Tale of the Black Mushroom

A short story by CE Wills

copyright 2011 by CE Wills

published by CE Wills at Smashwords Inc. 2011

This book is a work of fiction. Any similarities to actual people or events is purely coincidental.

This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold. Thanks for respecting the hard work of this author.

Deep in the forest a young man was walking. In his pocket was an envelope which contained instructions for a scavenger hunt. A certain young lady had given him a quest. If he were successful the lady would be his girl. If he were not successful, then he would cease his attentions toward her.

The young man's name was Jeremy. Sancha, the girl in question, was a bit of a dreamer. She fancied herself as a princess and Jeremy couldn't argue with that. He saw her through the eyes of young love, that great transforming power of youth.

Jeremy was walking through a piece of remote, government-owned land in southern Kentucky. Massive hardwoods were all about but there were well-defined game paths to walk on. In the hour that Jeremy had been in the woods he had already spooked a couple of deer and seen a coyote. Then he ran across a little surprise.

He heard her before he saw her. Great heart-wrenching sobs that seemed to be coming from the other side of a boulder. When he walked around the great rock, there she was; a little cutie of a girl, all of sixteen years of age. Jeremy's heart went out to her in her grief. He felt like a spy and started away, only to freeze in his tracks. It was as though his feet were anchored to the stone. The girl was seated on a rocky ledge that overlooked a cabin far below. Smoke drifted from a crude stone chimney. It seemed a very poor sort of place. That certainly couldn't be said for the girl. She was a beauty, even with her disheveled appearance. She had black hair, cut short, like a boys, and had a cute little nose and green eyes that were just now red from crying. She wore an old pair of overalls that were too short for her and bore mute testimony of battles with thorns and brush.