The sun's glaring light woke me up; I knew from its position that it was already very late, but I never imagined that two glasses of fermented mead would keep me unconscious for so long. Everyone else had left in search of the famous Górdilax fruit. It was a tradition that had existed in our village for so many years that no one knew where it came from.
It was not difficult to find the path, it was full of footprints, traces of the troop of guys (mostly teenagers) desperate for their hormones to get a mate. Broken branches showed the way ahead. I had to be careful though, we were not the only species living in the forest; there were goblins, dwarves, elves, the dreaded orcs, and the nauseating trolls, as well as other creatures.
As a child, my grandfather always told me that I should look for the best of fruits if I wanted to have a good mate that would accompany me all my life, would ensure success in my life. His generation as well as his predecessors thought that fruit ensured the future of the species and would bring eternal happiness.
Ironic! My destiny is written by a fruit!
At fifteen, we were already of age and had the "obligation" to comply with tradition. They say that every family has a black sheep as a member, a misfit who does not meet the standards of the society where we live and that misfit turned out to be me. I always wanted to know where our traditions, religion, and customs came from. But to my surprise, everyone looked at me strangely for having such thoughts.
They even took me to the great elder, magician, and mystic to exorcise me and turn me into an ordinary villager.
I liked this old man, he was a very wise man. Well, he just examined me with some strange wooden tools, I must admit I was very nervous at first, I even thought there was something strange about me, but finally he told me that nothing was wrong. I was so relieved. And he told me the strangest thing I had ever heard in my short life, I had to pretend in front of the others because they were not prepared for the kind of thought that began to be born in me. In his mystical predictions, he told me, he saw a new change and evolution in our species, but it was still a long way off. I didn't quite understand what he meant, but I was happy that there was nothing to worry about. So there I was, with a huge hangover and ready to go find the damn Górdilax fruit and become a role model for our tribe.
My father passed away when I was just a child so my mother and grandfather took over my upbringing. My mother was very emotional the night of the ceremony. Her chest swelled with emotion and her eyes overflowed with tears of joy. How could I let her down?
What the hell, I said to myself. I had to try for my mother.
...
I never thought it would take me three days to find the famous tree; I know I exaggerated the time but in my opinion, you can never be too cautious about the dangers of the forest, and besides, I didn't want to run into any of the other "chosen ones". Fortunately, my mother filled my backpack with enough biscuits and dried meat for a week.
It truly was a big tree, imposing before the others, it could take a considerable time just to walk around its thick trunk. At the foot of the Górdilax, there were many fruits trampled, broken, ruined by the desperation of the "future" men of the village.
The tree was more than 30 meters high and I had no idea how to reach the fruits at the top, the only ones that remained untouchable.
So, I was in front of the tree, scratching my head, thinking how ridiculous it was to endanger my life by trying to reach a fruit that would ensure the "happiness" of my life; however, the situation represented a challenge and I loved challenges.
I was meditating while chewing on a piece of meat when suddenly I heard a battle cry lashing out at the Górdilax.
Whata...!? A girl?
Certainly, a girl was throwing herself against the tree, using a pair of knives to climb up and reach the nearest fruit.
Surprisingly, I wasn't the only abnormal in the tribe.
Her red hair was in a braid that zigzagged behind her back in response to her climbing movements. The muscles in her arms were marked by the effort she applied as she tried, again and again, to thrust her knives to gain height. Her determination was impressive. For a moment, I was immersed in her strong determination to reach for the fruit.
I was not built like a warrior, nor did I have the skills of a hunter to use a bow and shoot at one of the fruits. But my strange way of thinking always got me out of trouble in the simplest way. I sat on the ground and began to observe the tree and its great height ...
I rummaged through my things inside my backpack and found a sharp knife. I remembered seeing some very long, straight branches not far from where I was sitting. So I decided to cut a few to form a big stick and tie my backpack to one end along with my knife.
