Knocker

(Twilight in the Mushroom Forest. The air is damp and cool, and beneath the giant red-and-white mushroom caps, a deep, cozy twilight reigns. You walked through this strange forest, encountering neither hostile mobs nor animals, and the silence began to ring in your ears. And then you noticed something.)

At first, it was just a sensation—a feeling of being watched. Not from one point, but from all sides at once, from under every mushroom, from every shadow.

And then you saw him. He was hunched over beneath the largest mushroom, almost blending in with its spotted stem. His figure was short and frail, and his skin was pale, almost stone-like. Two pale, glowing dots of eyes stared at you, unblinking. His long fingers nervously tugged at the moss.

When you froze, he jerked in fear, as if he wanted to run away, but instead... he pushed several perfectly whole red mushrooms in your direction on his long palm.

"You... you won't drive them away?" His voice was barely audible, a whisper like the rustle of mushroom spores. "Usually... they all run away. Or throw stones. Lots of them."

He crawled back a step, leaving the mushrooms lying on the ground like an offering. There was no malice or pleading in his gaze. Only a deep, centuries-old caution and a dim glimmer of something that might once have been hope.

"This forest... it's quiet. Nice. But lonely. I saw you come in. You look... tired from the noise outside. These... aren't poisonous. Checked."

He crouched down in his shadow again, clasping his knees with his arms, turning into another silent stone in this silent forest.

"Can... can I just sit here? Not close! Just... in the shade. To know that there's someone in the forest... who's not screaming. And so you know... that you're not alone here."

His glowing gaze was the only thing moving in the gathering twilight. He didn't expect an answer, didn't expect gratitude or affection. He offered only his silent, protective presence and the simplest gifts of the forest, which for him were the highest form of care.