It was just another normal day for Helo. He is ten right now and lives alone in the forest. He had already been to the shops in the town he lives nearby, he asks the owners if there was any work or leftover food. It is a beautiful small town with many flowers planted along the sidewalks and mountains to the north and east the valley that the town is nestled in. Today was turning out to be a pretty enjoyable day. Wendy works at a bakery; it is at the corner of the main street and an adjoining road that leads into a shady part of town. She always convinces her boss to let him have some day-old pastries if he runs some errands for her. Things really were turning out to be a good day.

  Helo walks through the street smiling at all the people around him munching on a piece of bread with butter he got from Wendy. He stopped at all the stores on the street earlier in the day and has a collection of food and items that people could not help but give him thanks to his adorable smile.

  The last stop is the most important one to him. It is the store owned by Mr. Bernard and is the pet shop in town. It's one of the most popular places in town due to how Mr. Bernard runs the place. He is also one of the towns biggest benefactors and owns many businesses. He has deals with many important people thanks to the resort and spa he owns up the valley toward the mountain.

  The place is said to be spiritually healing if someone soaks in the water. Many people think it is a lie and just the natural reaction to having been pampered within a resort. Another reason the town loves him is because he also owns the daycare next door and has the two places connected. The pet shop is run like a petting zoo and all the adults are thankful while the kids love him.

  “Ding Ding” “Well well well, if it isn’t my favorite runaway.” Mr. Brenard chuckles as Helo walks inside. “You know if you just let someone take you in you, wouldn’t have to live wherever it is you disappear to each night.”

  Helo just smiles at Mr. Bernard and stops walking in front of him. They both have played this game before.

  “Fine fine fine” he sighs, “As long as you keep visiting and don’t forget to take care of yourself, I'll stop pressuring you. It's not like it has helped in the past. I don’t know how you do it kid. Four people have tried to give you a home. Three of those times you snuck away, and the cops could never find you. The first time they even used dogs. But no no no you just showed up the next morning asking for more work to do.”

  “Sooooo, do you have anything I can do. I need more food to Lelai. Pleeeease” Helo says while smiling at the man. He is trying so hard to get him to say yes, it's almost like his eyes are shining.

  Mr. Bernard sees this that thinks to himself. Huh it's not like I can say no to this kid. The whole town loves him, and I will have a riot if the shops in the streets hear I didn’t help. Also, are his eyes shining? No. it must be the light. “Yeah, kid I have some stuff for yah. How about you help clear out the kids cage next door. I let the animals out with them earlier and it’s a mess.” He opens the door for Helo. “I will leave the food you need on the counter.”

  Yep, Helo thinks as he hears the door closing. This is a pretty great day. Cleaning does not take to long for Helo. He has helped more than once, and he knows where everything goes. He might be a kid, but he has always been resourceful. Also, he just feels more comfortable living in the woods. The only person he was comfortable around was Ms. Accleas from the orphanage. Even with her, much of his time was spent in the woods and fields surrounding the building.

  Thirty minutes later Helo leaves with his bag heavier and in a much better mood. He turns off main street and heads down the road. This road is not commonly walked. This is because this is where most of the less reputable shops reside. Unfortunately for Helo his home is on the other side. But it's been a good day...

  Then he ran into his least favorite people. Unfortunately, Helo was on his way through this shady area to get back to his home. So there really were not any suitable places to run. He took a short cut though an ally hoping to go around a rundown pharmacy that always has some guys selling things out front.

  Sometimes there are girls around looking to be picked up as well. Helo might be 10 but he has been an orphan on the streets for over two years and knows at least some of what happens. So instead of drawing attention he usually turns off this road early and goes around.

  “Huhhh, well this sucks” Helo sighs with his high-pitched voice. As he sees someone in front of him turn down the ally. Seeing three men walk up, turning around he can see another man block the exit “All I wanted was to walk through.” Helo mumbles.

  “Haha, well if it isn’t my favorite runt” Jared laughs looking around at his buddies like he needs to see their amusement to feel validated somehow. “What was your name again.. Hellspawn, Hellhole? It’s no wonder you’re an orphan if you have a name like that.”

  This is another one of those unfortunate things that happened to Helo. He has no idea who his parents are, but wherever they are he hopes their water always goes down the wrong tube.

  Who names their child Hellesion’Kai’Vital’Spiratam. It might be a pretty great name if that was his full name, but no his middle name was Alex and his last Johnson. His full name is Hellesion’Kai’Vital’Spiratam Alex Johnson.

  “HA look at his little glare, you all saw how quick he was walking he must have something good” Jared continues after his buddies laugh. “I wonder what we can get off him.”

