Escritor Forest is the perfect place for a long trek to clear your head… as long as you ignore the stories of a strange beast inhabiting it.

Today’s story is the second and final part of “Where No Man Walks” by Signatelli, who wrote this story after being inspired by an enchanting birthday art commission from his dear friend, Writer_Apprentice.

Last time, our human Grayson met a strange creature in Escritor Forest, who he has nicknamed “Robin”. Though they are tasked with keeping the forest safe from human intruders, Robin seems to have taken a liking to Grayson. We join our pair as Robin continues to carry Grayson towards the edge of the forest, with both keen on learning more about the other’s odd life.

Read for you by Khaki, your faithful fireside companion.

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You’re listening to The Voice of Dog.

I’m Khaki, your faithful fireside companion,

and Today’s story is the second and final part of

“Where No Man Walks” by Signatelli,

who wrote this story after being inspired by an enchanting birthday art commission

from his dear friend,

Writer_Apprentice. [Sorry if this isn’t what you normally put in this section. I don’t really have

the time to write a lot anymore so it doesn’t feel right to plug myself, especially since most of what I do write doesn’t get posted.] Last time, our human Grayson

met a strange creature in Escritor Forest,

who he has nicknamed “Robin”.

Though they are tasked with keeping the forest safe from human intruders,

Robin seems to have taken a liking to Grayson.

We join our pair

as Robin continues to carry Grayson towards the edge of the forest,

with both keen on learning more about the other’s

odd life. Please enjoy

“Where No Man Walks”

by Signatelli (part 2

of 2) “So, what’s life like in your regular home?”

Robin asked the human.

“You say it’s been stressful recently?

Is your world really as rushed as many humans say?”

Grayson sighed, leaning into Robin’s chest as he continued to revel

in the novel feeling of being carried

like a baby through the woods by the strange creature.

“Oh, you have no idea.

I’m a full-time student on weekdays…

on Wednesdays and weekends I work part-time at a big corporation… I

manage the money for a big club at my college… and

on top of all that, I’m stuck with the pain of looking for a landlord to steal all of my money so I can have a roof over my head.

Every second I’ve spent out here has been one second I haven’t made on progress toward being a

‘real’ adult.” Grayson leaned further back against Robin’s chest,

nestling himself within the leaves and bristles.

“Honestly, I don’t know if I’m up to it…

or even if I WANT to be up to it.

Sure, if I can pull all of this off, I’ll have a lot of money coming my way.

But along with money, I’ll just have the ‘opportunity’ to slave away more of my life.

That’s why I needed to come out here. To clear my head of not only the stress, but also the uncertainty.”

“Gosh!” Robin whispered in a consolatory voice.

“I’ve heard some humans talk about their stressful lives before, but you have to be the busiest one I’ve ever met!

I’m sorry if this sounds rude, but you really don’t seem like the type.”

Grayson closed his eyes,

feeling Robin’s chest vibrate as they spoke to him.

“I’m not, really. This was something I kinda forced onto myself.

I guess it comes from a fear of failure, more than anything else.”

Robin stroked Grayson’s head with their fingertips.

“I got the impression that you’re quite hard on yourself.

It makes me upset knowing that.

You’re my favorite companion I’ve ever met out here.”

Grayson couldn’t help but blush.

“Maybe you need to find some more companions if

I’M your favorite,” he joked.

There was an awkward silence after that.

Clearly the joke

didn’t land. Grayson cleared his throat.

“Sorry. Um… Do you get lonely out here?

I mean, sure, you have all the animals to talk to,

but has it been a while since you’ve been able to walk and chat with someone like this?”

“I can’t remember the last time this has happened,”

Robin replied. “You’re a special case in a lot of ways.”

They continued to stroke Grayson’s hair.

“Though maybe you’re right.

I should look for some more

everlasting companionship.

This is the most fun I’ve had in a long time.”

And so the two continued onward,

bantering about their two worlds.

The pair had an insatiable curiosity about one another…

or perhaps they both just wanted to keep the other one talking.

Robin spoke highly

of all the special groves

where they knew particularly delicate flowers could grow most easily.

They spoke of the families they had seen the animals raise,

and how impressed they were

when tiny, helpless pups

grew into cunning adult foxes.

They joked about all the times they had to scare

“brave” hunters out of their territory,

and how they were pretty sure on one occasion a hunter wet himself when he saw them.

Grayson laughed at that part.

Whenever it was Grayson’s turn,

he talked up a storm about the good and bad parts of living a “civilized” life.

He greatly enjoyed human food,

but disliked a lot of his species’ more competitive tendencies.

Occasionally, he would slip in a more casual and everyday story,

like when he talked about the annoying cottage-core girl from high school who always insisted

that creatures like Robin were real.

