I'm Jonathan Polt. One of your more atypical men on Earth. I love to mess around with my friends, go bowling every now and then, race, bet, and generally mess around. I live in a cul-de-sack. Okay, not totally, but I do live near the dead-end. Everyone here knows eachother, and if anything bad is going on, we help eachother out. This is how we managed to bag mister Victor a few months ago. Chelsea was a fine girl, she was very kind, but when that bastard showed up, he started to beat her. We weren't sure at the time, but when we learned about it, well, let's just say that Chelsea got the medical attention she needed and that Victor was a bit...crushed in more places then the heart. He's been in prison ever since. Then there was that time that old mister leonard, who happily gave his money to those who needed, became victim of a vengeful bank accountant. We helped him out, and the accountant soon found himself behind bars too. Surprised? You should be. Mess with us and you'll pay.

I had a job though. What was it? Lumberjack. Yes, I'm okay with it. No. I don't sleep all night or work all day. I'm actually called every now and then. It isn't that much of a dilemma actually. No. I just chop down trees during three days and go home afterwards. It's like working on an oil rig. You work for two weeks then you go home for the rest of the year. Seeing how much the companies earn, I think they can afford it. As for me, it's just because I have a little birth defect in my spinal column. Nothing much, but I can't perform too many physical activities or my muscles buckle up and paralyze me for a few moments. Since I'm as hard working as the others, the company heads have allowed me to have a necessary amount of rest thanks to my medical certificate.

Today, however, was nothing special. I was busy watching T.V. in my room on my king-sized bed. It was dinner time, and the sunset was coming in. I was just watching a documentary on the world wars. I was bored. While I was doing that, I heard a huge explosion, followed by everything in my room bouncing up and falling back down. Blandly setting everything down, I walked outside to notice that everyone was there wondering what was going on as well. I saw my body David in front worrying a bit while I held mah cup 'o coffee.

"Hey Dave. Biggie Mac fall down again?"

"Haha. No. We're four blocks away from his house."

"So?"

"When he falls, the tremors only reach three."

"Haha! We're bad."

"I know."

Biggie Mac was a morbidly obese guy living four blocks away from us. We didn't hate him, oh no. We even helped him do some sports to lose weight. Only problem is, he is only motivated when we make fun of his weight. It hurt a bit inside to say that stuff, but it was funny for us and made him work harder. Either way, we didn't know what happenned, until some truckie came by in an ass-hauling four-by-four.

" 'Ey! There's been an asplosion down the street. Some idiot went 'n left 'is gas tank on and lit a light. We've gotta go down there!"

The guy then turned back around with some difficulty and went back to the now ascending smoke.

"Holy crap! Dave, call the emergency lines."

"On it!"

"I'll go get my extinguisher and some first-aid kits."

Getting the necessary supplies, I locked down my house and jolted towards my small car. Doing so, I reached the the keys and bolted down the streets followed by the others. It was an absolute mess when we got there. The house was completely exploded, and pieces were everywhere, flaming too. I got mah trusty extinguisher and passed the first-aid kit to those wishing to help the wounded, and got to putting out the fires.

"Whose house is this anyways?" I asked out loud.

Everybody shrugged. I continued to spray the thing when I heard barking coming from somewhere.

"Oh shit! Hey guys, there's a dog stuck under here. Help me get it out."

"Alright. Hold on."

Luckily for me, I had already extinguished that portion of the house. With a great amount of effort, we lift up the fallen pieces of house, and out went the dog who immediately ran towards the nearby forest. I rolled my eyes in irritation as it went ever deeper into the trees.

"*sigh* Don't worry guys, I've got this. Here, take the extinguisher."

"Careful now."

"Don't worry, it's me!"

I chased after that sucker. It was pretty quick, too! It hopped over root and moss-covered rock as the dry-leaf-covered floor echoed like mush with every step. I tried lulling it back to me, but that bastard wouldn't listen. I did notice something strange going on though. The sky was getting redder and the trees seemed to have been getting closer.

"Weird. Get back her you stupid dog! C'mon! I'm not trying to hurt you. Oompf!"

I hit my head against a tree branch that seemingly came out of nowhere. Rubbing my head in pain, I cursed at it and swiped it out of my way, only to get hit in the back by another one. Confusion ran across my face. The worst part is, my back was starting to kill me, so I sat down on a tree root.

"Owww. Damn this spinal condition. I can only go so far. But those trees, it's almost like *snap*"

A tree branch wrapped around my mouth. My mumbled screams didn't go too far as vines began to grab my limbs and wrap around them. More tree branches grabbed me and pulled me towards a hollow giant that seemed dead for quite long time. In front of me, that ash-black dog was sitting and staring at me. I tried to gesture it to go get help, but it shook its head and looked at me with what I could perceive as anger. My eyes widened as, from the dead tree, spewed purplish vines that itched and rashed terribly. It didn't help with me being completely engulfed in it and feeling a G-force ripping through me as I flew somewhere strange. A few seconds later, I landed with a loud thump in some weird chamber. It was in the tree. Surrounding the walls was the greenest vine I could ever see. The rest looked like it was carved out of the tree itself, and in front of me there was some sort of gigantic table of counselors. The greenish creatures sitting there looked, I don't know, reptilian? It was hard to say. They were looking at me quite angrily. I felt myself shrink. Suddenly, one of them spoke:

"You..."it said coldly "You finally decided to leave the discomfort of your cement world of cold sturdiness to enter nature's domain? Bad idea."

