Chapter 2 – The Mushroom Girl

Standing before them was a fully formed mushroom girl. She was as tall as Arsac and clothed in a dress made of mushroom bits, pine needles, dirt and bark. She had large eyes, a button nose and freckles on each cheek that looked like specks of brown dirt. She blinked a few times, looked at the boys and smiled. Arsac and Ison saw the smile and felt they were safe. Arsac spoke first, “Are you a mushroom or a man?” The mushroom girl blushed and opened her mouth. What came out didn’t sound like words. It sounded like leaves rubbing together, walking in soft wet dirt, and the rustling of things in the brush. The boys both tilted their heads to listen more carefully. The sound must have come from her mouth but it sounded like it came from behind her, behind them, above them and below them all at once. She opened her mouth again and this time it sounded like animals sleeping and smelled of something soft and warm. Ison sat down and crossed his legs. Arsac looked at the mushroom girl and blinked. She opened her mouth once more and this time the noise sounded like human speech, but rich and earthy and nothing like a human girl. “I am neither a mushroom or a man, have you no education?” she said. Arsac was embarrassed and said, “I’ve learned to hunt, to gather plants and nuts and fruits, to read the times of day and the seasons of the year, to speak so that animals come to me and plants grow faster, to tell the weather, and to know when danger is near. But I have never seen something like you.” Ison stood up and said, “Are you a spirit?” The girl laughed and said, “I’m neither spirit nor man but something else instead.” She turned and she walked from them into the trees, never looking back, vanishing into the mixed light of branch and leaf and bush.

Ison and Arsac suddenly noticed that it had gotten dark and realized more time had passed than they knew. The sun was low in the sky and a chill was creeping into the air, so they made their way back toward their home, silent and filled with the wonder of what they had seen.

Nanna knew more than anyone else about the mushroom people. She knew their hidden names, knew the role they had played in the creation of the world, and knew that it was very good luck to meet one. She had never heard of anyone talking to a mushroom girl, so when she heard the boy’s story she went deep into thought. She placed her chin on her hand, closed her eyes and hummed. She hummed an old song she had learned when she discovered her true-name, a song that helped her think and search inside herself for the truth. When she was done humming, she opened her eyes and looked at Arsac, “Tell me again what the mushroom girl said to you? What were her exact words?” Arsac squinched up his eyes into his best remembering face and said, “I am not a spirit or a mushroom or a man, but something else.” Nanna, thought about this longer and said, “Arsac, it is your time. It is clear to me now. This mushroom girl was calling you into the forest to test you and to help you discover your true name. You must go seek her out and learn what you can from her. Meeting a mushroom girl gives you luck, it is time for you to go on your great adventure.” Arsac stood up said, “Yes Nanna,” and ran as fast as he could, Ison running behind him, until he arrived breathless in front of his parents.