All the while, the two quipped,

laughed, and occasionally blushed as Robin marched onwards

and Grayson continued relaxing.

Neither of them were paying that much attention to the gorgeous scenery around them.

Both human and spirit found themselves completely enthralled by each other,

focusing intently on each comment,

big or small, the other one made.

It was a unique experience for both of them,

because in spite of the wildly different lives they led,

they both very clearly felt

an unspoken mutual connection.

This, of course, made it all the more saddening as Robin realized

they were nearing the edge of their territory,

and they would have to say goodbye to Grayson

very soon. The thought of it made

Robin feel strangely vulnerable.

No… not vulnerable. That was part of it, but maybe…

They thought back to Grayson’s question

that had secretly been plaguing them since the moment he’d asked it;

“Do you get lonely out here?” As they

looked down at Grayson and gently stroked his soft hair for the millionth time,

it finally dawned on them.

Yes. They do get lonely.

They had never thought of it as the right word to describe what they felt,

but that was because they never realized until now what they were feeling.

They were feeling

an emptiness… a yearning.

A desire for somebody who would listen deeply and intently when they spoke.

Somebody kind and trustworthy,

on whom they could depend for companionship

and not have to feel so empty

fending for themselves.

This was the first time Robin could remember feeling

so complete. And now,

so soon after reaching that epiphany,

they would have to say goodbye

to the human who completed them.

They worried not only for themselves,

but also for Grayson.

Would he survive out there?

They weren’t able to follow Grayson outside of the deepest part of the forest,

and Grayson would still have to walk a long way before reaching his home.

In fact, did Robin even want Grayson to reach his home?

With the way Grayson made it sound--all the competition, stress, and dishonesty-

-it didn’t seem at all like a place worth returning to.

Would Grayson really be happy going back there?

They looked down

and broke the tender silence that had fallen over the two of them.

“Can I ask you something?”

Grayson’s eyes shot open.

He had almost dozed off from the gentle rocking of being carried by Robin.

“Um… sure.” “What’s the point of it all?

Your soul is so gentle.

Why do you wither it by studying to be a worker,

and offering your servitude to a machine in order to bring riches to other people who won’t share it with you?

Why do you spend so much time indoors

raking in what little riches do reach you,

instead of, say, enjoying more nature walks?”

“You need money to retire,” Grayson replied matter-of-factly.

“That’s what everyone works for.

I’ll take a cut of each paycheck I get, and put it in a retirement fund

that will last me when I’m old and can’t work anymore.

Hopefully by then my knees will still be strong enough to carry me on more nature walks.

If not… well, I’ll just relax in a little cabin out in the woods somewhere.”

“What’s stopping you from doing that now,

while you’re still young?”

Robin asked. Grayson paused for a long time,

staring off into the distance without looking at anything in particular.

He pondered the notion intensely,

as if he had never once considered the idea.

Finally, after what felt like hours,

he seemed to settle on an answer.

“I don’t have enough money now to last me for the rest of my life.

And in order to get that, I have to prove my worth.”

Grayson craned his neck to look into Robin’s eyes.

“I know how ironic it is to be saying this,

but… I’d probably never leave here

if I didn’t have work to get back to.”

The sound of that

made Robin’s heart

flutter. “I… I was hoping you’d say that.”

As they spoke, the reached into the satchel at their waist, and dug around until they found a scroll

buried far at the bottom.

Grayson caught a glimpse of it for a split second

as Robin lifted it up,

but it seemed to be written in a script

long lost to time.

“I forgot to ask what was in that bag,”

Grayson commented.

“What’s that say, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Nothing a human should concern themselves with,”

Robin dismissed. “What’s your favorite color?”

“Huh? It’s yellow,

but… where’d that come from?”

Grayson asked, confused.

“I’ve learned you can tell quite a lot about a person based on something as simple as that,”

Robin replied. “And,

well… I’m deeply interested in learning as much as I can about you.”

“Aww…” Grayson blushed once again.

“Well, I’m just as fascinated by you and the life you live out here.

Especially with how slow and tranquil everything is in this place.

I bet you probably don’t even need to pay attention to what day of the week it is.

I wish I…“ Grayson continued to chatter on,

unaware that for the first time since they’d started walking,

Robin wasn’t really paying attention.

They were too busy reading from the scroll.

It was a particular enchantment

written in a language

only they could speak.

An enchantment that, until now,

they never believed they would ever find a use for.

They read it just quietly enough so that Grayson wouldn’t hear them over his own voice,

but despite how softly they read it,

it didn’t take long before they could observe

the spell taking effect.

