A lone Sawsbuck girl makes a trek into the mysterious and dangerous Managrove Forest at night searching for purpose and meaning deep within.
This is a new illustration for the new Clearwater Chronicle illustrated story, A Night in Managrove! Enjoy the excerpt below and go check out the story here on the page. We hope you all like it. ^^

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Ashley stood at the end of the path, the Sawsbuck girl running a hand through her long red hair as she squinted into the darkness ahead of her. The stone footpath leading into the forest had a small wooden sign that ominously read "Managrove Forest is considered very dangerous past this point due to the boundaries put in place by the forest protectors. Enter at your own risk!" The path abruptly ended not even a foot from where the sign was placed, leaving the rest of the way into the forest totally uncharted for outsiders.

Ashley had been here several times before and the warning didn't mean anything to her at this point. The people back in Yonder really had no idea what the forest's protectors really did to people. It wasn't anything dangerous, although in hindsight she could see why people did steer clear. Still, it was something that she kept coming back to for reasons that only she knew intimately. She sighed and closed her eyes, removing the backpack she wore and placing it down on the ground before her.

"Sucks..." she mumbled, reaching up to grab the top of her plain t-shirt to pull it over her head. "Why'd it have to be so chilly tonight?" She fumbled with pulling the shirt over her head, lightly grunting when it got caught up in her antlers but otherwise having no problem. With her chest bare against the cool evening air she stripped off her sweatpants too, leaving her totally in the nude. Luckily it wasn't anything that she had to worry about out here. No one would be able to see her, not that she would care very much anyway.