Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2 

“The Dead Tree Forest! Ha!” exclaimed Zombi as he clapped his hands together in delight.

And that was a good description of what was in front of the little boy and the zombie: Lots of dead trees – in fact, a whole forest of them. The landscape looked like a thick tangle of black spider legs. The ground was covered with dark green moss and a heavy, slithering, orangey fog. Above it all hung a deep purple sky.

It was kinda scary. And totally awesome.

“This is where I came from, before I became a toy!” exclaimed Zombi. “I wonder if any of my old friends are still around!”

And as Zombi was just about to step into the forest, JC, still in the closet, grabbed his friend’s arm.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, now hold on a sec,” cried JC. “You never told me about any place called The Dead Tree Forest. Or any old friends!”

“Well, I don’t like to dwell on the past. And I didn’t want to make you feel like I didn’t enjoy your company or that I didn’t appreciate you giving me a good home. But yeah, I had a whole other life here.”

“So, what?, you were actually alive and lived in this place before you came to live with me?” asked JC, who was still a little overwhelmed by all this new information. “I thought you were just a toy that magically came to life somehow.”

“Well, I was and I wasn’t,” replied Zombi. “You see, one day while I was wondering through the forest—”

“Uh, don’t you mean 'wandering'—" interrupted JC.

“No, actually, I meant wondering – as in, I was just walking around aimlessly and wondering about things...”

“Oh, okay, sorry,” said JC. “Go on.”

“So I came upon a tree with a door in it,” Zombi said as he stepped out of the closet and onto the misty ground in front of him. “It must have been this tree here, although I can’t be sure, can I?” he asked as he pointed to the tree he just stepped out of.

“Uh, I don’t know why you’re asking me. I didn’t even know this forest existed 'til 'bout ten seconds ago,” said JC. “Besides, this isn’t a tree, Zombi. This is a closet in a normal house.”

“Well,” Zombi countered, “if you stood from where I’m standing, you’d see that it looks very much like a tree. Come on, just take one little step out. You’ll see. You can leave the door opened.”

So JC carefully stepped out of the closet and onto the dark green moss. He then looked behind him and saw that, indeed, Zombi was right! The door was part of an old, dead tree. Weird!

“Wow, I guess what you see does depend on where you stand,” said JC.

Zombi continued, “Anywho, when I saw the tree with the door, I thought, ‘Well, that’s odd,’ since you don’t usually see trees with doors in them, right?”

“Well, I never do. But then again, I never lived in The Dead Tree Forest,” replied JC.

“I mean, sure, everyone knows that trolls, elves, and even witches sometimes live in trees, so you would see a door on one of their tree-homes – but those trees actually look more like homes. They’re usually pretty big and have windows as well as doors. But this tree had only one door and nothing else, which is totally weird, right?”

“If you say so,” shrugged JC.

Zombi continued, “So I opened the tree-door and stepped inside to take a look. But then the wind blew the door shut behind me, and I somehow found myself at the back of your closet. I turned back to the door, but it had already vanished. And I thought, ‘Well, that’s odd.’”

“Odd as compared to what? A tree that turns into a closet?”

“Huh?”

“Never mind. So, didn’t you get scared?” asked JC.

“No, not really... I thought, ‘This place might be interesting. Maybe I’ll have new adventures here.’ And then you found me just a few minutes later. So it was like it was meant to be.”

“I remember that!” said JC. “I asked my mom and dad where you had come from, and they thought you must have been some toy we had packed up and forgotten about.”

“You do have a lot of toys,” said Zombi.

“Well, not as many as some kids, like my cousins or some kids in my class. But more than others, I guess,” admitted JC.

“Still, none of those toys can talk or come to life the way you can. At least, none that I know of.”

“That’s true.”

“So why did you pretend to be a toy, then?” asked JC.

“Well, I didn’t wanna freak you out. And it was actually kinda fun. You see, here in my world, I don’t have that power to stay perfectly still and be a toy. I had heard stories of other creatures who'd gone into your world – The Real World, as we call it – and pretended to be toys. So I just thought I’d give it a try.”

“But didn’t you worry you’d never get back here?” JC asked.

“Well, you know me, I really don’t spend too much time worrying. I don’t see the point to it. Worrying never changes anything, does it? So if something bad is coming my way, I just try to prepare for it the best I can.”

“That does make sense,” conceded JC.

Zombi then started down a path that led into the woods. “So, c’mon, I’ll show you around! It’ll be fun! It’ll be an adventure!” he shouted.

But JC cried out, “Zombi, wait a minute!... Will we be back in time for dinner?”

“Of course! I’m not gonna miss dinner tonight. Your dad’s making baked ziti, right? My favorite!”

And with that, JC closed the door of the tree behind him and started to follow his friend down the dark, misty path.

(for Chapter 3, click here)