“Statued”
written by Agent
	„He’s got to be kidding me” – thought Jake. It was midnight, and he was running thru the woods in the darkness, trying to avoid various roots, stones and other obstacles, that he couldn’t see.  He stopped by the next tree and started to pant, trying to catch he’s breath. Jake was a raccoon.
 His usually well combed hair were now tousled. His backpack started to get heavy, and the professional photo camera inside wasn’t helping at all. When not studying, Jake was an amateur photographer. People who knew him got used to his hobby and the sight of him running around with his “Cannon”, as he called his beloved camera.  He took out his mobile and checked the clock, which was showing 11.23pm. He was late. Kevin’s probably there already, and he’ll start whining about how he had to wait for him, alone in the forest at night. But it was worth all the trouble. From what Kevin told him, the place was awesome. He was surprised nobody found it before. Those woods weren’t that big. But that doesn’t matter now. He took a deep breath, and continued his run…
	After ten minutes he reached the place. The forest started to get more and more scarce, finally becoming a large glade. Despite cloud cover, the moon was giving enough light for him to see clearly around. “Holy crap!” said Jake and smiled, when his eyes finally got used to the dim light. 
The meadow was full of different silhouettes: both animal and humanoid. The whole area was full 
of stone statues. They were dozens of them. “So he wasn’t lying” he though, while taking out 
a flashlight. Once it was on, the coon started to walk around, taking a better look at the them. Although a bit crude, they were perfectly correct in the means of anatomy. He started to wonder what kind of an artist would put so much work into it, and leave those just in the middle of nowhere. But then he realized, he was doing the same thing all the time, when he was spending so much time taking pictures alone, or in the darkroom.  It was all very nice, but there was no sign of Kevin around. “Care-Bear” his shout echoed thru the forest a few times. Kevin hated that nickname, and Jake was absolutely aware of that. He was also the only person allowed to use it, not being exposed to Kevin’s “wrath”. They were friends for a very long time, and despite the differences between them, they made a good team. No answer. “That is so like him – he’s probably sitting under some tree, smoking pot and not caring about anything else”. He grabbed his phone, and tried to call him, but with no luck. He left a message that he is at the place.
	It was Kevin who told Jake about this place. “You got to see this dude – it’s absolutely freaky. You goanna love it, and You can take Your silly pictures there”. The idea of going there in the middle of the night belong to Jake. He thought then, that the pictures will look better at night, with some proper light, giving it an otherworldly look – and he was right. He opened his backpack, and took out the “Cannon”. Only Jake knew how to set this camera properly. After a few seconds of tinkering it was locked and loaded. Any creature flying above the forest at this time would be wondering about strange flashes of light bellow. Jake started from the closest statue – a deer one. First picture from the front. Second from a different angle. Then the third… He was in his element. Time passed by, and he was taking more and more pictures of different statues. Suddenly he woke up from his artistic “berserker” state. He checked his mobile – there was no messages from Kevin. Although he was almost sure, that the bear is enjoying himself somewhere near, he started to worry about him. 
He went on a small stroll around the meadow to look for him – after all, the statues won’t go anywhere.
	A very nice wolf statue, a flying bird, some anthro cat… He couldn’t believe his own eyes. Whoever did this had both talent, and a LOT of free time. Then he noticed one specific sculpture. 
It looked a bit familiar. Jake took few steps toward it and examined it in the flash light. It was 
a anthro bear statue, in a very dynamic pose. It had all details: blank lifeless eyes, a muzzle frozen in a scream, and even genitals. Jake was standing for a second there, looking at it, when suddenly it stuck him. Like simple clouds, that after a long time of staring begin to look like a fish, or a bird, 
he realized that the sculpture looked like Kevin (although naked). Everything match: his height, posture and even the hairstyle. „You dirty old hairball. You knew about it all the time, and haven’t told me, didn’t You?” – said the raccoon, and started to laugh. Kevin had to knew the artist personally – how else he could find this place? He probably ordered this piece of art for himself.  
	Jake was laughing for a minute, then listening to the echo in the distance. Yet… something was wrong. A quiet sound was coming from somewhere near. He turned around a few times slowly, trying to locate it. It seemed that the noise was coming from behind the statue. “Right” he though, “You’re probably sitting behind it, all stoned, while I’m worried about You here”. He walked pass the statue, but there was none there. Just then, he realized the sound wasn’t coming from behind the statue. It was coming FROM the statue. The raccoon walked closer and listened. It was like a quiet sobbing, or muffling. “No, it’s impossible” he said to himself. He quickly pulled out the phone, and called Kevin… Just to be sure.  Dialing. Then heard Kevin’s horrible, reggae themed phone ring coming from… beneath his feet. He looked down, and saw a ringing mobile phone – a one that he saw many times before. A sudden wave of both confusion and terror struck him. “Ke… Kevin?” – he hardly asked. The statue answered, with a bit louder mutter. „Oh shiiit… Kevin! Hang on! I… I’ll help” – said Jake, who at this moment wasn’t really sure what to do. He was simply scared – there was nobody around in at least one mile radius. The chance that somebody would hear his shouting was next to none. He could of course call for help, but who would believe in this? And what if Kevin was suffocating? What if he could simply die here? Jake couldn’t let it happen. He threw everything on the grass, and tried to break the stone. He wanted desperately to free his friend, yet realized that he might hurt him, if he would do something wrong. Jake thought he’ll start with the arm. The worst what could have happened, was breaking Kevin’s  limb.  He hit it few times with his bare fists, but with no result – it didn’t even leave a scratch and he only hurt his hands. Suddenly  he realized that he still has the flashlight. He bought it in the hardware store a few days ago. It was both durable, metal and somehow heavy. It was worth a try. Jake hit the rock one time to see how hard it is. Nothing happened, so without hesitating he took a swing and gave it another hit, but this time more powerful. It gave a cracking sound, so the first thing he thought was that it broke – but it wasn’t.
