The Forest

Even in the rain, the wells and fountains have run dry. Even so, the overgrown forest looming around her engulfs her. She finally breaks through the brush and is met by a glorious meadow. The beauty of the meadow calms her anxious heartbeat, as the breeze cools her brow. The chirps of unknown birds calling to one another become an ensemble with the leaves in the breeze. The melodic sounds crash over her, and she is awash in the music of nature.

And suddenly footsteps, not her own, as she was struck still by the thrall of the forest. Too big to be a woodland creature, who follows her trail? Her heart quickens as she begins to race back through the trees to find shelter amongst their grasp. If only she had learned to climb maybe she would be safe. But the footsteps behind her are keeping pace, adding a drumbeat to the delicate forest melody. Or is that simply her heart she is hearing.

The crunch of a breaking twig just off to her left, and here she is trying to climb. Her flight takes over, and suddenly a branch gives way as she falls into the stranger's arms. Not a foe at all, not even a stranger. She gasps as her own slightly older face smiles back at her.

“We never did master climbing, but neither did the deer. We belong in the meadow.” She says, lowering her younger self. “Run, be free. It's how we were always meant to be.”

She finds herself nearly galloping through the meadow, her future self a mirage in the distance, but here in the present, she is finally running free.