Tuesday, March 21, 2006
T h e F o r e s t
The young boy had walked most the morning and had come to the treeline of a great, deciduous forest.
He paused at the boundary to take a standing rest. He looked behind him and there was the widened and narrowed and hilly path he had hiked.
He returned his gaze and looked before him. The forest was thick and had no apparent paths winding through it.
The boy looked at the sky and saw the sun was high up in the air and he knew it would be soon on it's way to going down.
The boy checked his pockets. He had not thought early on to bring his compass, as he didn't know he may eventually leave the path.
Aftere a thought, he stepped into the treeline and began making his way into the forest.
The boy's father had taught him to recognize trees.
He recognized Oaks and Maples and a Sycamore with a white trunk.
As he made his way into the trees, he realized he would be doing lots of climbing and stepping over, as there were many fallen trunks along the way.
Feeling brave and energetic, the boy pressed on and continued further and further into the forest.
After about an hour of hiking through the trees, the boy stopped at a felled trunk to take a rest.
He had spent the time walking further and further in, swiping away branches that inevitably cut at his face and climbing over trunks.
The boy had no backpack with water in it. Or food to nibble on.
So he just sat quietly on the trunk and listened.
There were no cars driving nearby.
There was no running water of a stream.
There were just forest sounds.
Birds chirping sleepily, the wind blowing through the branches and the leaves of the trees.
But mostly, there was silence.
The boy looked behind him.
All he could see were the trees and the fallen trunks.
There was no path.
He began to wonder, which way did he come in?
The boy looked all around him.
Trees, were all he could see.
In every direction he looked, the forest looked the same.
Great, sturdy Oaks and Maples and Evergreens, their branches reaching out to one another in an apparent atttempt to block the sky.
The boy was not afraid.
Though this was the longest hike he had ever been on, he still felt brave and energetic.
He, peeking through the great limbs, was still able to see the sun.
It appeared to have not moved.
How long had he been in the forest?
It felt like a long time, but the sun's position in the sky indicated otherwise.
The boy thought about what would happen if he got hungry.
'Why, I'll just eat a pine cone' he thought.
'Or maybe kill one of these racooons or rabbits I've seen along the way and cook them over a fire I'll start by rubbing two sticks together.'
But the boy was not hungry. Or thirsty. He breathed in the forest air and without knowing it, felt completely alive.
After a moment, the boy got up from the trunk to continue on.
Deep inside, he knew which direction to take and stood to continue his long hike.
The boy noticed the trees were a little less thick, and felt he must be getting close to the other side of the deciduous forest.
He walked along his own path, humming a tune to himself along the way.
The boy saw many things he had never seen before.
At one point, a deer had walked up to within two feet of him and stopped to stare.
The boy had stopped to stare at the deer as well, even looking into it's deep, black eyes.
Soon a fawn had come behind the deer, it's mother, and the three had stood with each other for what seemed to be a long time.
Getting bored, the boy had moved on, for he knew the deer and the fawn would eventually run away anyway.
As the trees got thinner, the boy became a little confused.
For though he should be coming out the other side, he could hear no cars or see no people or houses in the distance.
For though the forest was thinning, all he could see before him were more trees.
Eventually, after about a half an hour of hiking, there suddenly was a clearing in the forest and at the center of the clearing there was a body of water that wasn't a lake or wasn't a pond.
The boy now realized this is why the trees had been thinning.
It was not because he was coming out the other side, but because there was a clearing and a body of water.
He was in the center of the forest.
He still was not hungry.
Or thirsty.
The boy made his way to the pool of water, kneeling on his knees before his final approach to the still, still water that lay before him.
The boy peered over the edge of the water and looked in.
When he did, all he saw was the sky reflected in the quiet water.
He did not not see his own reflection where his head should be.
He just saw the sky.
Curious now, the boy rolled over onto his back to look at the sky.
His head was craning over the water as he did so.
The sky, as he thought when he looked in the water, looked like the pool of water.
It was clear and blue and green, and the sun was not there and there were no clouds.
The boy stared at the water and the sky, and the sky and the water, for what seemed just a moment more, and thought how curious the whole thing was.
Suddenly, he did see the sun overhead and realized the sun had not seemed to move.
What time was it?
How long had he been in the forest?
It felt like it had been three quarters of a day, but the sun's position in the sky indicated otherwise.
The boy, deep inside, knew it was time to move on.
Though he felt no fear and was not tired, he knew his mother would be looking for him, as he felt he had been away from home for a long, long time.
As the boy made his way around the deep pool of water, he could now see towering trees in the reflection of the glass surface.
A leaf that had blown from a tree softly landed on the water and created concentric rings around it that pushed for the water's edge.
Once around the water, the boy faced more trees, a scene that looked exactly like the one he had already been through.
He did not know how much further he had to go.
He knew his arms and face would get scratched by brush and little tree limbs.
He knew he would have to climb over trunks.
He knew he would see more racoons and rabbits and deer along the way.
He knew, though he was lost, he wasn't really.
For deep down, the boy just knew the way home.
And with that, the boy stepped around the last of the deep, reflecting pool of water, and quietly began his journey home.
