Fading Forest.

• Catherine Morgan, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2021

Birds quietly whispering in the trees waiting anxiously. Wind howling through the towering trees of the forest. Small creatures and animals scuttering across the ground, eagerly speeding to their loved ones. All living things worrying about what is about to put a dent in their already miserable lives once again.

Spears piercing through the air. Guns shooting in many different directions hoping to scare the panic-stricken creatures hidden in the deep, dark, faded forest. Men's screams and cries wake up the millions of sleeping animals from microscopic to enormous. The sky, hidden by the lid of leaves, is dead with no clouds or birds to be seen soaring above what used to be a magical home. Leaves rustling and crunching underneath the monster's feet. Louder and louder by the second. The screams and shouts coming closer and closer. The gunshots missing some by the inch, spears landing on ants homes. The weeks of hard work for the small things being blown away by the tips of the death arrows.

Blood-curdling screams from the animals only heard as a chirp in the idiots ears, and just ignored in the fading forest. The fury raging throughout the forest is sweeping out all the lives like speedy wind. Everything goes in one quick motion as the wails and cries are sent of and dragged away by that wind that left them scarred. As all animals are struck in awe after seeing the debris and fading souls spread around the forest, the trees, animals and rivers are all put under a black blanket with silence once the wind of cries has left.

The Fading Forest