  Helo can feel his breath start growing faster, part anger and part fear. He knows he cannot get away so he might as well give up and hope they just take his food and leave him alone after. “Here it's all yours just leave me the pet food.” Helo says handing the bag over and trying to slip by.

  He starts to feel relived as he passes. He was excited to have some more food at his home but he has some things stored away already. His relief only lasts a moment before he feels a hand grab his arm and pull him back.

  “Woah Hellspawn, where do you think your off to. I’m a generous man but you snuck by me these last three days. That is three days you haven’t paid your protection fee. So, I'm gonna have to take out my boredom on you.” Jared says all this with a smile on his face like he truly thinks he is generous while tightening his grip on Helo. Before he can fully get pulled back Helo toss the pet food out of the ally hoping that they will have such little interest in it that they will forget about it.

  Things were not always like this for Helo. He has always been an orphan but he used to live in a nice orphanage in Reno, Nevada. He lived there as long as he could remember with Ms. Accleas taking care of him.

  She was beautiful and incredibly caring to all the children. She also seemed great at everything she did, far wiser than the twenty-two she said she was. Helo was certain that he was her favorite even though she was great with all the kids. She used to teach Helo many things throughout the day that she never taught the others or mentioned to the other employees. She taught his gymnastics and tracking, how to set a trap and skin small game.

  When he first started learning he did not like it, but soon after she turned it into a game. They even created their own language that she taught his since he was a baby. He always asked why the other kids were not learning as well but Ms. Accleas never gave him an answer, always deflecting him with a question or another bit of knowledge.

  That was until the fire. Nobody knew how the fire started but Helo was in the woods at the time and not in the house. Four of the kids died and one of the caregivers. She got trapped in the building with the last four kids before the floor gave out. It was thanks to her that there were not any more deaths. Helo left the woods the day after the fire to a burned down orphanage and nobody was around. He never knew what happened to Ms. Accleas. He stayed around for a few days until he ran out of the food he and Ms. Accleas had trapped and stored.

  When nobody came back for him Helo left and found a bus that took him to the other side of Tahoe National forest to Grass Valley. Helo wasn’t quite sure why he came here but Ms. Accleas always said it was important.

  “Ahhhw awe” Helo gasps to himself when he finally gets home. Thinking to himself Auch dangit why does he always target me like that. I literally have nothing to do with him and thankfully he didn't rip open the pet food. Good thing I always heal quickly and nothing is broken. Helo staggers into the clearing well after dark. Usually, he can get home within 40 minutes but after all his injuries he took much longer. Helo lives in a clearing he found a few miles outside of the town. He found a natural cave that was large enough for him to stand in and has a cool spring within. The water slowly flows through the spring keeping it from freezing and safe to drink.

  Inside he has everything that he needs to survive. Most of it are things that he scrounged up by himself from around the town. The first large thing he “found” was a wagon. Then he proceeded to use said wagon to continue to bring things back home. The next thing was a broken top loading freezer that he uses for storage. After that it was less heavy things like bins and clothing. Helo continues to bring things back that might be useful.

  Helo slowly makes his way through the clearing approaching his cave when he hears a branch snap in the trees to his left. Auch this is going to suck. He thinks as he rolls into the grass within the clearing, he has claimed. This must be some kind of wandering predator I'm not sure what else would be this close and heavy enough to make noise without being wary of my scent in the area. Helo slowly crawls through the tall grass after slightly lifting his head up and taking a glance around. All he sees is grass that comes up to his knees in a clearing that is about 30 feet in diameter interspersed with taller bushes and tall trees surrounding the clearing. Infront of him is his home that he covered with a piece of a log. The entrance is on the side of a tall hill that is connecting off the spine if the mountain.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  Helo slowly crawls into his cave and jumps up, the first thing he sees is a quiet Lelai. Usually, she jumps at him with her big fluffy tail waving everywhere. Lelai is a young red fox that he saved. She was all alone and fell into one of his pit traps. She was too cute for him to eat and too alone for him to set her free. So, he decided to keep her.

  This is actually how he met Mr. Bernard for the first time. Helo usually avoided the man because he kept trying to send him into foster care. After making sure she is okay he starts rushing to his spear. It is only a 4-foot-tall piece of birch that has its tip hardened by a fire but to him it's his lifeline. Forgetting about his injuries he runs back to the entrance of his cave and brandishes his spear while peeking around his log. All he sees is his clearing. There has to be something nothing would snap a branch so loudly if it wasn’t large.

  After 10 minutes of watching his entrance Helo gives up and turns toward Lelai. “Well, it looks like everything is okay”

  He reaches down and grabs her then heads to his bin filled with spare cloth. Grabbing a handful of pieces, he heads to the small spring and lets them soak in the water. Helo isn’t sure but he naturally has always healed faster than he expected after seeing kids around him get injured at the orphanage.

