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Zack didn't feel like double science today. It was too nice a day. He felt like an adventure instead. Too bad they were in school. But Zack had a plan."Mary Baker?" called the teacher, not yet far down the register."Here, miss.""Leon Diamond?""Here, miss."Zack quietly scribbled a message on a piece of paper he'd already torn off for a situation just like this and passed it to Sam, who sat on the next desk along:Want to bunk school today?"Sam Ellis?""Here, miss," he answered calmly, the note hidden under his hand. Then he wrote a short reply and handed it back to Zack.Yes.Miss. Martin went on down the register and soon called out Zack's name. "Zack Keelan?""Here, miss."That was all they had to do today. Now all they needed to do was wait for Miss. Martin to send them to the other building for their first class.Roll ended and thirty chairs squeaked against the floor all at once, accompanied by the rustle of books and plastic click of pens being gathered. Everyone headed out through the doorway.Zack got outside first and waited for Sam to catch up. "Come on," he said and led the brown-haired boy behind the main school building to leave in secret.

 xXx"So what do we do now?" Sam asked. He didn't have to explain his question any further: both of their moms would still be at their respective homes so they couldn't go to either of their houses yet.Zack thought for a moment. "We could go to the pond and look for frogs," he suggested.So they did that. They saw a few frogs in the pond, keeping their delicate skins cool by staying mostly under the water except for their strange eyes and tiny nostrils which broke the surface and gave their positions away with their distinctive shape. Zack and Sam chatted and watched the goldfish slide gracefully along under the water, pointed at damselflies and squinted into the sky and wondered how hot it was going to get.But what they were really waiting for was the stroke of 9:45, when they could be sure Zack's house would be empty. When the time came they headed over.Sam had recently downloaded a Sonic the Hedgehog hack onto Zack's PC where Sonic got fat if he got too many rings so they played that for a while. But late morning came and the sunshine outside looked too good to stay inside."Hey Sam, why don't we go and check out the woods?"Sam smiled. "Yeah, why not? Want us to make sandwiches?""Sure." So they made corn syrup sandwiches and left the house.

 xXxThey'd never been far into the woods before. The edge of the woods they knew: they knew the dog-walking path with its rabbit warrens and chalk, they knew the place by a small river that smelled of garlic and got full of smooth leaves and white flowers in spring, and they knew the place where

someone kept half-making shelters out of dead sticks. Several of them were dotted about, half-collapsed with age.They knew all of that and could have a whole day of fun at the edge, if they wanted.Sam looked around at the shelters, bristling with excitement. "Wanna rebuild one of these? We could get one fixed up in time to eat lunch inside."That sounds like a cool idea, thought Zack, but I want to do something different. The day felt like an extra-special occasion, the kind that deserved an extra-special plan.But what?Whatever they did, they had only today to do it. And they had all day to do it. A glorious opportunity!"Why don't we go deeper in? Check out what it's like?"Sam's eyes widened as he looked from Zack to the space ahead of them. Up ahead the trees thickened - because there were more of them and because each tree had grown a tall, fat trunk to survive the shadows of their neighbours. He'd never gone so far in that he couldn't see the buildings across the field behind them any more. Always, he'd stayed in sight of those.Why? he asked himself, and realized he had no reason. Just something to do with Doing What The Adults Said."Yeah!" he answered. So they set off.The trees closed around them like sentinels as they went, shading them from the fierceness of the sun and letting the light in only in little golden shafts and green glows through their leafy canopies. The ground was leafy and mossy and soft and damp, and smelled of compost. Something scurried away and they hurried to try and see what it was, but it was gone before they could find it.They saw tiny mouse holes in the bare mud and nearby, an antler."Cool!" Zack enthused, picking it up. "I love these things!"Sam inspected it. "It is pretty cool!"Zack put it back where he'd found it, smiled and moved on.They found a place full of mossy rocks and sat down to eat their sandwiches. Mom had always encouraged Zack to sit and listen to the sounds of the woods, and most of all to try and be still. 'That,' she told him at these times, 'is when the really special inhabitants of the wood come out and go about their day. If you're lucky you'll see them.'He kinda knew it was true anyway, but as they sat there munching contentedly away, a deer walked by in search of something to browse on.They suddenly went quiet, very quiet indeed. They even stopped eating in case she heard their chewing. But soon enough the deer saw them anyway. She raised her head and pointed her ears toward them like long satellites."Wow," whispered Sam so quietly even Zack almost didn't hear him.Zack smiled - slowly - and kept his hands up in front of him, holding the sandwich. He didn't dare move them in case he startled her, even though his forearms were starting to ache.She stamped, went still a while longer and then decided to bolt. As she took her

