The Forest
By Addison Herron-Wheeler
Published in Issue 145, January 2026
Best of Birdy, Originally Published In Issue 028, April 2016
Arika lifted her face from the dirt and looked to the clouds. She could see the drones above her head, circling, and she could hear their calls, in her mind. She shivered and dropped her face back into the cold earth.
RESPONSE IS NECESSARY – RETURN TO THE HIVE – RECONNECT
The voices were as clear as her own inside Arika’s mind, but she forced herself to stand up and press onward through the forest, pushing aside nettles and thorns that barred her path.
RESPONSE IS NECESSARY – RETURN TO THE HIVE – RECONNECT
Arika wanted to touch the still, cold body and see if any warmth was left. She wanted to lie next to it and find some animal comfort in the soil, but the mechanical voice droned on, rising to a shrill, almost shrieking pitch.
RESPONSE IS NECESSARY – RETURN TO THE HIVE – RECONNECT
Arika continued on and thought she heard a howl, a moaning. She imagined some distant beast, some beautiful, fleshy animal left over from the days of old. Then she began to clearly hear the sound as a horn, a blaring. Of course the drone was not something fleshy, but another machine, and she was foolish to think otherwise.
RESPONSE IS NECESSARY – RETURN TO THE HIVE – RECONNECT
As the voice grew softer, Arika thought she could sense some hope in the air. She stumbled again, grabbing a tree for support. She saw words inscribed on the bark but it was hard to read exactly what it said. She squinted, moving closer in the fading light of the sun.
words will rot and fall away
as summer fades to the machine coldness
alone in my retreat
resisting the inevitable
Arika ran her fingers over the words for a long time, wanting them to mean something, wanting them to be important to her in some way. She wasn’t sure exactly how, but they spoke to her.
RESPONSE IS NECESSARY – RETURN TO THE HIVE – RECONNECT
The voice was louder this time, and Arika reeled in horror as she realized it was coming out of her own mouth. The alien sound was somehow so much more familiar to her than the poetry of the tree, or the sounds of the forest. What may have once been called tears started to build up inside her, but Arika’s eyes were not designed for tears.
RESPONSE IS NECESSARY – RETURN TO THE HIVE – RECONNECT
Arika finally crashed through the final stretch of forest and emerged in a clearing, able to see the sun in full as it started to set behind the trees in the distance. She thought she heard a bird song, but when she listened closer, it seemed to be the hum of the drones as they closed in on her and made retreat impossible.
SUBJECT INTERCEPTED – RECONNECTION INITIATED
As the cold metal connected with her cold flesh, Arika felt her memories slipping away. Although she only had an hour’s worth, the pain of losing her sense of self was overwhelming and she fell to her knees. She saw the implants sliding back into her face and she could no longer feel them. She began to see everything fractured, with an unblinking eye, all greens and reds, all artificial. Before the last blink of daylight faded and everything became code, she saw an animal standing at the edge of the woods, facing the clearing. She saw its big round eyes, antlers standing proud, gaze never breaking. Then it was gone.
words will rot and fall away
as summer fades to the machine coldness
alone in my retreat
resisting the inevitable
Addison Herron-Wheeler is OUT FRONT‘s co-publisher and editor-in-chief and friend to dogs everywhere. She enjoys long walks in the darkness away from any sources of sunlight, rainy days, and painfully dry comedy. She also covers cannabis and heavy metal, and is author of Wicked Woman: Women in Metal from the 1960s to Now and Respirator, a short story collection.
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