disappeared as beautiful views she had never seen before opened before her eyes. The glade was embosomed among the forest trees and mountains. The water streaming from the mountains fell down into a huge basin that was very calm and reflected the serene sky, contrary to the torrential water in the cascade. The wavering shadows of leaves trembling in the breeze were reflected on the surface of the water, and waterfowls were gracefully sailing on it. Butterflies fluttered from flower to flower in the garden of light glinting in the clouds of spray from the cascades. They looked as if they were fairies romping and disporting among the flowers, synchronizing their movements with the warble of birds. It was, in fact, the grandest sight imaginable to Chloe who was amazed by the grandeur of nature and transfixed at the sight. She even noticed that various animals were basking around the bank of the basin. To her, the sight seemed to be a lifespring on the knees of the gods.

“Hey, look at the other side of the bank!” said Kip, urging her to awaken from her reverie. He seemed elated to show her the place as if he showed off the beauty of his mother who cuddled him to drive away his anxiety. His face even warmed to a smile at Mother Nature, and his eyes were sparkling with delight.

Chloe promptly turned to face the other side of the bank and found the stag he had talked about lowering its head to drink water. It was very splendid and majestic, showing its dignity as if it were the monarch of the forest. She was struck with a feeling of awe and didn't notice the gloom had almost completely disappeared from Kip's face. But it was no longer of concern to her, and she began to run joyously toward the stag.

She was the same as she had been in her childhood. Her innocent face glowed with the splendor of light shining on the mist of precious stone sprayed from the cascades, and those pouring gems were beautifully reflected on the surface of water in the basin. Kip, who was staring at the angelic and childlike Chloe, felt as if this place had created a world of its own far beyond his mundane world.

BANG, BAAAANG!

Suddenly, reports of gunfire reverberated. They rent the air above the roaring of the torrential cascades. All animals there immediately became cautious and on the lookout for danger. Some of them bristled at the noise, and the others ran away in a flurry. Birds in the forest took alarm and immediately flew away with a screech. The balmy spring day in the clouds disintegrated into panic in a moment. The glassy surface of the calm basin reflecting the serene sky was broken up by waterfowls in their panic to take off. Chloe was astounded and stood petrified, looking around wildly.

“Kip! What is going on?” shouted Chloe but her words were drowned out by the roaring of the cascades and screams of animals and birds. She didn't know what to do and just crouched down on the ground, shrinking with fear.

“Damn it! Somebody must have awakened Pan. I didn't think this place had already been found by hunters,” said Kip in a furious voice, and he turned his eyes to the stag. It bounded toward the river and jumped in. All animals were scuttling off, but the stag was running in the direction of the gunfire. Kip knew what the stag would do, so he flung his backpack on the ground and ran after it as fast as he could. Chloe didn't know where he was going, but she pursued him with her eyes, still crouching on the ground. The stag crossed the river without any difficulty and disappeared into the forest, while Kip had to choose a part of the river as shallow as possible. He struggled against the current, but he never took his eyes off the stag and made sure which way it went into the forest. A few seconds after the stag disappeared into a clump of trees, reports of gunfire rent the air again.

“Kip! Where are you going?”Chloe shouted, but her voice never reached him as he pursued the stag. So, she tried to run after him, plucking up courage and crossing the river fearfully.

When Kip found the stag in a forest glade, it was standing with a maniacal expression of rage in front of hunters. One of them lay dying on the ground, groaning with pain. Kip knew the hunter had been stabbed by the antlers of the stag because the ground was stained with his blood.

Writhing in agony, the hunter said with a faint, choking voice, “Oooh...it must be...possessed by an evil spirit...,”and then he breathed his last. The stag was also smeared with blood oozing from the gunshot wounds, but it was glaring, without a moan of pain, at the other hunter who held a shotgun at the stag. He was trembling with fright at the diabolically callous eyes of the stag. They appeared impenetrable, but Kip knew they were ones full of lament and rage.

“That's enough,”said Kip, casting his compassionate eyes on the stag. “Please quell your anger. I don't want you to turn this fair earth into a pool of blood; otherwise I cannot beg the mercy of Pan.”He tried to appease its rage, but it was on the verge of attacking the hunter. While Kip struggled to stop the bleeding from the wound in the stag's belly by covering it with his hand, the hunter roared, seething with conflicting emotions between fear of the stag and anger that it had killed his partner. “Get off the stag, boy! I'll take the final crack at the goddamn creature!”

“No! You cannot do that! Open up your eyes and look at what you did. You have already induced Pan's rage. He is fretful on waking, though he is a god -- the god of woods. This is well known among herdsmen so they share his favor of the forest with the greatest possible care. But once his sleep is disturbed in this slumberous golden afternoon, no one can appease his evengeful wrath.”

“What the hell are you talking about!? Pan? The god of woods? His revenge? I don't believe such mythology!”

“I warn you to get out of this forest; otherwise, you will need to pay the debt of nature,”said Kip plainly, controlling his anger and sorrow.”

“Who the hell you think you are!? I am not afraid of anything!” The hunter was nearly driven mad by Kip's remark. “I'll quiet the devil with one more shot!”

“I warn you again. Get out of this forest before the stag kills you with Pan's rage. Death doesn't pay all scores...it'll be too late to repent of your mortal sin on your deathbed.”

“To hell with such cobwebs of superstition! You get off the stag! It already tasted blood. I have to put an end to such a beast's life!”

At that very moment as the hunter aimed the gun at the stag, it broke out of Kip's hand and pounced on the hunter furiously.

BAAAANG!

The last report of gunfire rent the air, but the scattered buckshots actually rained from behind. While the hunter fell under the antlers of the stag, Kip slowly collapsed just like a tree toppling to the ground after being cut for timber. Some of the buckshots pierced his back and turned the ground into a veritable pool of blood.

There was, in fact, a third hunter behind who shot them. He was staring at the stag falling to the ground.