first flying leap they both broke their silence, overcome by her grace and speed."Whooooah!"She lifted her fluffy white tail and bounced effortlessly away and it wasn't long before they could neither hear nor see her.Soon they finished their sandwiches and moved on. Deeper and deeper into the woods they went. Sam quietly enjoyed the feeling of the woodland floor against his feet. Sometimes mossy, sometimes cold and slimy with clay, sometimes rough with sticks. They walked until they found a clearing where the light filtered down and illuminated a circular pond.Round it was, and clear and still as glass.Sam craned his neck over the edge to look into it. "It looks kinda deep," he said when Zack didn't speak."Yeah," said Zack. He paused. "Fancy a swim?"Sam gave him a That's an awesome idea! look and went to the edge.As ever, Zack was the first to step in. He gasped, then relaxed. "It's a little cold but not too bad," he reported without Sam having to ask. He took another step in and apparently decided that it really was okay.Sam followed him in, tensed and relaxed as he got used to the temperature, and they gradually waded further in. It turned out to be deceptively warm: they found in time that it felt just pleasingly cool, not cold at all. Zack swam the nearest he could to lengths in the small space while Sam paddled over to an overhanging tree root and stretched the backs of his arms along it. His body and legs floated up to the surface and he idly watched his toes and Zack."You know," said Zack thoughtfully as he did a lazy spin, "I think kids should get days off or something, like grown ups do. Just for them."Sam immediately thought of the summer holidays but didn't have the heart to disagree. He wetted his hand and let water drops fall on his mostly-dry forearm. He watched the hairs rise and fall as it got colder and warmer again.Suddenly they heard a rustling noise. Someone - or something - was coming.The two boys looked at each other, horrified. A dog walker? A worried parent, coming to look for them? They both stayed in the water and hoped they didn't look too suspicious, that whoever it was didn't make a big deal out of the fact that they were playing truant.It turned out to be a something, not a someone - an animal of some kind that Sam couldn't identify at first. He blinked a couple of times and tried to understand what he was looking at. He tried to see it as another deer. Or perhaps it was a beaver. And then it came fully out of the shadows and he saw it for what it was.An otter. But no ordinary otter. This one had an expressive face and stood effortlessly up on its hind legs. Its front paws looked dexterous like a normal otter's but more human-like. Its neck fur was pressed down by some kind of cord which held an intricate white structure, which rested on its throat. It looked surprised to find the two boys there and

froze."Hello?" tried Zack, speaking quietly so as not to frighten it. "Is this your pool?"It looked surprised at Zack's speech and Sam wondered if it understood. After all, it was an otter. But then, it seemed to have an intelligent way about it, perhaps in the way it stood with one paw on the trunk of a tree and its attention wholly on them, almost as if it was capable of human thoughts and feelings. Perhaps it was just afraid. "If we're intruding them I'm sorry. We can go. Come on Zack.""Oh no," it said in a voice that managed to sound melodious and gentle at the same time. "I don't need you to move. I just didn't expect to see anybody here. The pond - it doesn't belong to anybody. Why should it?""Well, I guess since you put it that way," said Zack, although Sam recognized that his voice was hushed as if in awe."May I join you?" asked the otter politely.The two boys looked at each other as if to check the other's permission. Neither of them had any problem with it. "Of course not! Come on in!"The otter bowed. "Thank you." He stepped forward to climb into the pond."Watch out, it's quite cold," said Zack."Is it? Oh my goodness, yes it is! Well, that's nothing an otter can't manage." He waded further in until he was up to his sleek, straight waist in water. "Ahh, that's better. I didn't ask your names, how rude of me..?""I'm Zack, and this is Sam."The otter tilted his head in what Sam took to be a sign of acceptance. "My name is Mountain."Before Sam knew it he'd burst out laughing, and so had Zack. Mountain looked displeased. He felt bad about that - they had to make amends. He did his best to stop. "I'm sorry, but that's a really an unusual name."Mountain looked at least a little mollified and said grudgingly, "I will admit it is an unusual name. I have never seen a mountain and neither did my parents. They always liked the idea of a hill so large you could walk through the clouds on it, so that's why they gave me it as a name."Sam found himself gazing into space as he thought about that. "That is actually kinda cool.""Cool? Like this water? I suppose mountains must be cool.""No, I mean, it's awesome.""They must be awesome too. I think that was the point. Not that I would venture that I am awesome. I am just a simple otter living a simple life."They gave up talking then and simply swam. Mountain showed himself to be an excellent swimmer, able to make turns and twists in the water that neither of the boys could copy. Zack tried but got a nose full of water and had to give up.The temperature changed gradually from the heat of a broad midsummer's day (albeit one rendered more humid than fierce by the woods) to the lazy, sultry kind of afternoon warmth that feels less likely to burn a human's skin.The two humans noticed this but the otter did not, for such things did not affect him so much. Eventually they

