Junee

Junee was a guardian of the forest. The plants and animals accepted her presence. The humans feared her; she could smell their fear, so she avoided them unless they sought to cause harm to her home.

That is, until she found Max, a lost hiker. Normally she would let fate have its way with the lost, but Max was different. It seemed the ancient spirits of the forest were urging her to protect this human. Junee was curious; she had rarely experienced this, so she followed Max. He was in his late 30s, but to Junee he was like a child.

The nights were growing colder, and Junee found she was doing a lot to keep this human alive. She kept his fires going for him while he slept, she kept the wolves and other predators away, and she drew fish and small animals to the traps he set.

Junee thought they were doing pretty good until a pond froze over, and Max fell through the ice. Junee saved him before she knew what she was doing. To Max’s credit, he didn’t immediately freak out.

Junee got Max to a nearby cave and started a fire for him. She could sense his fear kicking in. She tried speaking, but it had been so long, her voice came out all grovel-y from disuse.

“It’s okay, I won’t hurt you."

“W-w-wendigo." Max said, his voice shaky from the growing fear and the cold.

“That’s what humans call me. But you are safe, human; I only hurt people who hurt the forest.”

“A-a-a-m I dead? Is this heaven?”

“No, I saved you.”

Max seemed to take some reassurance in her words. He took the animal skin she held out for him and warmed himself by the fire. It was a long time before he spoke again.

“Thanks. Have you been helping me this whole time?”

“Yes.”

“Do you help people who get lost?"

“No, only you."

“Why me?”

“The ancient spirits of this place urged me to help you. I don’t know why. You must be special.”

Max was quiet for a long time. Junee was uncomfortable; she could tell he was uncomfortable too. She wanted to go. Then Max spoke.

“You know you’re a lot different than the stories I’ve heard about your kind.”

“I know. Humans fear what they don’t know.”

“You can say that again.”

“Humans fear what they don’t know.”

“No, it’s a… You know what, never mind… so uh can you help me get back?”

“Yes.”

Junee started to get up.

“Ummm, should we wait for day?”

“Why?”

“Well, I am like really tired, and I can’t see at night.”

Junee sat back down. She didn’t need sleep, and she could see perfectly well at night, but she saw sense in his words; he would just slow her down. She didn’t want to carry him.

Just before dawn, Junee stoked the fire and went out to get them some fish to eat. It was much easier for her to catch fish than it was to coax them onto Max’s set line. She roasted a fish for Max on the hot embers and ate hers raw. Max woke up, and Junee offered the cooked fish to him, and he ate in silence.

“So how far do we need to go?”

“It depends on where you want to go?”

“I guess like a road or town or something. I can’t believe no one has come looking for me.”

“They did look. For many days. Then they stopped.”

“Oh.”

Max looked somewhat dejected at hearing this.

“This is normal for missing hikers. They look for a span of days, then they stop. These woods are large; many are never found.”

“Oh, I guess I didn’t realize that. Why don’t you help other lost hikers?”

Junee shrugged.

“I don’t interfere with fate, human.”

“Oh… My name is Max, by the way.”

Max instinctively held out his hand. Junee looked at his hand for a minute and then got up to extinguish the coals.

“I know. Let's go. I can get you to a road before nightfall if we move swiftly.”

“Oh, so soon? I thought maybe I was further away than that; I’ve walked so far.”

“You don’t know the forest. You waste a lot of time walking around in circles.” Junee explained as she set off toward the road. She made her way quietly through the underbrush. Whereas Max kept tripping and falling, and at one point a tree he had attempted to steady himself with fell over.

“Um, hey Miss Wendigo… sorry I don’t know your name… um could we slow down?” Max asked, trying to catch his breath.

“If we slow, we won’t reach the road by nightfall.”

“Um, well, if we don’t slow down, I might break my ankle.”

“As you wish, Human.”

“I’m sorry.”

“What for?”

“I’m sorry I’m slow?”

“What a strange thing to apologize for. It makes no difference to me what speed we go. The ancient spirits wish me to guide you, so that is my purpose. If it takes multiple days so be it.”

“Um, yeah, okay. Thanks again.”

“I’m not doing this for you.”

Junee set off again at a slower pace. She was glad Max traveled in silence for the rest of the day. She didn’t mind the boy; unlike humans, she wasn’t irritated by minor inconveniences; she was just used to quiet and solitude.

At dusk, she found them a sheltered place to camp for the night and went off to find some rabbits while Max set up the fire. They ate in silence, and afterwards Max fell into a deep sleep. In the morning they had leftover rabbit meat and set off.

“So… how long have you been doing this?”

“Since I can remember.”

“Oh…”

Max was quiet for a while.

“Do you have a name?”

“If I gave you my name, you would have power over me.”

“Oh… are you from like the land of the Fae?”

“No. There is a lot you don’t understand. The place you speak of is a realm where creatures like me take refuge in this modern era. I have chosen to stay here to protect my home. This forest is all I’ve ever known.”

“Oh, because in our folklore, wendigos are like humans who became cannibals or were possessed or something like that.”

Junee stopped and turned to face Max.

“I don’t remember my life before.”

“Oh… sorry…”

“Stop apologizing, human.”

Junee said and turned back towards the road.

When night fell, Junee stopped by a river and caught them a couple of fish for dinner.

“The road isn’t far; I can take you now, or we can wait for morning.”

“I think I might have better luck getting spotted in the morning.”

They sat in silence for a long time.

“So, why don’t you try to set the record straight about your kind? Why do you let people fear you, when you’re not so bad?”

“You don’t know me, human. Good, bad these words are judgements. I have killed poachers; I have cursed loggers. Many humans would say I am bad for taking a life like this, would they not?”

“Well, I guess. But like you only hurt people who do bad things, right?”

“Again, you use these words. I am not good or bad. I am. Many humans have a right to fear me, and I don’t bother with the ones who don’t.”

“But don’t you want people to like you? Do you get lonely?”

“No, I don’t care. I protect the forest. The forest is my home. That is all I want.”

Max seemed to accept that, or he was too tired to ask further questions.

The next morning, Junee put out the fire and took Max to the edge of the woods.

“There is a vehicle down the road. You shouldn’t have to wait long.” Junee said as she started to walk back into the woods.

“Wait!”

Max gave Junee an awkward embrace. Not knowing what to do, she gave him a couple of pats on the head.

“You must go, child.”

“I won’t ever forget this, what you’ve done for me.”

Max said as he exited the tree line and made his way to the road.

“But you mustn’t remember this silly human,” Junee whispered as she cast the forgetting spell and disappeared into the trees.