Walking Through The Misty Forest

• Iesha Kingston-bull, Grade 10
• Short Story
• 2013

Step. CAH-chhhhh. Step. Bzzzzzz. Step. Sqaa-eeek. Step. Step. Step. Silence.
The forest. The mist. The deafening sound of nothing. Just you and the whispering willows of wakening wonder drawing you inside in awe. You are not in control of your body, the mist draws you in with a force stronger than any gravitational pull can compel. As you step, one foot in front of the other, you listen to the trees. What are they telling you? What do they say? “You. Are. Alone.” Busy streets of cars , people and noise are left behind, overthrown with tranquility.
The damp smell of leaves underneath your feet is strong. Your nose tingles with the scent of mystery. You have never experienced such a rush of power, connection and peace before, that you are too overwhelmed to continue, you have been put on pause by the remote of life. At this point in time nothing can touch you but the slight wind, which is blowing from the south. It soothes your skin from heat. Step. You remember how to walk and continue slowly, taking in your surroundings. The towering trees that look as old as a grandfather clock give off a welcoming vibe of home, telling you that you are always welcome. The trees are brown and lumpy with thick ridges in them that show the memories of their past. Even though they do not move, their roots grow all over the world. They are connected. The trees have seen creations and destructions and all the while, are to shy to express their opinions that their thoughts bottle up inside them, forcing to grow, and as they can’t grow outwards, they grow up. The taller the tree, the more opinionated it shall be. Step.
A sprouting comes in view out the corner of your eye. You walk towards it. It is small. It is green. It is fresh. You wonder how long it has been there. You pick off a leave and smell it’s green scent. Sap dribbles down your hand making you sticky. You have the blood of a sapling stuck on your palm. Step.
You drop the leaf and continue to walk. As you carry on your mind starts to take over again and the mist that once was pushing you forward, lags behind starting to disappear. You are gloomy. The realisation of what will come out the other end saddens you. The darkness that surrounded you holding in the secrets of the trees is taken into battle with light. It loses. Your pace fastens as you come nearer and nearer to the end. You can no longer smell the trees or hear the whispering willows. You can hear rush, and that is when you realise you are out. Your connection with nature has been lost. The misty forest is left behind and stumbling from the darkness, you move into the light.