tired of swimming and laid themselves out on the bank to dry. Zack and Sam lay on their backs with their hands behind their heads and watched the clouds morph into whichever shapes took their fancy, while Mountain curled into a C shape on his belly. The heat made his fur gradually turn from slick, shiny brown to textured and deep, springing up into little spikes."I have never seen your kind in the forest before," he admitted sleepily, his eyes half-closed as the heat lulled him. "Where did you come from?""There are lots of us," said Zack. "I guess nobody really comes this deep into the forest. We come from... outside of the forest, I guess."Mountain considered this. From the look on his bewhiskered face Zack guessed he'd might as well have told him they came from outer space. "'Outside of the forest'", he echoed. "There are rumours among my clan that the forest has an end but most of us are unsure whether or not to believe them. Many otters say the forest goes on forever, on and on until it reaches the edge of Creation. So it really does not?""Nope, not at all!" laughed Zack, feeling that Mountain was silly to believe in such superstition."It's not so hard to believe that the forest goes on forever," Sam said a little too quickly, and Zack realized he might have offended the otter. He looked over at the animal to see him busy making his peace with the idea that Zack thought his beliefs were silly."I suppose it is possible for the forest to have an end," Mountain offered a little grudgingly. "But if there is no forest, then what is beyond it? No otter has ever been able to explain.""Well," said Sam dreamily. "There are towns and cities - those are where humans live - and deserts and rainforests and the ice caps and oceans..."Mountain was shaking his head, his little round ears pricked high and his tail sliding around into a sharper curve. "I do not understand any of these words."So the boys explained to him how humans had learned to make mud (like the mud they lay on this afternoon to get dry) into blocks for making shelters, and how those shelters had got more and more complex over many years."Remarkable," mused Mountain and looked thoughtfully at the mud beneath his claws. "And you named something called a rainforest. What is it? Is rain truly integral to it? Are there still trees?"Sam in particular waxed lyrical about the wildlife to be found in rainforests for he loved reading about the rainforests. He told Mountain about the shiny blue butterflies, about the birds with impossible feathers and breeding rituals, and about the poisonous spiders ("they're as big as my hand!") and frogs and long, legless snakes, and about the human-like creatures called chimpanzees and gorillas and orangutan who lived deep within the forests - and about Mountain's distant relatives, the giant otters.All of this fascinated Mountain, not least that gorillas lived on mountains

and that there were giants of his kind abroad.In return the boys asked and learned about Mountain's culture which sounded wonderful and strange. Mountain had a tribal chief who had won his place as leader by catching a pike and who wore a ceremonial head-dress of leaves, woven for him by his daughters every few days to keep it fresh."Uh, you guys?" interrupted Zack as he checked his watch. "We have to go home soon.""Back to the place beyond the forest?" Mountain asked, although of course he knew the answer. "To one of your buildings?""Yeah," said Zack, who felt sad that this was how it was."Then go you must," said the otter and stood up on his hind feet to stretch his forelegs and back. "But before you do I would like to give you a gift." He waddled up to them, his hand-paws behind his neck. As he approached Sam he took his paws away from his neck and the two boys saw that he had removed his pendant. He laid it carefully in Sam's hands.They both looked at it together. The cord was made of twisted grasses, supple but braided into an attractive pattern. Threaded onto it was the object they'd both noticed on Mountain's throat but forgotten to ask about.It was a fish skull with fearsome teeth."This is the skull of the pike my father caught," he explained. "He gave it to me as a sign that he hopes I will one day catch one of my own and earn the place of tribal chief. I am not yet old enough to do so and another has recently taken the role, but I hope one day to earn it."The boys both marvelled at it. Finally Zack looked him in the eye. "Thank you Mountain. I think we've got something in return. Sam, what do you think?"Sam frisked himself. Zack saw him reject the idea of handing over his watch, and then he dug into his pockets. He pulled out a few coins, an elastic band and a shiny blue button."Here, I can give you this," he said, putting it self-consciously into Mountain's paws."It is so very bright!" he enthused, turning it over. "What is it?""We humans attach them to our clothes to make them hold together," Sam explained, picking at his tshirt to indicate what clothes were. "That one fell off but I've got a spare at home. Do you want it?""I think it is beautiful," said Mountain. "I wonder why the holes are so perfect?"Zack took a step away and gave the two an apologetic look to remind them that they had to go. "Maybe we can explain another time.""I'd like for us to meet up again," said Sam. "Can we?"Mountain smiled. "I hope so. If you ever want to find me, come to this pond and wait. Perhaps I will come, perhaps another of my tribe will come. If it is not me, ask to speak to Mountain. They will know who you mean."The two boys nodded but looked a little sad.Mountain took charge of the situation and stepped forward, his powerful tail helping him stay upright. "I will miss you both, Zack and Sam, and I look forward to

meeting you again. When we next meet I hope to have a new skull around my neck, and perhaps a brood of sons and daughters on the way. Hope so for me." He stretched his arms wide for a hug and the two boys accepted it in turn.And so those boys left, hesitant to leave behind the wonderful creature they had discovered and his mysterious world. But they also took with them a precious memento, to remind them many years hence of the time they had met a talking animal in the depths of the forest on a beautiful day.They would always remember the value of taking time out to explore and discover.THE END.