The Fox in the Woods

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The fox crept up to me and said,

“You can trust me,” but I knew better than to trust a fox, so I looked away.

​It was dark, and I was disoriented.

​“No, really. You can trust me,” the fox said as it cautiously crept closer. “I’m not like other foxes.”

​I squinted and turned toward the animal.

​“I made a promise a long time ago. You’re hurt. Let me see your leg.”

​I looked down. My right leg seemed to be bent at a strange angle. That must be where the pain is coming from, I thought. I tried to recall what had happened, but the fox interrupted me.

​“You can’t walk, can you?” it said. “And your hands are bound.”

​Before my very eyes the fox transformed into a thin, pale woman with long black hair. Moving quickly, she rolled me gently onto my stomach and untied the rope that bound my wrists. “It’s going to get cold tonight,” she said. “You need help. I’ll be back.” And just like that, she was gone.

With my hands free, I rubbed my eyes and touched my body. The fox was right. I needed help.

​I pulled my left leg up underneath my stomach, pushed off the ground with my hands, and tried standing up, but the pain was too much. I collapsed, gasping for air, and rolled onto my side.

Where was I? I wondered. Based on what I could see in the moonlight, my best guess was that the officers had taken me a little way into the mountains. That would make sense; take me to a place where very few people go and leave me there to die. Before they bound my arms and covered my head, I had heard them talking.

​“What are we going to do with him?” one of the officers asked. “He told me he’d never let us take over of his shrine.”

​“He doesn’t have a choice,” another officer scoffed. “It’s a state decree.”

​“Yeah, but he’s not going to follow it.”

​“Well then, we’ll just have to get rid of him.”

​Shortly after that, the officers entered the room where I was being detained and tied my hands behind my back. They put a sack over my head, marched me into the back of a wooden cart, and took me what seemed like a long way out of town.

​When the cart stopped, one of the officers shouted at me to stand up. With my hands tied behind my back, it wasn’t easy. I struggled to my feet, and as soon as I did, someone pummeled me in the small of my back.

I took one step forward and fell off the cart. With no way to break my fall, my chest and face slammed into the ground. I moaned and rolled around in agony.

As I rolled around on the ground, someone came over, lifted me up by my shoulders, dragged me a short distance, and heaved me forward. For a moment, I felt like I was falling. Then my shoulder crashed into the ground and my body started bouncing, tumbling, and rolling.

​Still lying on my stomach,

my face resting on its right side, I looked to my left. All I could see were the dark silhouettes of trees, their trunks rising straight into the sky. It was getting colder. I began to shiver. Tremors of pain shot across my body. What am I going to do? I thought. If I don’t move now, I’m going to die out here, tonight.

​I rolled myself onto my back. Even if I can manage to walk, where am I going to go? Maybe, if I’m lucky, I’ll find a stream nearby that I can follow out of the forest. Maybe there’s somebody who lives nearby, somebody who is willing to help me. But that’s not likely, I told myself. The first thing I have to do is figure out how to stay warm. Then I need to find water.
​
As I entertained these thoughts, I gradually became aware of soft rustling sounds coming from the forest. Somewhere behind my head, a small branch snapped. I tried to turn and look in its direction, but my body seized up. Sharp pains shot through my head and neck. I rolled onto my side and took a series of quick, shallow breaths.

When the intensity of the pain decreased, I forced myself to sit up. The effort was excruciating. Slumping forward, I closed my eyes tightly, and clenched my jaw.

Then I heard another noise nearby. I squinted and looked toward the trees. There, in the darkness, I saw a number of small glowing orbs floating in the air. They were pale green, and the longer I looked at them, the more they seemed to be moving toward me.

​I kicked my good leg and tried to move, but my body resisted. The green orbs slowly and steadily inched closer to me. Then, from their midst, a blur of motion came rushing forward. It stopped right in front of my face.

At first I couldn’t tell what it was, but I narrowed my eyes and forced them to focus. Two sandaled feet stood before me, and what looked like seven fox tails quickly disappeared under the edge of a white kimono.

​Bending her knees, a woman squatted before me and looked me in the eyes. It was the woman from earlier.

​“I’ve brought help,” she said. And as she spoke, ten or more foxes stepped out of the shadows and began walking toward me. “It’s all right,” the woman said reaching out and touching the side of my face: “I told you. You can trust me.”

Carefully, she took me by the shoulders and guided me down onto my back. Then she reached inside of her kimono, took out a long piece of fabric, folded it three times, and set it under my head. After that, she waved her arm and motioned to the foxes.

​One at a time, they pressed their noses to my hand, walked to different places on and around my body, and lay down.

​“It’s going to get cold tonight,” the woman said, “very cold. If you want to live, you’ll need to stay warm. Drink this.” Then she took a gourd that had been strung over her shoulder, removed a cork, and moved it toward my lips.

​I tried to withdraw, but she grabbed the side of my face and turned my head so that I was looking straight into her black eyes, “I told you,” she repeated, “I’m not like other foxes. You can trust me.” She lifted my head to the gourd and pressed my mouth against its opening and said, “Drink.”

