The Nine and the Six

Once upon a time, in a forest not far from civilization, the Nine lived. They were a mother and her eight children. They had only what the forest provided and they were content, even in the cold of winter. The mother was weary as her children were young. She taught them to forage and she taught them to listen to the forest and, especially, the birds. If the birds fell silent, the Six were near.

The Six came from beyond the forest. The Six were civilized and considered the lives of those within the forest as beneath their own and so they hunted them, and they killed them. When they were victorious, their chests would swell with pride as they cut open the bellies of the dead ones. The Six would tear out the insides of those beneath them and then they would feast.

One day, one of the Six was in the forest and he saw the mother of the Nine. He was unaware of her children. He did what any of the Six would have done. He hunted and he killed and then he went back to his civilized life.

The children were horrified and ran. The children were confused and hid. The children were cold and the children were hungry. How would they survive in the wintry forest without their all-knowing mother? It was two days later when a traveler traversed the forest and he saw, not far ahead of him, a number of children. This traveler had journeyed far and knew that, within such forests, the inhabitants were proud and fierce. If those children were there, their mother would not be far. And so he turned and quietly left the forest.

When this man rested for the night at the nearby village inn, he remembered the children and asked the innkeeper about them. As it turned out, the innkeeper was one of the Six and when he heard the story of children roaming the forest on their own, in the middle of the winter no less, he was greatly concerned. He walked over to a boisterous group of men at the next table. They celebrated the death of the mother and the one who had taken her life was proud and joyous with the congratulations of his friends and the warmth of the ale.

The innkeeper told him that the life he had taken had left Eight young ones behind. Now the man felt terrible and all laughter at the table died away. They decided that they had to do something. They had to do the right thing. They had to ensure that the children in the forest would not have to suffer. And so they decided to shoulder their rifles, find the children and kill them. The traveler heard this and was shocked. He urged the Six to wait and he ran from villager to villager, asking for help.

Together they would find the children and if someone were to take them in, they would surely live. The traveler was dismayed to find that no one would help. The children were better off dead, some said. Helping such children was against the law, others said. Finally, the traveler found one farmer who was willing to help. They were about to leave the inn to find the children, when the Six intervened. The law was on their side and they would take care of things. After all, one of their own had made a mistake - they would now go out and fix that mistake.

Both the traveler and the farmer were told to stay out of the forest as the Six might kill them by mistake. When the Six departed, resolved to kill the children, the traveler pleaded with them and received one small token of hope. The Six agreed that, if they could not find the children before dark, then the traveler could try his luck at night. Despondent, the traveler and the farmer waited and looked out of the window to see the sun slowly setting behind the forest. In the last light of the day the Six returned with their rifles and their dogs. They grimly announced that they had been able to deliver their mercy to five of the children. Five children who would no longer go hungry, nor would they freeze to death. They were better off dead.

As the Six settled around their table again, the traveler and the farmer rushed out of the inn. The farmer's wife and one of his sons joined them and, with nothing but torches, they began to search the forest. Three little ones were still out there, three children who had lost their mother, who had been hunted by the Six and their dogs, who had lost five of their siblings. The innkeeper had called after the traveler and the farmer, telling them not to waste their time, those children were so weak they would surely die.

The traveler and the farmer refused to give up hope ... and yet, in darkest night, they found nothing. They stood and listened. They walked and called. They followed a thousand tracks in the snow and came across no one. It was as if the forest was in mourning. Hours later the traveler, the farmer, his wife and their son returned home. The farmer could not sleep that night and neither could his wife.

The son kept asking about the children in the forest and yet he, too, knew that there was no hope of finding them. They had tried and they had failed, the farmer knew. While searching the forest, he had already envisioned the three children living with them. He had built them a home in his mind, they had become members of the family in his heart ... and all the while he remembered that they were likely already dead in the vastness of the forest. The following morning the traveler knocked on the farmers door.

He had spent the night at the inn and had witnessed the Six go out again with the first light of day, with their rifles, with their dogs. The traveler told the farmer of the resolve of the Six, of their conviction that there was only one course of action. They had returned not long after. The dogs had easily found the the remaining Three. They had still been alive. The hunger and the cold had not killed them. And so the Six delivered their mercy and the Nine were no more.

The farmer thanked the traveler for the news. He wished the man all the best on his journey and closed the door with a heavy heart.

The end ...

(... Im the farmer in this story and this happened last weekend ... and below are the children, as filmed by the traveler when he saw them first.)