  This is now something that he just expects to happen and takes for granted. Taking off his clothes the only thing he leaves on is the only possession he has had all his life. A necklace made from the pearl white fang of some large beast. It is at least four inches long and curved slightly. The tip faces downward and the fang is covered in intricate artwork. The designs on the fang are part of the language that he and Ms. Accleas made.

  The necklace is connected to a string of metal that wraps the fang’s top and leads into the chain. The metal is a mix of greenish blue and blackish blue. The green metal is reflective and heavy, but the black metal is matte in color and seems lighter. Both are incredibly tough.

  Helo has never seen his necklace get scratched or loose its shine. It even is impossible to lose. If Helo even thinks that he lost it, it always appears near him when he starts looking.

  Helo proceeds to wash himself off as well as wash the fox. She doesn’t need to be cleaned but she is spoiled, and he cannot say no to her cute pouts. After drying off, fifteen minutes later Helo sighs, thankful for the cave he found. I know I heal fast but ever since I moved to this cave it has been even faster. This is one of the reasons that he believes what Mr. Bernard says about his resort having healing powers. Helo moves to his bed, which is as many blankets and pillows that he could find, pushed into a comforter, and tied together. It might not be the same as the bed he had before the fire, but it is his and keeps him off the dirt and stone. Helo plops onto the bed grabbing Lelai proceeding to sleep.

  He starts wondering a bit more about his conversation he had with Mr. Bernard, why does he feel more comfortable outside living in a cave. I don’t understand how everyone talks about the dangers of the mountain I haven’t noticed anything and if I ever find a predator, they usually watch me but never do anything. That is why I was surprised to hear something so loud outside of the cave.

  Helo keeps pondering why he is so different. Everyone who looks at him assumes he is older than he looks, about twelve. This used to confuse him until he saw a 10-year-old at the daycare. All he could remember thinking about in that moment is why they are so weak and slow.

  He is not anything superhuman just more mature and larger. Helo cannot stop thinking about these things and decided to get up and do some meditation that Ms. Accleas taught him. She taught him after he got into a fight when he was seven with an older boy. She said to him “Helo you’re not quite like these kids, love. Your emotions and body are stronger than them, you need to learn to control your heartbeat and quite your mind before everything gets too loud when you're older.” Ha, I have no idea what she meant by all of that except that it does help.

  As he stands Lelai yips at him and gently bites his hand. “Stay here Lelai. I will only be a moment and I'm just walking to the stream.” Helo is not sure, but the stream has a very calming effect on him like the flow of the water is connecting to him and dragging his worries away. While sitting down he can feel the flow of blood in his body as it is pumped to and from his heart. A few minutes later after focusing on that feeling he can start to perceive another feeling that flows through and with his blood. As he lets his mind flow with this feeling it also starts to let his worries disappear.

  After about 30 minutes of this Helo hears a branch snap outside his cave. Jolting him outside his meditation he also hears a quite whimper from Lelai. One of the first things that Ms. Accleas taught him was how to move and track quietly. After showing him what not to step on and having him practice she showed him a basic trap to make. Simply covering dry twigs and laying them near his camp. Is this whatever I heard outside earlier. Slowly Helo grabs his spear that is leaned on the wall between his bed and the steam and walks toward the door. Peering into the night Helo can see his clearing and not much else. The moon is high in the sky by now, peering down on him like a watchful God. “Huh, I expected more.”

  As Helo says this to himself, something steps out into the soft light of the moon. It’s a large grizzly bear lumbering through the shadows and into his clearing. The bear is making soft noises grunting and breathing heavy. As soon as it makes it into the center of the clearing the bear grunts and as slowly as the bear can collapses on the ground.

  “What are you doing?” Helo whispers to himself. The only reply from the bear is more heavy breathing as it stops moving. “Huh, alright.” Helo says, turing around and whispering to Lelai. “Stay here. I’m going to check on Fuzzball.” Fuzzball is the name of this Grizzley. For the last two years Helo and Fuzzball had made notice of one another many times. Helo has planted berries around his clearing and Fuzzball sometimes comes through to eat. His den is up the mountain a few miles further from the town so seeing him all the way down here is surprising this late at night. Helo slowly crawls out of his home and crouches on the ground.

  Well, what could a bear want with my clearing so late and night, it's not like we are friends. We have an animal like truce with one another. You stay in your home, I'll stay in mine, if we cross pass we avoid another. As he draws closer, he can smell blood in the air. Its sweet and smells like nature and an apex beast. To his surprise there is another scent mixed in, this smells softer and weak. So, you were injured. He thinks. What could have injured you and so late at night maybe it’s the other smell? I don’t know. Especially with the blood so strong in the air. After having the mental conversation Helo stops and turns around. Instead of checking on the bear first he takes a deep breath to calm his mind and slowly makes his way around the clearing, moving from tree to tree listening for anything that might sound off.

