Lost little child
Far from all you’ve known
Soon you’ll realize
The forest claimed you for its own
Deeper and deeper you go
Your presence here, we won’t condone
For this trespass, you must atone
Reap the curse that we have sown
From all around, we descend
Surrounding you, your heart fills with dread
A tug at your back, from your flesh it extends
A soft brushtail, in brilliant red
Scared little child
Change seeps into your bones
When will you realize
The forest claimed you for its own
Your nails curl and darken, sharp as claws
Fingers crack, palms soft as paws
Sharpened teeth fill your growing jaws
A dark wet nose, atop your vulpine maw
Through sprouting, twitching ears you hear
Our whispers, our songs, fill you with fear
At the sight of your plight, we laugh, we jeer
Resist if you might, your end draws near
Poor little child
This cruel fate you can’t disown
When will you realize
The forest claimed you for its own
Poor lost little child
Cling to your fleeting hope
When will you realize
The forest claimed you for its own
The more your shrink, the more fur grows
Speech ebbs away, words you no longer know
Once was two, now stands on four
Limbs snap into place, your paws greet the floor
None to hear your yipping cries
As gold creeps into your slitted eyes
Vulpine instincts subsume your mind
Your last wish for freedom dies
Lost little fox
So confused, so alone
Only now do you see
The forest claimed you for its own
Poor lost little fox
Never to return home
Only now do you see
The forest claimed you for its own
Claimed you for it’s own
Claimed you for it’s own
Only now do you see
We’ve claimed you for our own!
…
No more struggles...
No more screams...
No more silly human dreams...
Once was blind...
Now you see...
A fox is all you'll ever be-e-ee
Hee hee hee heee, ha ha ha haaa hAHAHAHAHAaH̴̹̾h̷̛͍̱͗̇̐̌h̵̢̺̩̥͊̇͐̾̾͠ą̵̢̟͈̯͙̺̙͋͐̆͘͜a̴̝̖̍̏̓͐̕͠͝͝͝Ḩ̸̪͕̣̼̙͔̎̑̍ḧ̵̛̺͔̪̞͕̳͙̳́́̍̉̏a̵̮͇͍̯̮̮̣͒͑H̸͉̘̱̰̱̰͔̯̤͆͂̈̈͗̌̏͘͝ͅA̴̛̩̙̘̞̞̲̐̓͊̽̐̅͝͝Ǎ̷͎͖̦͆̃̄̆ͅḨ̷̲͖̜̻̦̍̊̈́͒̃̆͜͠!̷̦͔͕͗̆͑͛ͅ!̵́̍̃̇͆͌̀ͅ
(The written words devolve into chaotically scrawled laughter, intertwined with scribbled drawings of a butterfly-like creature.)
- Collected parchment from the Laidler campsite.
For 25 year old Denise Laidler, the coming end of the summer and reopening of Evermore Valley brings a grim reminder of what has been lost.
“It’s always hard to think about. To think about what could’ve happened to them.”
Today marks the fifth anniversary of the day that her family, father Eric, mother Leeandra and brother Liam went missing while on a camping trip to the Evermore Valley National Park, three among the eleven people who came to the park five years ago, and didn’t leave.
Denise had the opportunity to join them, but chose to focus on her studies at university.
“It was Liam’s 19th birthday. They wanted me to come, but I had already started to take summer classes that year. I wanted to finish my degree sooner. He… He’d be 24 today. I always ask myself if it would’ve been different, if I went with them.”
She’s not the only one who still thinks about that week. Bria Porter is also among the missing, and her mother, Cassie still wonders if she’ll ever see her daughter again.
“She always loved nature, being outside, out in the woods. She was always really passionate about the environment and being an activist. That was my little girl, she really did want to change the world.”
She shows us her daughter’s room, adorned with animal stickers and stuffed dolls. She picks up a smiling doe in a dress, a bow atop its head. “Oh, this deer. Bria really loved it. We lost it one time and she cried and cried until I remembered I left it in the dryer after washing it.” She puts down the doll and looks out the window. “I think that might be one outside right now.” She waves. “When we took her to the zoo, she’d always wave at the animals. Hi Ms. Deer!
“After she graduated from high school, she and her friends wanted to go visit Evermore together one last time, before they went off to college.
“The last time that we talked, she said that one of her friends had wandered off, and she’d call me after they got everyone back to the camp.”
That was it?
Cassie nods slowly, blinking back tears. “That was it.”
Despite a massive search effort from the police, the FBI and BITE, the missing people have yet to be found, sparking a wide range of speculation as to the truth of what happened there.
Now, having graduated and settled into her career, Denise lives in her family's house in nearby Grimston, alone. “The foxes like to keep me company sometimes. They always like to come and visit me. The neighbors are starting to call me the fox lady.” She laughs.
During last week’s Q&A press conference, the chief ranger and county sheriff assured us that any new information on the missing persons case will be pursued to the fullest. But for now, even as the park reopens and the campers and hikers return, Denise and others, are still left waiting.