The sun was going down and it would soon get dark. I had finished my invention and glanced at the tree. The girl was still in her attempt and was barely halfway to her goal.
It was not easy to lift the long rod as its weight had increased, so I took it apart and added each section one after the other while supporting the whole structure on the branches of the Górdilax. Finally, my long stick reached one of the fruits, I pushed with all my strength and managed to get the edge of my knife to cut one of them, it fell into the backpack as I had calculated.
I lowered the stick and reached my backpack; there it was, the famous Górdilax fruit. It looked appetizing with its reddish-yellowish colors.
Suddenly, I felt a weight on the back of my neck and looked up, the girl was looking at me dumbfounded, then, she snorted and continued with her arduous effort. I guessed that something had not pleased her.
Well, that's her problem, not mine.
I was about to leave, but I felt something familiar, a nauseating and suffocating smell flooded my nose; the earth shook under my feet, again and again, and my heart began to pound my chest hard, all this only meant one thing ...
I grabbed all my things and hurried to put them in my backpack, I was about to run away, but I couldn't leave the girl alone. I threw a small rock towards the girl, but it wasn't enough; after throwing more than 5 rocks, one of them managed to hit her. The girl turned to me and gave me a look that could have cut me in two. Why the hell was I worried about her?
But she soon noticed how frantically I was waving my arms, my anxious look, and my anxiety, which went to her bones when she read from my lips a word she didn't expect: Troll.
She was in a predicament, she was too high to jump from the tree, in her position she was easy prey; the footsteps felt closer and closer. I hastily reassembled my pole and extended it towards her. Shorty, she understood the plan, and as soon as it reached her height, she descended quickly. When she got down, we both ran for cover at once.
...
After hiding under a large tree root, we waited for the giant to move away. Time passed, but its stinking odor still swarmed. Our breathing was still labored, not everyone can stand within a few feet of a Troll and live to tell the tale. That was close, however, there was something still ringing in my head: What was a girl doing performing the tribe's manhood ritual?
Without being aware of it, our gazes met for a moment. Under her reddish hair, beautiful green eyes were hidden; beads of sweat trickled down from her forehead stumbling over the scars on her cheeks that gave her a hint of ruggedness. I couldn't stop my words from jumping out of my mouth:
"What the hell were you doing looking for a Górdilax fruit?"
She pursed her lips indignantly and looked away, it seemed to me for an instant that she had blushed.
Silence fell again. I opened my backpack and took out a biscuit and offered it to her in peace. She tasted her lips and hesitated for a moment. I extended my eyebrows and rolled my eyes, placed the bread near her and reached for another for myself.
After a few bites, her voice broke the silence.
"I hate that damn tradition," she waited a moment to see my reaction.
I continued to chew my bread and nodded slightly as I watched the shadows spread around us. She paused again, as she forced herself to swallow her chew.
"My older sister had to share her entire life with a man she had never seen or loved. She was forced to leave our home. But such is the law of the tribe and she had to follow the damned ways."
"She was still very young when her future partner, a rude man much older than her, surprised her. He pointed at her triumphantly with a disgusted smile"
Her eyes bore into mine for a few moments. Then she looked down and whispered.
"She was still carrying Gwendolin in her arms."
I furrowed my brow
She shook her head and explained
"Our favorite doll. It hurt her so much to have to say goodbye to her, she gave her to me as a gift when she got engaged. Our grandmother had given it to her."
"Our mother could only smile at the stares of the others so as not to humiliate our father, who was overflowing with joy."
"That's what we were created for, wasn't it?" she posed the question to me, but without waiting for me to answer, she gave herself the answer.
"To serve the men of our tribe, isn't that right?"
She swept from the corners of her eyes with the back of her hand the small tears that peeked out.
I didn't know what to say but I was sure I understood what she was explaining. We both remained silent for a while
"I still have it, you know," she said softly and her face softened.
