There's something a little creepy about the forest. Something that makes your skin crawl when someone mentions it.

At night, the metal monsters awake, and though no one knows what they truly are, it's said that they're from back when World War 4 happened. It was the time when they made steel bodies to fight in the place of humans, and then the bodies took on their own intelligent, their own souls, and they stood up in their place at the command chain; except, we were way below them.

It was easy for them to turn our advanced and beautiful world into one of pain and destruction. In fact, they destroyed so much, that even they could not continue to function.

Because sure, us humans get old, we get sick and hurt, and we die; but those of us strong enough to survive have children, and we grow and learn. But them? Their souls live on until they either tear it from their own bodies, or they malfunction and switch off forever.

Difference is, only us humans can give life, and only us humans can create. By the time they realised they needed us to keep their kind continuing and alive, it was too late; and few could be persuaded.

That was all ages ago though, almost twenty generations back. Though it had only taken a couple of years to destroy everything, we had used the next age rebuilding, and growing.

We suffered, but now? Now things were better, maybe not easy, but definitely easier. Now we had a home, a little village, and though it's surrounded by the dark forest where many of them still live, we're okay.

By some miracle, or for some odd reason, they don't step out if the darkness. They stay where it's easy to hide from the sun, and the only in village sightings have been at night; which is why a curfew was set up.

Those that wandered into the forest were never seen again, except for an odd few that managed to crawl back, but none of them lived more than a week. Was it the mental damage that killed them? Or their wounds? No one is quiet sure, especially when 70% of them ended their own lives...

My theory is that the metal people know they need us. Why else would they let us live? Yes, we're safe and rather cosy in our little homes, but we're surrounded with no way out. We grow everything we eat, and no one every arrives or leaves.

"Here is home, and home is here."

It's what we've been taught since even before we were old enough to understand what it meant. It's what we were told every time we tried to find out more, or asked why we can't go explore.

The adults didn't want to scare us, I know that now; but as a kid I could never understand why no one would explain to me why we couldn't go play in the forest.

I know I'm supposed to be okay, to be happy that I'm alive, but something within me won't let me settle.

I know I should be thinking about the Matching Ceremony coming up in a two weeks, but I just can't. I don't care, I can't care about all that.

Teens my age don't get it. Actually, no one seems to get it. But surely I'm not the only person that wants to know what's going on?

What's the Matching Ceremony? Hah. See? Even you care more about the common things.

The Matching Ceremony is something that the founders of the village created. It's where the elders choose who marries who, so that we can keep the human race going, or whatever.

Sounds pretty stupid to me, you can't tell people who to love, but hey, ten generations of sucessful marriages say I'm wrong.

Do I care though? No, not really. I don't plan on sticking around long enough to see if I can be told who to love or not. Hell no. I'll be far gone by then.

Okay, maybe not in two weeks, but a few months into the marridge and I'll probably just up and vanish. I don't plan on getting close to whoever is sentenced to a life with me, I'll let them know the second I can that I'm leaving.

Against the rules? Yes. But hey, it's not like they'll chase me into the forest to punish me.

They say curiousity kills the cat. Guess I'm the cat then, because I'm so getting killed for all this.

And you know what? I'm actually okay with that.

At least I'll die fulfilled.

I'd rather die with answers than live with questions anyway...