For Grayson, at first

it felt like nothing more than a strange itch on his chest.

He scratched under his shirt,

appearing to not notice the long,

yellow hairs sprouting on it. He continued chatting away with Robin

as the yellow hair continued to grow out,

pushing against his shirt before climbing further up his neck,

eventually reaching his short,

brown hair and causing it to grow much longer and shift

to the same color and texture

as the rest of the yellow fur.

It was at this point that Grayson,

still firmly fixated on the conversation,

finally showed some sign of recognition

of what was happening to him.

He couldn’t explain it,

but he was suddenly feeling

very hot. At first he tried to ignore it,

but before long it was almost suffocating.

Eventually, he caved

and took off his shirt,

revealing what was causing the feeling of hotness.

The fur hadn’t just spread up his head…

it had spread further down his torso was well.

Though it wasn’t nearly as long and plush as the giant coat of fur

hanging off of his neck

and flowing down his chest, there was another

healthy layer of shorter fur

that had by now reached all the way to his waist.

His frontside was a tannish yellow

that matched his more vivid yellow “floof”,

while the rest of his torso had shifted into a dark brown

that matched the oak trees surrounding him.

By now, there was no way Grayson couldn’t notice what was happening to him.

Yet despite that,

Grayson still seemed

blissfully unaware of the fact that he was growing fur all over.

He was completely enthralled with listening to Robin speak.

They spoke of the different types of trees that dotted the path…

or maybe they spoke of the different species of squirrels that liked to hide acorns in those trees.

Grayson was having a hard time pinpointing exactly what Robin was saying.

He just had a goofy smile plastered on his face as he sat back

and continued listening

to Robin’s mesmerizingly soft voice.

The brown fur didn’t stop at his torso.

It spread down both of his arms,

and like before, Grayson felt nothing more than an uncomfortable itching and tugging sensation as the hair grew in,

and his nails shifted to become yellow and much sharper.

He didn’t even feel any pain

as his skin seemed to extend itself between his arm and torso,

with some new pseudo-appendages growing

and lengthening from his hand to accommodate it.

Before long, Grayson

had a complete pair of large yet functioning bat wings,

with the skin being the same pale yellow as his stomach.

His tailbone also stretched uncomfortably

as a little nub appeared on his behind, and then the brown fur marched onward

down Grayson’s legs. Grayson’s

feet went through a strange shift of their own,

as his nails lengthened into sharp claws,

and the bones restructured to become more digitigrade,

while still allowing a good amount of movement in the toes.

They were now perfectly suited to live

a double life; they not only allowed for comfortable walking,

but also tethering with the claws to allow him to hang upside-down from things.

All of these changes would have taken place under the cover of Grayson’s shoes,

socks, and pants,

but Grayson had long since abandoned those

somewhere on the path along with his shirt

(Robin took note of where he dropped them

so they could pick them up later).

Grayson couldn’t explain

why he felt the need to do that… in fact, he was barely capable of explaining

anything at this point.

What was originally a conversation between him and Robin

had now become a game of Robin continually talking to keep his hazy mind occupied.

His mental state at this point could only be described as a balloon ride…

as if his own mind was being blown through the wind,

directionless, able to go only where the wind pushed it.

Robin’s voice was the only tether he had to reality,

giving his brain something to follow

so he didn’t become completely lost in his own subconscious.

The most he felt was a bit more discomfort and itchiness on his face as the last of the changes took place.

The brown fur spread across his face,

stretching his nose and mouth into a small muzzle as the nose shifted into a yellow-colored

fleshy triangle, fitting for bat like him.

The fur that grew in around his eyes

formed two yellow circles

almost like eyeshadow,

and his eyes shifted to a dark red color which,

at the expense of making him look slightly demonic,

enabled much better night vision.

Finally, his ears, which had long since shifted to the top of his head,

grew out tremendously,

stretching until they were almost as tall as the rest of his head.

The insides of the ears

were yellow once again,

while their brown fur clashed with the sea of messy yellow fluff

that surrounded them on all sides.

Grayson now had much more control over the muscle movements of his ears,

and he directed them to focus on Robin’s voice so naturally

that he didn’t even think about it.

Grayson, though still anthropomorphic,

was now completely unrecognizable as his old self.

In his place was a brown and yellow bat,

who still sat dazed

listening to the voice of the spirit

carrying him in their wooden arms.

He stayed leaning back against the mess of leaves enveloping Robin’s chest,

as his legs dangled off the side of Robin’s palm.

Legs… Grayson stared at his legs.

The strange, brown, furry appendages with their long yellow claws,

swinging back and forth

as they were rocked by Robin’s movement.

Something was wrong here.

