Jacque Becomes A Deku Scrub (unfinished draft)

Jacque went playing in the wood when he came across a Deku mask. After putting the mask on he transformed to his surprise, into a Deku Scrub. He was amazed at himself and wanted to run home to show his parents. But fear that he'd be stuck this way made him pull off the mask and returning human again he adjusted his tunic and under-alls that had become loose as a Deku Scrub. Not wanting to take the mask, just in case it was someone else's or a Deku's and that they'd be coming back to look for it, he put it down beside the nearby tree and placed a few branches and scooped fallen leaves over it so prying eyes wouldn't spot it other than whoever might be looking for it. He ran home and told his parents what he'd found and what it did to him. They told him not put on masks that he finds and that he was good for leaving it where it was. They also warned him not to go into that wood again.
The next day he set off to go play again, his parents told him again not to go into that wood. So he went in the opposite direction and into the other woods. Having every intention to go back to find the mask on again, he took the path in the wood that would lead back around into the wood where he'd left the mask. He quickly found the place again and the mask where he'd hid it. This time he swallowed his mixture of fear and tempered his excitement about wearing the mask, as he intended on wearing it for a lot longer today. He scrambled out of his clothes and moccasins after transforming again. He'd seen Deku Scrubs before, in this wood and in the town once and so set about practising the spin he'd seen them do. Playing in the wood like this made him feel so much more at ease and comfortable in the place after a while. He no longer felt too cold or too hot the rustling of the autumn leaves was like a melody to him and the soil he'd always thought so hard before felt so soft, almost spongy, like moss under his little wood-like feet. For a long time that day he failed to notice that he'd been steadily growing shorter. It was only when he stumbled over a tree root that earlier in the day he'd jumped and cleared with reletive ease. He got up and looked at the root for a moment confused, maybe it had grown in the last few hours, after all this wood was special like that, he thought. He then looked down himself and his stumpy hands. He didn't notice the change straight away as he'd seemed to have been so short since? and then he noticed how much closer to the forest floor he now stood. It began to dawn on him that he'd shrunk either slowly throughout the day or maybe it was as he'd fallen just now, but he didn't know, he was confused. He felt his acorn shaped head, that was the same size as before, maybe that's why he hadn't noticed? A little worried, and noticing that the sun was a little past noon, he felt it was time he made his way back to the spot where he'd found the mask and had left his clothes. He probably should take the mask off now, he thought, but what if he took it off and found himself just as small as a human? No that wouldn't happen, he'd grown back to his original height the last time he took off the mask, even though it was just a foot or less, but then, what if that was only because he was still wearing his clothes. Yes, he should get back first. He dashed between the higher tree roots and ran across the more open spaces as quickly as his stubby legs would take him now. Was he still getting shorter? Getting back seemed to be taking longer and longer the further he ran. He looked down periodically and noticed that could no longer see his body and could barely see his feet as they ran. His head began to feel heavier. Finally he was back to the area where he left his clothes, he stopped to look around for them. There just by that tree. He made to step toward them but seemed to fall instead. His body, arms and legs had receded so much now that he could no longer support his acorn shaped head. he rolled to the side and his eyes came to rest on the trees. A feeling of dread ran through him now, he could no longer move. Thoughts began to rush through his head. I should have stayed closer to my clothes. What was left of his stubby arms, legs and body disappeared into his head. No I should have taken the mask off when I first realised. The cup of his mouth turned in on itself and shut tight. No I shouldn't have put the mask back on again in the first place. His eyes closed by themselves and his world went dark. Three small indents in the nut of the acorn where his eyes and mouth had been was the only remaining semblance of a face. but he still had his thoughts. I should have listened to mother and father.
The day wore on, his parents grew worried, Jacque still hadn't returned even as the sun had set. They knew he'd said he wouldn't go back to look for the mask, they knew he'd left for the forest away from that wood, but they still had their fears and a village search party was sent in both directions. They didn't find jacque that night, he didn't come home the next day. That evening the whole village went out to search for the boy and in all directions, but not a sighting or word did they get. Nor the next day or the next night. After so long, they'd searched so far, so many places, over and over, the search was called off and Jacque was not seen again.

He lay there unmoving and alone for what seemed like hours when a figure approached. It stood by studying the large acorn for a while then leant over to pick it up. Jacque felt hands around him and felt himself lifted up and moving again. His first thought then was that he'd been found but then he heard it's voice and what it said next. "A little early to be seeding, Scrub?" the Deku said, whether to Jacque directly or to himself he didn't know. "Let's find you some soft earth to set you." it said sounding pleased with itself. "Get you off to a good start." They were moving through the forest further away from Jacques village even though they were already some distance as it were. No! he thought. I need to get back home, I need to get my body back.
Along the way the Deku came across two individuals shouting for Jacque. The Deku wasn't pleased at the noise they were making, it approached them and placed the large acorn under an arm.
"Stop shouting. The forest is nearly time for sleeping." He said.
"We're looking for a boy called Jacque. We think he came into this wood, have you seen any human today?" They asked.
The Deku shook its head, "I came far today, and kept to the forests, I haven't seen any humans."
They looked anxious, "If you do, please bring him home." The Deku nod once then parted without another word. No I'm here!, please, I'm here! Jacque thought.
The deku came by a bend in a small brook, the earth was moist, the ground flat and some head height above before the canopy of the trees. It placed Jacque, now the acorn, tip to the soil and pushed down on him hard, driving the acorn into the soil, all the way to his cone. The deku tapped the cone once and said something to the effect of "Sleep this winter, stir not from slumber and sprout when when the season is right and you feel ready." Then Jacque sensed a shift in the forest around him as the breeze died, the air and the forest floor started to cool and the sun set. It was changing for the night. Jacque fell into a dreamless sleep that he did not wake from the next day...


Eventually the search was called off, and the boy presumed to be lost and probably dead. It was said in the years to come that a young deku scrub would wander close to the village and if words could be had with it, it would say that it used to live in the village. Little more could be gotten from it. Some did have a small belief that the missing boy had perhaps been resurrected in that deku scrub.