Submission (#1304) Approved

Lune isn’t having a great time on his Silveil vacation. When his mate, Pyralis, suggested that they visit their grandson, Adavir at his business in Silveil, Lune somehow hadn’t been expecting it to be a casino. He doesn’t have anything against casinos, but he isn’t the sort of person that such places are meant to attract. The games of chance don’t hold his attention, nor is he very good at them. He has a good poker face, but lacks the ability to hold up under pressure. All this lead to his departure from SIlveil City with the promise that he’d just make himself useful somewhere and that he would return to his mate safely.

But now that he’s been enveloped by the darkness of night for going on three days, Lune is starting to feel ill at ease. The pinpricks of light offered by the stars do little to beat back the shroud of night. The giant mushrooms flanking the narrow path he’s walking are providing more of a guiding light than the stars he’s come to trust. But judging by the slow increase in fungi surrounding him, it seems he’s reached the foraging grounds he was pointed towards. When Lune left the casino, he asked around for odd jobs he could take on, more to keep himself occupied than for monetary gain. The elnins he met in town mentioned that since it was harvest season, a helping paw would be very welcome in gathering edible fungi. ...Lune had kind of tuned out by then, instead enraptured with thoughts of what the deep, dark forests of Silveil would be like.

Looking at the mushrooms that now surround him, Lune slowly begins to realize that the latter half of the other elnin’s advice might have been helpful in discerning what mushrooms were good to eat and which were best avoided. He regards each one he comes across with a careful eye at first, but soon feels the claws of boredom begin to grip his mind. Surely most of these mushrooms are fine to eat! Why would the mycologist pointed him this way if a majority of them would make you lose your lunch? At this point, he begins picking visually appealing mushrooms only and occupies himself with making long-distance tosses into his foraging basket.

Once his basket begins to fill, Lune regards the towering mushrooms above his head. Surely these are the same mushrooms as the small ones at his feet, they were just allowed to grow to a massive height. Wouldn’t the mycologist be impressed if he brought back one of those giant mushroom caps? It might even be something no one else has attempted before!

Lune selects his target. A giant purple fungus with a morel-like cap. He uses other smaller mushrooms as stepping stones to reach the purple fungus as best as he can, but it soon becomes clear that he’ll have to climb. Never one to let a lack of experience stop him, Lune sinks his claws deep into the spongy stalk of the mushroom and shuffles up inch by inch. He might be a bold adventurer, but he’s not an idiotic one. He takes the climb slowly and makes sure to avoid slimy patches. Once he thinks he’s at a spot where the mushroom will be the best for eating, he begins to gnaw on the stalk. His teeth break through much faster than he had been expecting and he loses his grip in trying to dodge the falling mushroom cap. His footpaws only find air when they try to gai purchase on the stalk once more and he plummets towards the ground.

He’s only saved by a well-placed kick at the mushroom stalk, which diverts his course from the packed earth of the path to a patch of spongy mushrooms and glowing moss. His impact sends up a cloud of spores, which cover him horn to tail in a ghostly green dust. At least he’s alive and his prize, while dented, is in one piece. Seizing the severed stalk in his mouth and placing the basket on his back, Lune brings his harvest back into Silveil City to show the mycologist.

When shown the harvest, the other elnin says nothing. At first, Lune figures that the mycologist has never before seen such a fine harvest and puffs out his chest with pride.

Finally, the mycologist speaks. “Where did you find these? All this fungus is inedible.”

Word Count: 741