"What-"

"SILENCE!" screamed another. "You have only been giving respite to understand our tongue as your actions against Gaia have disturbed the equilibrium in all things. While the majority of your race pollutes, it is of a somewhat manageable level, but you! You pollute without thought or care. You gladly tossed twelves rotting batteries into the river. Their acidic compounds almost killed everything if others of your species hadn't intervened."

"But-"

"And you nearly killed off a brand-new species of insect we had implemented in 'your' yard, hoping that your attention would lead to appreciation towards nature, but to no avail. Not only id you nearly kill them, but you poisoned the grounds too." a female one roared.

"Not only that, but your carelessness even put your fellow species in danger. You will have to pay the ultiate price." a very big creature followed with irritation on hs face.

"But, who are you? What are you?"

"We are the Forest Guardians, and upon you, we place a curse."

The vines grabbed my limbs and started to tear everything off...even my skin. I felt a sad tone go through my mind as everything seemed to be taken away from me in every way possible.

"A curse that will link you to nature in many ways."

Now my clothes were gone. I was embarassed, but the creatures didn't care. Now it was the turn of my flesh. It was so painful, but a vine muffled my screams.

"A curse that will prevent you from returning to this world and seeing your friends and family."

It was still being torn off! It was so painful!

"You will never see your parents again."

Now it was all gone. I was wondering how I was still alive seeing as I was pretty much only bones now.

"This curse will give you new shape."

The vines began to pull, push, and constrict my body. I screamed like mad, but my roars of pain were still muffled by the now thorned vine.

"The curse will fill you upon the importance of nature."

I felt my soul being torn at as my bones finished twisting and burning.

"This curse will change your appearance."

What the hell? Now there were miniature treeants in front of me. They slammed bits and pieces on me, and jammed more of those long thorns straight into my bones to keep this new flesh attached. God knows the pain of getting your bones pierced all the way to the other side, and this pain was everywhere. Those green creatures did not care. They continued to stare at my predicament.

"The curse, as we have said before, shall link you not only to nature, but to us as well. Your eyes shall be ours, and they will be your one and only gift."

"Mphfmph?!"

Two red and green vines went up to my eyes. I couldn't help but try and retract until I felt something inch into my skin without any care. The vines near my eyes then...

"And to finish everything, you shall be given one final curse."

"Yes. You will not be able to communicate with any other creature through speech. You will be given our tongue, and that shall be the only tongue spokn unto others by your entity."

Another searing pain flew through my throat, ony to stop as suddenly as it started.

"Your alterations are complete. You will not be sent to the world of your punishment."

"It is a lovely world, but there are many dangerous creatures there. I would be careful if I were you. Don't you want to see your lovely Carla?" the female one spoke with a weird tone and a dazzling smile. One that I recognized.

I could still barely see, but I tried to mumble something, only to have an ocean of red come out of mouth.

"Yes. That's right Johhny, I'm Carla. I've been keeping a close watch on you since you began your crusade of death. I never loved you and I never will. Buh-bye. OH! And since we both loved Pirates of the Caribbean, just imagine me being Calypso while you're poor, heart-broken Davy Jones."

I heard something big form from the wood of the tree, as well as the sound of her started to play a tune that we both knew all too well. It was the same one going through my head, but with more intensity and more mockery, and it was on an Organ.

"Have fun in the tunnel!" she shouted.

Suddenly, the vines let go and I began to plummet into a hole that had suddenly fored below me. Any added attempts at screaming were met with heavy coughing and a rain of blood. I slipped and slid through this tunnel as tree branches began to slap me. I still could barely see anything but blackness, but I could feel that the leaves on those tree branches were getting more and more numerous, and, as the music finally stopped, I felt myself hit the ground harshly and tumble all the way into a crater, only to stop against a little mounting of dirt. I moaned a bit, and I tried to stand back up, but I was just pitter-pattering my body everywhere as it ached like crazy. I could barely move so much I was in pain. As I continued to "flop" I smelled a strange breeze in the air.

"Flowers?" I thought to myself.

Suddenly, I herd intense roaring. It was just adding even more pain and I felt my body beginning to spasm. I managed to hold myself with an exhale, and the little I could see was a pissed off multi-headed carnivorous plant. I almost screamed, but it was met with the usual result. I scamperd up as fast as I could and ran away from it into the wilderness. I knew those Guardians were mocking me, as everytime I ran a bit faster as, somehow, that thing continued to chase me, a tree branch smacked me in the head, slowing me down. I even slammed into a few rocks myself or tripped over a stone. It was getting closer and closer. I was tearing up. I just felt something strange about my body, but I just didn't know what. When I finally left the dark confines of the forest, which took quite alot of time, I felt my spine act up, and I tumbled onto the floor on my back.

I was panting hard, incapable of seeing anything properly. I was in searing pain, I was suddenly sent into another world while the girl I always loved turned out be a spah and was more sadistic than the other green creatures, I don't think I have my body anymore, I'll never see my family again, and thanks to those damned trees, I was about to be eaten by some sort of monstrous beast. Yet, when I forced my head up, its blurred image didn't stray away from the tree-line. I sighed in relief...well..."semi-sighed" as I coughed half-way through. The lumbering giant returned to wherever its den was, and I felt the soft caress of Carla on my face as something yellow appeared in front of my face. I struggled to move, maybe even give her a kiss, but a searing pain pierced me in the eyes once more. I screamed in agony as I put my hands to my eyes. There was nothing left but the cold embrace of darkness now. So cold.