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There was once a very small, quiet rural village. It was so small there was only one main road
leading out of it, along which visitors often traveled to and from the village. However,
there was one important rule the townsfolk held about this road "Never go there alone."
This was strictly enforced by the villagers, but one curious young boy from the village
decided to break this rule; he set out one day, when no one else was around, to explore
the road alone.
As he approached the trail for the first time, he realized there was something very odd about
it. Although he knew there were always people coming into town, the road itself looked like
it had hardly been used.
Grass and weeds had grown across the whole path, and it was so poorly maintained that
they reached all the way up to his waist, making it difficult to walk quickly. However,
this did not bother the boy.
Determined to make his trip worthwhile, he pushed into the overgrowth, looking back over
his shoulder occasionally to make sure no one was watching. He moved quickly, hoping
to get out of sight by any passers-by.
However, the boy's pace was cut suddenly short by the sound of something moving in the grass
next to him. The boy's heart skipped a beat as he stopped in his tracks, looking and listening
for the source of the disturbance.
The overgrowth was so thick he couldn't see anything, but he could hear the sound of something
crawling in the grass near his feet. He could tell it wasn't very big, but something about
it gave him a horrible feeling...The feeling of being hunted.
The boy was overcome by a growing sense of hopelessness as he realized he had traveled
too far down the road to make it back before the creature reached him, as the grass made
it hard for him to move quickly.
Suddenly, the boy sensed he was being watched. The creature had spotted him. From the corner
of his eye he could make out a wide pair of eyes and long, sharp fangs fixed on him. The
boy's heart was pounding as he turned to face it.
Suddenly, a hand gripped his arm. The boy *** and looked, only to see the face of
one of the elders of the village. "You fool! Don't you know better than to come here alone?"
The man grabbed the boy and ran with him back to the village. The boy's heart raced as he
sensed the creature following him, but it never overtook them. They ran, gasping for
breath, until they had escaped back into town. After they caught their breath, the old man
scolded the boy for ignoring the villagers' warnings. When he was done, he looked up and
sighed. "I guess you're old enough. You deserve to know." The man led the boy to his house.
It was a very big house and, as they entered, the boy saw massive shelves filled with books
about creatures he had only heard of in myths. Mysterious men in lab coats sat around, studying
them. The old man led the boy to a back room. He faced away, saying, "I'm going to tell
you the truth about what you saw today..."
All of a sudden, the man turned to the boy, glaring at him, his piercing gaze freezing
him in place. "But first, I'm going to have to ask you a question: Are you a boy, or a
girl?"