She took a long breath and stood up, shook out her clothes and pulled out her knives. Her eyes narrowed showing the same determination she had as she climbed the Górdilax.
"I will never let a man choose my future," she blurted out before leaving.
Unexpectedly she felt my hand on her arm. Indignantly she turned to see me; surprised, her eyes widened as she saw what I was offering her. At first, she looked at me suspiciously but then raised her eyebrows as she heard me say.
"One fruit will not decide my fate."
I shook out my clothes and grabbed my backpack.
"It's already getting dark it would be better if we took the long way to avoid the cottage where the troll lives," I suggested.
The girl was deep in thought looking at the Górdilax fruit in her hands. I was about to begin my return journey when the girl stopped me.
"I cannot accept it, I must prove to both myself and others that I have what it takes to be a chosen one," she expressed without hesitation.
"I understand," I replied. "Keep it," I told her before walking away.
...
I was sure I had left the Troll far behind. Unfortunately, the walk back to the village was just as lonely as at the beginning.
My mother and grandfather were happy to see me return alive but saddened to see that I was bringing back empty-handed.
"Relax son, I'm sure you'll make it next year," my grandfather replied.
I decided to keep what happened to myself. I only mentioned the presence of the Troll. My mother clutched her chest in anguish and then held me tightly in her arms, after thanking heaven for coming back alive.
That night a big party was held where the lucky ones, those who managed to get a fruit from the Górdilax, could choose their future mates.
As was the custom, the first to arrive would be the first to choose their future mates. Many of the villagers who came to the party looked at me with disappointment that I had not brought any fruit with me. I decided to roll my eyes at their attitude. I really didn't care what people who knew me little or not at all thought.
But no one expected what would happen at the end. The last participant wore a hood along with a cloak that hid his face and most of his body. Intrigued, everyone expected to find out who the stranger was, however, his footwear gave me a hint.
When it was his turn, everyone gasped as she uncovered her face and lifted the Górdilax fruit between her hands.
"The law says that whoever has a Górdilax fruit will have the opportunity to choose their mate," the girl shouted before everyone.
Most of the villagers protested at the girl's words claiming that only men could perform the Górdilax ritual, suddenly the atmosphere of joy and festivity that reigned at first was filled with tension.
Thankfully, the great old mystic elder calmed the mood of the villagers.
"Calm down please," the old man announced. The uproar turned to murmurs and soon silence reigned in anticipation of the wise words of the great mystic.
"Actually there is, nowhere in our law, anything that says that only men are the only ones who can take the Górdilax test. Formerly, both women and men were allowed to do it. However, the ancient council came to the conclusion that our species would become extinct that way, so the test would only be taken by men, to prove that they were strong enough to support a family."
No one made any comment at the mystic's words. The older and more elderly were nodding their heads in agreement.
"Tell me, my dear," the elder said turning toward the girl. "Do you have someone in mind as a mate?"
The girl was speechless. She went pale. She had been so busy proving her worth and facing both the dangers of the forest and the opinion of everyone in the village that she had forgotten that she should have someone in mind as a mate.
The old man looked at her tenderly and understood her dilemma
"Since you are the first woman to pass the test you will have all the time you need to choose your mate," the old man declared to everyone.
"Let the celebration continue!" the mystic elder announced.
The people continued to drink mead and have fun.
Finally, the girl stopped being the center of everyone's attention. She took the moment to approach the friend she had met in the forest.
What the hell! Is she planning to choose me? My heart started pounding in my chest with every step she took towards me. It gave me the impression of seeing everything in slow motion. It was obvious she had chosen me, she was holding the Górdilax fruit in her hands and pointing at me.
I'm not ready to start a family yet! My head was spinning between possible future scenarios and the consequences of losing my freedom to do whatever I wanted.
"Hey!" she shouted when she saw that I wasn't coming out of my thoughts.
"I think this belongs to you," my eyes widened as I saw her pull a second Górdilax fruit out of her backpack and extend it towards me.
