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Flizer Forest

The sky was already getting dark and a faint wind blew through the forest, hissing between thick mighty trees that grew wide apart. Inside every tree there lived a Flizer family. Behind skillfully decorated green doors lay their simple yet cosy dwellings, laboriously carved into the tree trunks generations ago. Dim lights shimmered through the round windows, and Patz and Zatz heard muffled talk, clacking of spoons and laughter as they made their way home down a winding path.

Patz shivered slightly and grew solemn.

"I know that face," said Zatz. "Ziya again?"

"What if they take her away just like Old Zina? I haven't even... That would be..." Patz could not bring himself to say it out loud.

"Ziya is the fastest girl I know. They will never catch her!" said Zatz with conviction.

Patz was about to respond, yet the words froze in his throat. The girl they had just spoken about was coming their way!

Without hesitation, Patz grabbed his friend by the arm and bolted with him behind the closest tree.

"It's her!" whispered Patz as soon as they were out of sight.

"Patz, not again!" complained Zatz. "This is your chance. Remember what I taught you."

Patz only shook his head, pressing himself closer to the trunk.

"She is alone. That is as good a chance as any!" Zatz encouraged him, yet Patz was not to be moved.

However, Zatz was not ready to give up just yet.

"Klatz!" Zatz exclaimed. Klatz was the name of a boy who Patz was terrified of, to say the least, and who never missed an chance to bully Patz. As expected, at the sound of Klatz's name Patz immediately began to look around frantically, forgetting everything else. Seizing the moment, Zatz whirled his friend around and kicked him out of his hiding. Patz stumbled and almost fell face flat before the girl.

"Patz!" Ziya exclaimed in surprise. At the sight of Patz her brown eyes shone with glee. He was such a clumsy boy and always made her laugh.

Patz opened and closed his mouth like a fish out of the water, yet no words came out. He had spent countless days preparing for this, yet once more the courage failed him. With every passing moment he turned more and more red, and wanted nothing else than to flee and hide. And he would have, had Zatz not appeared by his side, stepping firmly on his foot and fixing him on the spot.

"Ziya!" he greeted her with a bright smile. "So good to see you! Aren't you glad to see Ziya too, Patz?"

"Uh-huh..." Patz hummed turning even redder, not daring to look at the girl.

"Don't you think Ziya looks very lovely today, Patz?"

"Uh-huh..." he replied again looking anywhere but at her. He did not have to look to begin with, he had memorized every detail about her a long time ago. She was as tall as him and slender, and she liked her bright green hair to be braided into a circlet around her head. She had the most beautiful smile he had ever seen and her eyes were warm and kind.

"And that yellow dress! It would suit no one else better than Ziya, don't you agree, Patz?" added Zatz in an attempt to save his friend from more embarrassment.

"Uh-huh..." came again the same response. Patz drilled holes into the ground now. All this while Ziya's eyes wandered amused from Patz to Zatz. Boys were always so peculiar.

"Thank you. My grandmother made it for me." She replied simply with a hint of pride.

"Your grandmother has such a fine taste. Don't you agree, Patz?" Zatz gave his friend a pat on the back, stronger than necessary.

It came another "Uuhhuu" which made Zatz roll his eyes.

It was hopeless!

Just then a group of girls approached and surrounded the three. Friendly greetings were exchanged, mingled with merry laughter. It was a small village where everyone knew each other.

Ziya used the chance to take leave of them. Patz's eyes followed her as she hopped down the path. Only when she was out of sight, was he able to shake off the numbness. He had not said a word to her.

Again!

He was almost bursting with all the things he wanted to tell her. His ears hung meekly and he was too unhappy with himself to pay much attention to the words that Zatz exchanged with girls.

Yet Zatz could not look more pleased surrounded by all the girls. He has always been everyone's darling.

"Is that a new scarf, Zarla?" he asked one of the girls.

"Oh... oh yes! Oh Zatz, you've noticed! Do you really like it?" asked Zarla, her long green lashes fluttered eagerly, like butterfly wings.

"Zatz, what about my dress?" asked another girl eagerly.

"Well yes, Zaka. It matches the colour of your eyes and makes them shine lovelier and brighter. I have never seen a star, but be assured that this is how I imagine one to be," Zatz told her softly while touching the girl's cheek. She giggled in delight. All girls now spoke at once, eager for Zatz's attention.

It was Patz's turn to roll his eyes. Now more than ever, he wished he could share Zatz's easiness with which he went about life. The boys had known each other since they both slept in cradles and neither could remember a time when they had not been best friends. Zatz was a very carefree and chatty Flizer, whose imagination only reached as far as the boundaries of their forest. He loved the quietness and simplicity of their lives, and did not share Patz's curiosity for the realm beyond the Swamps of Zurak that separated their forest from the lands of the Veilys.

Patz was a dreamer who lived in Old Zina's tales. One day he was a forgotten hero of the Lost War. Another, he was the champion anointed by the Creators to fight wrongs and restore justice to the Flizers. Zatz only laughed at this and played along. After all, he enjoyed Patz's staged battles by the creek and his elaborate speeches about valour and glory. Thus more than anything, it was their differences that drew them together and made the two boys inseparable companions all their lives.

Zatz appeared at Patz's side as soon as the girls took leave. Patz could still hear their laughter ringing through the forest, long after they disappeared behind the trees.

"You better get matched to all of your female admirers," Patz teased him.

"Look who found his voice again!" Zatz exclaimed with a fake surprise, which made Patz's head sink again and his face flush red.

Seeing that his friend already looked miserable enough, Zatz decided not press on it further.

"Why not? Creators surely can make an exception for me!" he added instead with a grin. "See who gets home fastest?" he called and ran ahead without waiting for Patz to reply.

Patz only laughed at that. He could outrun Zatz any day.

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Note from the writer:

Hello everyone, thank you very much for reading. If you liked the chapter, please consider voting! It is always very much appreciated. :)

BTW If you think those little Flizers remind you of Hobbits, as much as I would like to disgaree, they probably are similar, but only because they are also small.