The forest was off-limits. The villagers had long told the story of some dark creature that lived in the depths of the dense woods. Anyone that dared enter never returned. Life was generally happy in the village. Working together in a peaceful bliss meant most villagers never left. They enjoyed staying there and living together as long as no one enters the forest.

One day, a young boy was picking some apples for his mother. It was one of the many chores that he was responsible for. He hated chores but knew mother wouldn't like it if he didn't get them finished, so he begrudgingly completed them all. He often dreamed of a different life. One like the stories he had heard. Stories of adventure and exploration. Stories where young boys and girls discover new things. That want his life. No one ever left the village. The boy wondered why that was the case. Surely, there was more out there to see than this tiny village. The village was placed almost perfectly in the middle of the forest. The village was surrounded by forest.

As he was thinking and picking apples he was startled by a small sound coming from just beyond the edge of the woods. He glanced over, but nothing was there. He must have imagined it. But then he heard it again. He wondered if he should go look around. He could see the area from here. It must be okay to just look. As he slowly crept into the edge of the woods his hands began shaking. He had no idea what was beyond these woods. But there was a pull for him to continue, to explore. It a chance for him to live out his dreams, but this felt way too real.

As he took his first step into the woods, he hesitated. He expected something to happen. Like something to jump out and scare him. But nothing did. So, he took another step, then another. After a few minutes of walking, his fear subsided. Why were people so scared? There was nothing to be afraid of. As he looked around, he noticed how beautiful the trees and the flowers were. Vivid reds and blues. Colors he didn't her to see much in his small village. Why would people be so afraid of such a beautiful place?

It was at that moment that he noticed something strange. A large object in a small clearing up ahead. The boy hid as his fear returned. But the object wasn't moving. It looked like a grey man on top of some kind of animal. The animal had four legs and had some type of device on top that allowed the man to sit on it. But they were so still. Almost like they were completely frozen. How could they be so still? As the boy inspected this scene, he noticed that the man and animal were on top of some type of platform. The boy moved forward.

There were little stone structures around and on the floor. Like they had been destroyed in some way. Ruble scattered everywhere. As he approached the platform he looked up towards the too and realized that it wasn't real. It was some sort of frozen picture that took up a lot of space. He has never seen anything like it before. It made no sense to him. The boy reached out his hands and touched one of the animal's legs. It was cold and hard to the touch. But no reaction. As the boy looked around he noticed something else. There were words written here. But some were missing. Something had knocked part of it away. All the boy could make out was “Ulysses S.-”

The boy kept looking for something to happen but nothing did. He was feeling a little disappointed. So much had been made of the woods but there seemed to be nothing there. Nothing but space and a weird stone structure. Who put it there? How long had it been there? Why did no one want to find it? What were they so scared of? The boy returned to his village and everyone was in a panic. The village elder saw the boy return from the forest. The boy confused said, “there is nothing out there. Just some old rock.” The elder with a look of compassion said, “It has been forgotten and that's what scares us.”