The young boy had walked most the morning and had come to the treeline of a great, deciduous forest.
He paused at the boundary to take a standing rest. He looked behind him and there was the widened and narrowed and hilly path he had hiked.
He returned his gaze and looked before him. The forest was thick and had no apparent paths winding through it.
The boy looked at the sky and saw the sun was high up in the air and he knew it would be soon on it's way to going down.
The boy checked his pockets. He had not thought early on to bring his compass, as he didn't know he may eventually leave the path.
Aftere a thought, he stepped into the treeline and began making his way into the forest.
The boy's father had taught him to recognize trees.
He recognized Oaks and Maples and a Sycamore with a white trunk.
As he made his way into the trees, he realized he would be doing lots of climbing and stepping over, as there were many fallen trunks along the way.
Feeling brave and energetic, the boy pressed on and continued further and further into the forest.
After about an hour of hiking through the trees, the boy stopped at a felled trunk to take a rest.
He had spent the time walking further and further in, swiping away branches that inevitably cut at his face and climbing over trunks.
The boy had no backpack with water in it. Or food to nibble on.
So he just sat quietly on the trunk and listened.
There were no cars driving nearby.
There was no running water of a stream.
There were just forest sounds.
Birds chirping sleepily, the wind blowing through the branches and the leaves of the trees.
But mostly, there was silence.
The boy looked behind him.
All he could see were the trees and the fallen trunks.
There was no path.
He began to wonder, which way did he come in?
The boy looked all around him.
Trees, were all he could see.
In every direction he looked, the forest looked the same.
Great, sturdy Oaks and Maples and Evergreens, their branches reaching out to one another in an apparent atttempt to block the sky.
The boy was not afraid.
Though this was the longest hike he had ever been on, he still felt brave and energetic.
He, peeking through the great limbs, was still able to see the sun.
It appeared to have not moved.
How long had he been in the forest?
It felt like a long time, but the sun's position in the sky indicated otherwise.
The boy thought about what would happen if he got hungry.
'Why, I'll just eat a pine cone' he thought.
'Or maybe kill one of these racooons or rabbits I've seen along the way and cook them over a fire I'll start by rubbing two sticks together.'
But the boy was not hungry. Or thirsty. He breathed in the forest air and without knowing it, felt completely alive.
After a moment, the boy got up from the trunk to continue on.
Deep inside, he knew which direction to take and stood to continue his long hike.
The boy noticed the trees were a little less thick, and felt he must be getting close to the other side of the deciduous forest.
He walked along his own path, humming a tune to himself along the way.
The boy saw many things he had never seen before.
At one point, a deer had walked up to within two feet of him and stopped to stare.
The boy had stopped to stare at the deer as well, even looking into it's deep, black eyes.
Soon a fawn had come behind the deer, it's mother, and the three had stood with each other for what seemed to be a long time.
Getting bored, the boy had moved on, for he knew the deer and the fawn would eventually run away anyway.
As the trees got thinner, the boy became a little confused.
For though he should be coming out the other side, he could hear no cars or see no people or houses in the distance.
For though the forest was thinning, all he could see before him were more trees.
Eventually, after about a half an hour of hiking, there suddenly was a clearing in the forest and at the center of the clearing there was a body of water that wasn't a lake or wasn't a pond.
The boy now realized this is why the trees had been thinning.
It was not because he was coming out the other side, but because there was a clearing and a body of water.
He was in the center of the forest.
He still was not hungry.
Or thirsty.
The boy made his way to the pool of water, kneeling on his knees before his final approach to the still, still water that lay before him.
The boy peered over the edge of the water and looked in.
When he did, all he saw was the sky reflected in the quiet water.
He did not not see his own reflection where his head should be.
He just saw the sky.
Curious now, the boy rolled over onto his back to look at the sky.
His head was craning over the water as he did so.
The sky, as he thought when he looked in the water, looked like the pool of water.
It was clear and blue and green, and the sun was not there and there were no clouds.
The boy stared at the water and the sky, and the sky and the water, for what seemed just a moment more, and thought how curious the whole thing was.
Suddenly, he did see the sun overhead and realized the sun had not seemed to move.
What time was it?
How long had he been in the forest?
It felt like it had been three quarters of a day, but the sun's position in the sky indicated otherwise.
The boy, deep inside, knew it was time to move on.
Though he felt no fear and was not tired, he knew his mother would be looking for him, as he felt he had been away from home for a long, long time.
As the boy made his way around the deep pool of water, he could now see towering trees in the reflection of the glass surface.
A leaf that had blown from a tree softly landed on the water and created concentric rings around it that pushed for the water's edge.
Once around the water, the boy faced more trees, a scene that looked exactly like the one he had already been through.
He did not know how much further he had to go.
He knew his arms and face would get scratched by brush and little tree limbs.
He knew he would have to climb over trunks.
He knew he would see more racoons and rabbits and deer along the way.
He knew, though he was lost, he wasn't really.
For deep down, the boy just knew the way home.
And with that, the boy stepped around the last of the deep, reflecting pool of water, and quietly began his journey home.