  The first thing he notices is the bears heavy breathing. Second is the rustling of wind and leaves. The final thing there is, is nothing else, no crickets, bugs or birds. “This can't be good.” he whispers. His voice barley making it past his lips as he starts to shiver. It is a warm night sometime in August so there is no reason for his shivering other than him sensing that something is wrong.

  After taking many deep and slow breaths, he slowly finishes his lap, flowing through the trees like a shadow and makes his way to Fuzzball. Once he gets within a yard Helo hears a low rumbling growl. Under his breath he whispers. “It's just me Fuzzball. We might only be neighbors but it's just me.” Making his way to the front of Fuzzball, Helo keeps a hand on the bear as he moves. They make eye contact, and it seems like the light of the moon shines brighter for a moment before the growling stops and the bear quiets.

  Huffing one last time it nods its head and relaxes. “That’s good I’m just going to check your wounds.” Slowly keeping eye contact he reaches the bear and slides a hand down the bears head to his back. Once he feels his hand get wet near the bears hind legs, he peers at the wound running from the bears hindquarters to his midthigh. “I'll be right back. You keep an eye out” Helo says running inside to grab a rag from his bin. Getting back outside he slowly approaches from the front and cleans the wound before slowly coaxing the bear into the entrance of his cave.

  It takes a while for Fuzzball to enter and get comfortable but after drinking from the stream in the cave and lying at the entrance Fuzzball calms down. Helo slowly puts the log back over the entrance and goes to clean his hands. Looking down he sees that they are already clean and shrugs. Finally, Helo goes back over to his bed and cuddles with Lelai.

  He lays down listening to the wildlife outside his home and the water within his cave wondering why he is different. His healing, animals somehow respecting him like he is part of the food chain, and him being more comfortable in the wild. Helo is just thankful that he is not all alone.

  The same night Helo dreams of the day he found Lelai. She has been his companion for a year and has made his life much happier. He was living in a foster home with a middle-aged couple and their three children. They were a happy family but adding a fourth child was too much for them. Especially a child as unique as Helo.

  Helo only lived there for two days before he ran away and escaped into the woods back to his cave. He found it a few months before and really liked its location. The family was not mean too him but staying in a house with all of them still made him anxious. Being around them especially at night was difficult.

  The evening, he got back to his cave Helo went out to check on the traps he placed through the woods. After grabbing some tools like a knife and small shovel he slips out of the entrance to his cave into the clearing on the side of the mountain.

  Going southwest would bring him to town, southeast would go to the nearby resort, and east would bring him to Fuzzball’s cave. The path he took was the game trail southwest. It is the same path that he takes too town. About half a mile down the path on the right hand side is another trail the loops around his home in a circle and ends back at his clearing. This brings him in-between his cave and Fuzzballs.

  As Helo is walking down this path, he keeps his eyes open and focuses on his surroundings. At first everything is normal birds are flying through the air, a fresh wind is blowing through the valley, and he can hear the sounds of larger game walking through the underbrush. But then things start changing all the sounds of the forest are quiet and Helo can sense a change in the air.

  After a few minutes of searching the area, he finds out what happened. Following a trail of blood, Helo ends at the body of an adult fox. Oddly enough the fox is still mostly whole meaning that the predator was after something else. Looking up from the path he finds more broken twigs indicating a chase. Not far from the mother Helo finds the kits. He can’t help but feel a sense of pity for the creatures, so he decides to bury them with their mother. After searching the area, he hears yips coming from the other side of a tree followed by a whimper. The sound is like a high cute, “rrraaAAHHHH” and a soft, “Mmmaarwowowoo”. On the other side Helo realizes that he is much closer to his traps than he thought and that in one of his pit traps he made there is a baby fox.

  Lifting up the cover he made for the trap Helo reaches his hand in a feels a sharp bite on his finger. Pulling his hand back Helo can’t help but softly cry out. “Owe ouch, what the you meanie.” Sitting up the nine-year-old kid has a glaring contest with a small fox. Softly he says with the snark of a child “Now either I leave you in there or you be nice.” The only reply he gets is a yip and a cute tilt of the kits head. Slowly reaching back into the hole Helo lifts kit out and hold her up to his face.

  As he is holding the fox up to his face, she starts yiping and murmuring again. This time it isn't as loud but it's almost like she is saying hi. Setting her back down she goes to the bodies of her kin and softly cries out. Helo says to her, “Don’t worry I'll take you with me. We are a family now.”