A strange man is stumbling through the forest. He’s yelling something that I can’t comprehend. It seems like he’s yelling elves. Elves? I run back to the village to get Mahid. He’ll know what to do.

“Mahid!” I yell. “Mahid, come quick.”

“What is it child?” A man with long graying hair and kind blue eyes walks out of a small hut.

“Mahid, there’s a man. A man in the forest. He’s a strange man that one is. Running through the woods yelling elves. Mahid, what do we do with him?”

“Take me to this man.” He says. I walk him over to the clearing where I last saw the strange man. There he is, in those blue shorts and that orange shirt, yelling elves again. We begin to descend down the hilltop to the man standing a good fifty feet below us when some older boys from the village pass us. I wave at them but they have sullen faces. Why so sad? I don’t know. Then I see her. The little girl on the board. Her eyes are shut but she’s alive. I know this since every few moments she coughs. Please live girl… Please.