​A warm, earthy tea of some sort filled my mouth. The woman nodded at me to swallow and I did. Then she nodded at me again and I took another mouthful.

The warmth passed down my throat and spread out across my chest. It was a pleasant feeling. I took one more mouthful of the tea, and as I did so, the woman gently placed her hand on my forehead. With the foxes lying on top of my body, and the tea filling my stomach, I felt warm all over. Soon the warmth spread into my face and my eyes became heavy. I closed them just for a moment and the next thing I knew I was in an old building talking to a fox named Kozan.

​### “How are we going to celebrate the beginning of the new year?”
Kozan asked me.

​“I don’t know,” I answered. “We don’t have any money.”

​“That’s what I mean,” Kozan said. His face was sharp and cunning. “How are we going to get money to buy some food and sake?”

​“Maybe the old man has some food and sake he can share with us,” I said referring to the man whom I intuitively knew lived alone in a nearby house.

​“No, no, no,” Kozan objected. “We don’t need his help!”

​“Why not?” I asked. “He’s very kind.”

​“Because, we’re foxes. We don’t need any help getting what we want from humans.”

​When I heard Kozan say this, I was confused. We’re foxes? I thought. Then I looked down at my hands. Sure enough, where my hands ought to have been there were two black paws. I was a fox too. “Hmmm …” I answered. “Maybe you’re right.”

​“What do you mean?” Kozan asked. “Of course I’m right. We don’t need help from humans. We just need to think of a fun and clever way to deceive them, and I think I’ve got an idea.”

​“What is it?”

​“Look. There’s a market in town tomorrow. If you change yourself into that old man, I’ll change myself into a horse and you can walk me to the market and sell me. Then, at night, I’ll change back into a fox and run off.”

​“I think I see what you’re saying,” I said. “Then I’ll have the money that we sold you for, right?”

​“That’s right.”

​“That seems like a good idea. Do you think it will work?”

​“Of course it will work,” Kozan answered assuredly. “My plans never fail.”

​“Well, let’s do it then,” I said.

​“All right. Come to my den tomorrow morning. We’ll need to get an early start.”

​“I’ll be there at sun up,” I promised.

​“Perfect,” Kozan answered. Then he slipped off through a small hole in the wall of the building and was gone.

​Intense spasms suddenly seized the back of my my head and leg.

I arched my back. Cold air blew across my body. A hand gripped my shoulder. Softly, a voice spoke from behind me.

​“You need your rest,” it said. “You’ve only just fallen asleep. Lie back down.” As it spoke, the hand pulled me backward and lowered me to the ground. “Relax,” the voice whispered. “Sleep.”

​The next thing I knew I was trotting through the woods. It was morning, and the course that I took was very familiar to me. I knew every fallen tree that I passed under. I knew the placement of each rock in the stream that I hopped across. I knew the smell and the feel of the brush that bordered the muddy cart path going into town.

​When I got to Kozan’s den, the sun was up, but it was still very low in the sky. I poked my face into the small opening in the ground and called inside, “Hey. I’m here. Are you up?” But there was no answer.

​I crawled into the den and called out again, “Hey. It’s time to get up,” but again there was no answer.

​That’s strange, I thought.

​When I entered the main chamber of the den, it was empty. “Where are you?” I called out. “Are you here?” Still there was no answer.

​Did Kozan forget about our plans? I wondered. That isn’t like him at all. Thinking that he would return soon, I lay down and waited for him. As I waited, I closed my eyes.
​
​When I opened them, it was dark, and I wasn’t in Kozan’s den anymore. I was back in the old building. Kozan was shouting at me excitedly.

​“We did it! We did it!” he said. “Show me the money!”

​“What?” I asked, confused.

​“The money. Show me the money. I want to see it.”

​“What are you talking about?” I asked. “We don’t have any money.”

​“What do you mean we don’t have any money? What did you do with it all?”

​“Do with it? What are you talking about? We never even went to the market,” I said.

​“Yes, we did. Don’t think you can fool me. I was there. I know we went to the market.”

​“Maybe you did,” I answered, “but I didn’t.”

​“Yes, you did! You picked me up before dawn. I walked into to town with you.”

​“No, you didn’t,” I said angrily. “I went to your den and you weren’t there. What are you trying to pull?”

​“What do you mean I wasn’t there? You yelled into my den and woke me up.”

​“No, I didn’t.”

​“Then who did?”

​“I don’t know. You tell me,” I demanded.

​Kozan went silent. He looked down at the old wooden floor for a moment. Then he looked up at me, his eyes wide. “It must have been the old man. He must have heard us talking yesterday.”

​“The old man?” I asked.

​“Yes. It was him. I know it was.”

​“Don’t lie to me. Why would he do something like that?”

​“I don’t know, but he came to my den this morning before dawn and woke me up. I was sound asleep and then I heard a man’s voice shouting into my den: ‘Hey, are you in there?’ he said. ‘Let’s go! It’s time to go to the market.’ When I came crawling out, he was there; only, I thought he was you.”