“There’s always hope. I still hope that one day, that door will open and, they’ll be right there.”
Reporting from Grimston, Shelly Matterson, ENM News.
Originally sketched and abandoned in 2015. Scanned, colored, written and released in 2024.
With a very special thanks to vinthebat . A scientific, peer-reviewed study reveals that the poem would’ve been at least 15% enworsened without his help in editing. Perhaps, even 20%!
Until the Next One...
Category Artwork (Digital) / Transformation
Species Red Fox
Gender Male
Size 1493 x 1000px
Those darn fairies! :O
This is awesome work, was great watching it develop!
This is awesome work, was great watching it develop!
Couldn't have done it without you.
No, really. Watching your streams has been very educational. I would probably still be flatly ignoring the blur and smudge tools if I hadn't, lol. They help so much with the shading process, it's ridiculous.
No, really. Watching your streams has been very educational. I would probably still be flatly ignoring the blur and smudge tools if I hadn't, lol. They help so much with the shading process, it's ridiculous.
Now this is some of the best work that I have ever seen on this website. There is only one other than I could possibly compare it to, the feel and the quality of this, it doesn't seem like I'm looking at a drawing on the internet, it looks like a portal to another reality. This feels real, authentic and with a lot of humanity and omnidimensional creativity. Very very very very very very well done my friend.
Here lies EnomLee. Viciously flattered to death.
With a lot of online transformation content, the story only lasts as long as the change does. The person changes into a whatever, and that's that. Or, they turn into whatever, have sex, and then that's that.
A lot of times I would look at the art and read the stories and wonder, "Okay, but happens have that point? What the consequences of this incredibly implausible thing happening? How does the rest of the world react to this? What happens to the friends and relatives who didn't get turned into whatever?"
This image gave me the opportunity to explore a little of those ideas. I hope to do so even more moving forward.
With a lot of online transformation content, the story only lasts as long as the change does. The person changes into a whatever, and that's that. Or, they turn into whatever, have sex, and then that's that.
A lot of times I would look at the art and read the stories and wonder, "Okay, but happens have that point? What the consequences of this incredibly implausible thing happening? How does the rest of the world react to this? What happens to the friends and relatives who didn't get turned into whatever?"
This image gave me the opportunity to explore a little of those ideas. I hope to do so even more moving forward.
Thank you. You know, I get the feeling that before too long, I might have something here that you'll really like. Watch this space.
Phenomenal work on the art, the poem, and the story! This whole piece is absolutely fantastic! :3c
Great to hear that. I probably won't be able to keep it up for every upload, sometimes you just want to draw something weird without having to worry about maintaining a continuity. It is really gratifying when people do appreciate the extra effort, though.
When Navi and the rest of the Tutorial faries get frisky
"You're in OUR realm now!" XD
I love the usage of colors and ink- it gives a very 'Shawntae Howard' vibe~
"You're in OUR realm now!" XD
I love the usage of colors and ink- it gives a very 'Shawntae Howard' vibe~
We never really knew how much Navi was going easy on us. "HEY! LISTEN!" is the least of what they could've done! Now everyone will know the truth!
The faeflies are sort've a happy accident. I was looking to see how I wanted to handle coloring the picture and adding a background, making the drawing more interesting to look at and I realized that the drawing itself naturally forms a figure 8, right? Feet to tail, then to the arms up to the head. So then I asked myself, "well okay, how do I take advantage of that?" And then I started thinking about butterflies. One thing lead to the other, and here we are.
I've really got about a million more miles to go before I could think of being close to Ebony Leopard, or you for that matter. I am still very much learning and experimenting with how to approach color and lighting, messing with opacity and locking alpha, and the next upload will probably make that obvious. But you know, I spent a lot of time reading Ultimate Spider-man and Ultimate X-Men so I do have a little bias towards trying to achieve the comic book look.
Anyway, thanks for the support. I hope our mutual friend didn't bother you too much with my work so far. He means well.
The faeflies are sort've a happy accident. I was looking to see how I wanted to handle coloring the picture and adding a background, making the drawing more interesting to look at and I realized that the drawing itself naturally forms a figure 8, right? Feet to tail, then to the arms up to the head. So then I asked myself, "well okay, how do I take advantage of that?" And then I started thinking about butterflies. One thing lead to the other, and here we are.
I've really got about a million more miles to go before I could think of being close to Ebony Leopard, or you for that matter. I am still very much learning and experimenting with how to approach color and lighting, messing with opacity and locking alpha, and the next upload will probably make that obvious. But you know, I spent a lot of time reading Ultimate Spider-man and Ultimate X-Men so I do have a little bias towards trying to achieve the comic book look.
Anyway, thanks for the support. I hope our mutual friend didn't bother you too much with my work so far. He means well.
There's something about the mention of the foxes visiting Denise in the story that just breaks my heart a little.
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