Grayson couldn’t focus on what exactly it was, but…

Wait!! In an instant,

Grayson snapped out of the strange trance he was in.

His ears perked up,

his eyes widened,

his fur stood on end.

He finally realized.

He didn’t know how it had gone on so long without him noticing, but at last he understood what was wrong.

Why was he sitting

when hanging

was much more comfortable?

He cleared his throat

and looked up at Robin.

“Hey, would you mind…?” he started.

Robin was relieved to hear that, despite Grayson’s changed body,

his voice still remained the same.

They had taken great lengths in reading the spell out

properly to make sure they changed only what was necessary.

Everything about Grayson was perfect just as he was.

The only thing he needed

was an excuse to not go back to his stressful life… an excuse that Robin was more than willing to give him.

Of course, there was a big part of Robin that felt immoral doing this… this felt like meddling in fate and nature far more than what they normally permitted themself to do.

But Robin rationalized it all

by remembering what caused them to go through with this in the first place.

Grayson wouldn’t have been happy going back to his

“old” life. Even Grayson himself knew that deep in his heart,

and it showed through the reluctance he’d had

in his voice. Grayson would much happier staying here with Robin.

They both would be much happier this way, and they both

knew it. Without a word,

Robin answered Grayson’s query

by stretching their arm out horizontally,

as if it were a tree branch.

During the transition,

Grayson seamlessly hooked his feet onto the arm,

pivoted upside-down,

and wrapped himself up in his wings like a yellow cocoon.

The movement was so seamless and natural that it looked as though Grayson had been doing it his whole life.

In his mind, he probably believed that he really had been.

Grayson realized it was a

good thing that he had shifted to the much cozier hanging position when he did.

Up ahead, he could see that Robin was finally reaching their destination:

A river, which was surprisingly wide for a

“creek”, as Robin had described it.

Though, maybe Robin was just comparing the creek’s size to the size of their own body.

He knew how much they preferred to stay big,

with their head in the tree canopy.

As Grayson and Robin approached

the gently rushing river,

both silently appreciated the sight

of the rising moon which was reflected cleanly in the pristine water.

The sight of it made Grayson remember exactly how long their walk had lasted…

when they’d first started the journey,

the sun was still up!

They sure had come a long way.

All for… For… Grayson chuckled.

“Hey, Robin? I don’t want to spoil the moment, but,

um… why did we come here again?

I… think I forgot.”

Robin laughed heartily in return.

“You forgot? That’s very unlike you, Grayson!

We were just coming here so you could get a drink, remember?”

“Oh, yeah,” Grayson remarked calmly.

Of course they came for a drink.

How on earth did he manage to forget how parched he was?

He must have been too busy talking the day away with Robin,

as he always liked to do.

Now he felt like he was paying the price for it;

his throat was unbearably dry from all that talking.

Robin held their arm out above the river,

just high enough that Grayson could close his eyes,

submerge his head in the water,

and drink to his heart’s content.

It might have looked awkward to anybody not well-versed in the art of drinking while hanging upside down, but for a bat like Grayson,

it was simply the most comfortable way of doing things.

From the moment he was born,

he was always happiest

upside-down… especially

with Robin supporting him.

Robin lifted Grayson

back up into the air once they were sure he’d had his fill. “You’re

a real thirsty boy, aren’t you?”

they quipped. They didn’t get to make banter like that very often,

so they savored the moment.

“Sorry to cut you off so soon,

but a blue jay just told me I have some human garbage to pick up back on the trail we came from.”

Grayson sighed, clearly as upset as Robin was about their home getting defiled.

“Another granola bar wrapper or something?”

he asked. By now, he was all too used to the occasional annoying hunter or hiker who wandered through Escritor Forest.

He hated them almost as much as Robin did.

“Nope. It’s actually…”

Robin laughed once again as they spoke.

“A full set of human clothing.

Shirt, pants, shoes…

even a backpack. The whole wardrobe, just on the ground in the middle of nowhere!”

“Clothing?” Grayson replied curiously.

He paused. That word…

clothing… almost seemed to hang in the air in front of him.

For a moment, there was something familiar about what Robin had described. There was something

recognizable… something recent, that nagged him at the back of his mind. …But

just for a moment.

That bit of musing was quickly forgotten

as Robin gently swung him around,

pivoting back on the path they came from.

As the pair began their retreat back into the deep forest

they had always called home,

Grayson muttered only one thing under his breath.

“I’ll never understand humans…”

This was the second and final part of

“Where No Man Walks”

by Signatelli,

read for you by Khaki,

your faithful fireside companion.

You can find more stories on the web

at thevoice.dog,

or find the show wherever you get your podcasts.

Thank you for listening

to The Voice of Dog.