​“I don’t believe you,” I said. “Why would he do that?”

​“I don’t know, but I’m sure it was him.”

​Just as I was about to speak, something solid began banging on the side of the building. Kozan and I turned toward the wall with the hole in it, but the hole was gone.

​“It’s the old man,” he said. “We’ve got to get out of here.”

​“There’s no other way out,” I said while running toward the wall that had had the hole in it.

​“There has to be,” Kozan said following me.
​I scratched at the place where the hole had been; hoping to push or claw my way out of the building, but it was no use.

​The pounding continued. Kozan and I frantically ran back and forth trying to find another way out.

​“Try over there,” I shouted.

​Kozan ran to the main door. “It won’t budge,” he said.

​“What about the floor?” I asked.

​“I don’t know,” he yelled. “I can’t find any weak spots.”

​The banging on the wall slowed to a stop. “What are we going to do?” I asked.

​“I don’t know,” Kozan answered.

​As we looked at each other, a low, raspy voice grumbled through the walls, “You’ve pulled your last prank, foxes. You hear me? You won’t be stealing money from decent people no more.”

​“Why are you doing this?” I called out.

​“You don’t know?” the voice answered.

​“Listen, old man,” Kozan threatened. “Let us out now or you’ll be sorry.”

​“Ha haaaa!” the old man laughed. “I’ll be sorry, will I?”

​“You have no idea,” Kozan answered angrily.

​“I doubt that,” the old man snickered. “I think it’s you who’s gonna be sorry.”

​“What are you planning to do?” I asked.

​“Nothing,” the old man answered. “Just leave you two thieves here to rot.”

​“You wouldn’t do that,” I said.

​“You don’t think so?”

​“No.”

​“Well,” he paused, “up until yesterday, I thought I could say the same about you.”

​“What are you talking about?” I asked.

​“There’s a reason why us people always say never trust a fox. Sometimes, I guess, you just gotta learn it the hard way.”

​“But we didn’t do anything to you.”

​“That’s true,” he said. “You didn’t. But a fox is a fox, and it’s just a matter of time before you do.”

​“No!” I said strongly, “That’s not true.”

These words rang strangely in my ears.

Suddenly, I became aware that I was hearing my voice. It was coming from somewhere far away, somewhere outside of me. “That’s not true!” I heard myself saying again. Then my eyes opened, and I was just there, in the dark, feeling like I was seeing this world for the first time.
​
​A hand patted me soothingly on my chest, and a familiar voice whispered to me, “Shhh … it’s okay. Shhh … it’s okay.”

​I didn’t move the slightest. In fact, I felt incapable of moving. My motor skills, it seemed, had simply been shut off. This didn’t cause me any panic, though. In my current state, paralysis seemed normal, and so I lay where I was, absorbing the feeling of stillness within me, listening to the wind move through the trees beyond me.

​“You were dreaming,” the voice said. “You were talking in your sleep.”

​Without moving my lips, I answered, “I know.”

​“You were afraid,” the voice said. “Don’t be afraid.”

​“I’m not,” I spoke within.

​“But your dream isn’t finished. You have to see more.”

​“What do you mean?” I asked, but there was no explanation.

​A warm hand covered my eyes and the voice said, “Shh … Go to sleep.”
​
In that instant, I immediately found myself back in the old building. I felt weak now, extraordinarily weak and thirsty. I was lying on my side, breathing irregularly. Sharp beams of light poked through the cracks of the walls. Kozan was lying on the floor across from me. He wasn’t moving.

​As I lay there, three powerful knocks rapped on the front door. Each knock raised the hair on my skin. I tingled all over. A wave of nausea hit me.

​“You still alive, fox?” the old man asked gruffly.

​I tried to answer, but only managed to make a slight coughing sound.

​Surprisingly, the lock on the door clicked and the old man slid the door open. Harsh, blinding light poured over me. I clenched my eyes and retreated. Using all of my strength, I curled up into a ball.

The old man stepped into the building. His wooden sandals clapped against the floor as he walked.

​“Listen, foxes,” he said. “You got one chance at this. Otherwise you die. You hear me?”

​I struggled to raise my head and nod.

​“Good. You swear not to use your magic to rob people and you’re free. It’s that simple.”

​Again I nodded my head. Kozan remained still.

​“Nodding ain’t good enough,” the old man said while nudging Kozan with his toe. “You got to swear it.”

​Reaching deep within, I found just enough strength to say in a thin, dry voice, “Okay. I swear it.” And then, “Water. I need water.”
​
​Suddenly I gasped for air. My throat was viciously dry. The woman’s face leaned over mine.

​“Drink this,” she said.

​She raised my head and pressed her gourd to my mouth. This time a cool, liquid trickled over my lips and dribbled across my cheeks. I opened my mouth and took two long swigs of the liquid before she pulled the gourd away saying, “That’s all you need for now.”