 It was the stone coating, which started to crack. After that he laid a series of blows at that very spot, hoping to break it completely. The hard shell began to fall apart.  He quickly threw the flashlight on the ground, and started to remove the layer or rock around Kevin’s body piece by piece, like he would be shelling and enormous egg. With some effort, he managed to tear off one or two larger stone chunks. Under them he could see the brown fur of his friends hand. After that he slowly removed the stone “glove”, which imprisoned the bears hand. Once free, the bears paw started to desperately seek his buddy. Still holding one piece of the rock, Jake grabbed the bears paw with his free hand. “Alright bro, I’m here. Don’t worry… I’ll set You free in no time”.  While looking at the furry arm, which was seeking comfort thru a tight grip around his paw, Jake took a deep breath, and started thinking what to do next. Then, despite the dim light, he noticed something odd.  He took his hand away from Kevin’s reach and after grabbing the flashlight, he looked  closer on the rock surface. What he saw, gave him a cold chill down his spine and tail. The stone, which he broke a minute ago was… regenerating. It was acting almost like some kind of organic tissue. He watched the coating slowly creeping along the fur of his friends arm, covering its surface inch by inch. Feeling what is happening, Kevin started to muffle louder from underneath his stony gag. Jake instinctively took a step back, observing this eerie phenomenon. His body started to shiver under a wave of cold, and his hand started to feel… “OH NO…” he though. Like a lightning from heavens it struck him. He forgot about it, though he was holding it in his hand tightly all the time. Now, he was too terrified to take 
a look. Yet his instincts were stronger, and he slowly moved within his sight. Instead of a black furred paw, he was looking at a grey stony “glove”, which formed around the hand. Then he snapped and started to panic. Jake began to wildly claw the coating, hoping it will break like before. “Crap… Get off, get off!!!” he started screaming. Despite his efforts, the small pieces which fell away were quickly replaced by ,more rocky layer. He felt his hand becoming numb, as the space between his body and the hardening “glove” began to disappear. But that wasn’t his only worry now. In the amok, Jake noticed that the small rocky chunks, which fell off, got “stuck” to his free hand – and started to spread… Within no time, the raccoons hands were completely immobilized by heavy stone mitts. 
He took a quick look at his friend, who’s  coating regenerated now completely, once again entrapping him in his statue prison. Jake was terror-struck, as He looked at his both arms, getting stiff. By this time his left one, which was the first encased, was completely “statuified”, and the coating was starting to spread over his torso. The other was covered to his elbow. He heard his shirt getting torn by the stone creeping along his fur. The coon now noticed something, what he hasn’t seen before. The whole grass on the meadow was covered with torn pieces of clothes or small objects, like wallets, pieces of hiking equipment. These had to belong to the other victims – poor travelers who got trapped the same way. Their dynamic, life like poses – maybe some of them tried to run away and got encased while doing so. Are they dead, or maybe they are still inside – trapped in the darkness, unable to move? But this was no time for philosophical issues. Jake needed to get his hands free. The stone skin was trying to merge on his chest. He couldn’t let it happen. He ran to the nearest statue and began hitting his less petrified arm against it. A hollow sound was echoing thru the forest.  Suddenly it stopped. Jake gave a low crying sound, as he felt his both arms fully coated, and now unable to move them. His chest was now getting covered, making breathing harder and harder. When it was done, the remaining pieces of his shirt fell off, exposing his torso coated in 
a hard layer of stone, perfectly portraying every single detail of his body, like a rocky catsuit. He tried to shout or take a deep breath, but he only managed to get a little air in his lung. He has to try one more time. He took a good swing at the statue and… lost his balance. He fell down on his back, quickly realizing, that he cannot get up with his new heavy sweater. His belt snapped, as he felt the stony coating cover his groin. Normally it could be even a nice sensation, but when he was lying on 
a meadow in a dark forest, being turned into a living statue, he could care less about physical pleasure. “So this is it” he though. He didn’t see any chance now. He felt his tail getting stiff, and the rocky skin spreading over his legs. He stopped fighting it. Jake managed to take a look at his friend, standing just a few steps away from him. He wanted to say how sorry he is, that he couldn’t help them. The hardening layer in his mouth didn’t let him give even the slightest noise. He felt his eye getting slowly shut by a stone mask, which was forming on his face. The raccoon took a last glimpse at the sky, which was getting brighter. The sun will soon be rising. They won’t find them, and even so – how will they know it’s them. The shreds of clothes will be soon taken away by the wind. And even, if they were lucky enough, how can he be sure that their savior will not become another addition to this statuary garden? Darkness fell, as his other eye was forced to close. Soon after that his pointy ears got enclosed and all the sounds of the awakening forest dulled. The stone closed around his head tightly. Within a minute his legs stopped wriggling and froze in a perfectly still position. 
The stone shell locked around him, isolating him from the world, in a skin tight prison. There was no chance of escape. And to Jake’s surprise, no death. He didn’t know how, but he wasn’t suffocating. Though his nostrils where sealed, he was still taking a shallow breather one after another. He then realized, that it may be even a worst fate. And if this “stone skin” somehow keeps them alive. Shall they remain prisoners like here, for the rest of their lives? He started crying silently.
	The sun came up over the horizon and the trees. The first sunbeams fell on the serene meadow. Nothing changed here, except two new additions – a nice bear statue, standing in a life like pose, and a raccoon, lying on the ground peacefully, with his arm in a awkward position. The birds were singing, and flying over, sitting on the statues, to become ones themselves. This must be the nature of this place: many have came here, and no one has left. After all, the statues cant’t go anywhere.